Philipp Kremling

What piqued his interest in mainframes was the range of possibilities they offer. “You can do so much within the IBM Z platform,” he says. “The adaptability and scalability of IBM Z technology is remarkable.” It’s that adaptability that helps Philipp modernize the company’s DevOps efforts and potentially expand into new areas such as AI. “No day is the same,” he shares. “You really do different things every day and learn something new every day. You can always do something exciting within this cutting-edge platform and that is really motivating.”

A world of support

Another source of inspiration for Philipp is the camaraderie with his mainframe colleagues and their ongoing support and eagerness to share knowledge. “When I have a question about anything regarding the mainframe or the programs on the mainframe, they want to help me every time,” he says. When his team doesn’t have the answer, they connect him with other subject matter experts, or Philipp can find other mainframers in the global IBM Z and LinuxONE Community always willing to help.

Philipp’s advice to those interested in a mainframe career is to get a fast start on IBM’s online learning platform, IBM Z Xplore, which was an invaluable tool when Philipp was first starting out. “I wanted to get as much knowledge as possible,” he recalls, “and IBM Z Xplore was the perfect platform for this. You can get a taste of what the mainframe is and what it can do.” He especially liked the fact that IBM Z Xplore let him learn at his own pace, which was particularly helpful as he explored topics such as COBOL programming.

The world depends on mainframes

“Applications that rely on transactions and transaction security will continue to rely on the mainframe,” Philipp says. “For example, credit card transactions, flight bookings, and banking in general. Reliability, innovation, and security on the mainframe will continue to play a major role in the world.”

Philipp is inspired by the forward-thinking innovation happening in the mainframe space. Zowe, an open-source framework built for the z/OS platform, and IBM’s Dependency-Based Build (DBB) technology are two examples of the kind of innovation that Philipp believes will keep mainframes at the forefront of business computing for years to come.

From student to mainframer to advocate

For those seeking to follow his path into mainframe computing, Philipp shares, “I think an apprenticeship in a company running a mainframe or studying at a university that operates a mainframe is a really good start.” As for his own future, Philipp is pursuing a master’s degree in computer science while building his knowledge of mainframes through courses, reading, and, of course, his own hands-on experience.

Another area of personal growth for Philipp is his role as an IBM Z advocate. This has opened up opportunities for him to attend conferences, give talks to audiences, and advocate for the mainframe as a thought leader. And, more importantly, it’s brought him in touch with like-minded mainframe enthusiasts who can provide support and share experiences to solve problems. Looking forward to a successful career in mainframes, Philipp says, “You can be a software engineer like me, you can be a system programmer, you can be a database administrator, you can do something with AI if you like. I would encourage everyone to take a look at mainframes because there is no limitation to a career in mainframes.”