I visited IDUG (International DB2 Users Group) in Austin, Texas, the week of May 23. We had a booth and had good traffic. Our presentations and party were well attended. It was “old home week” for me as many friends and previous colleagues dropped by to say hi.

Many of the visitors to our booth were DB2 LUW professionals and quickly lost interest in our z/OS offerings. However, there were plenty of DB2 z/OS folks who dropped by to talk and who understood our offerings.

I noticed that many of the attendees had a “first time attendee” ribbon attached to their badge. I would ask them if they were there for DB2 LUW or DB2 z/OS. A surprisingly large number of them were there for DB2 z/OS! A few of them were in their 40s or 50s and attending IDUG as part of a career change. Most of them were in their 20s or 30s and just entering the IT business as DB2 z/OS professionals.

This is encouraging. The next generation of z/OS professionals are coming up and are excited about the future of DB2 on the mainframe! New applications are being developed to help drive the growth of businesses that are branching into mobile technologies. Developers are using new generation languages to solve business problems and storing their data on DB2 z/OS databases. For this new generation, Big Data Analytics is a growing area of excitement as well as how the newer versions of DB2 z/OS couple hardware and software to address this burgeoning business.

Companies are investing in products and offerings that help the DB2 professional to develop efficient SQL, or exploit alternative technology in conjunction with SQL to achieve even better performance. DB2 professionals have learned that tuning DB2 can result in overall cost savings for their companies. Not just meeting SLA, but actually reducing operating costs and license charges. Data Replication is an area of growing requirements and many solutions can help address that.

In short, IDUG reinforced the topic that I have been discussing all year: the mainframe is not going away any time soon, and the next generation of IT professionals are investing time and effort into being part of the continued success of the mainframe platform.

Long live the mainframe—and DB2 z/OS!

 

Regular Planet Mainframe Blog Contributor
Over the past 25 years, Rick Weaver has become a well-known mainframe expert specializing in database protection, replication, recovery and performance. Because of his vast expertise, he has authored numerous articles, whitepapers and other valuable pieces on database technologies, and frequently spoken on the subjects of database recovery and performance at conferences, symposiums and user groups.

One thought on “IDUG in Austin TX shows us that DB2 z/OS is alive and well”
  1. Excellent write-up, especially for those who are mainframe enthusiasts.
    With its robust performance, unparalleled reliability, advanced security features, seamless integration capabilities, and continuous innovation, DB2 z/OS has proven it’s worth time and time again. As organizations continue to rely on the mainframe platform.
    In the ever-evolving landscape of enterprise databases, few technologies can claim a heritage as rich and enduring as IBM’s DB2 for z/OS. For decades, DB2 has remained a stalwart companion for businesses across the globe, powering critical applications and standing as a testament to the remarkable resilience and innovation of the mainframe platform.
    LONG LIVE MAINFRAMES AND LONG LIVE DB2 ON MAINFRAMES.

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