SPARTA News

April 2025

SPARTA President’s Corner

contributed by Randy Springs

This month, we will again be holding our SPARTA meetings via Zoom. We might go back to our in-person meetings if we can find an appropriate venue. Let us know if you have any suggestions for a meeting location.

Scott Chapman, the CIO of Enterprise Performance Strategies Inc., will give us a presentation about What a z/OS Guy Learned About AWS in 10 Years.

Invite your fellow systems programmers to join us for this informative and interesting online meeting.

We hope to see you online on Tuesday, April 1, on Zoom. Watch for meeting information coming your way soon.

Randy Springs
Retired (Truist)

Future Speakers (subject to change)

April 1, 2025 - What a z/OS Guy Learned About AWS in 10 Years by Scott Chapman, the CIO of Enterprise Performance Strategies Inc.

May 6, 2025 - TBA by TBD of Unknown

We need ideas and volunteers for future speakers. Presentations don’t have to be fancy, just informative and interesting. Even a 5 or 10 minute talk can start an interesting interaction. Contact Ron Pimblett by phone as noted below.

2024-2025 SPARTA

Board of Directors

Randy Springs - President

Retired (Truist)                  (919) nnn-nnnn

street

Raleigh, NC 27604

Ron Pimblett - Vice President

MDI Data Systems

Land line 613 599 6970

Mobile 613 981 6919

190 Guelph Private

Kanata, ON K2T 0J7

Chris Blackshire - Secretary

Retired (Dell, Perot Systems, Nortel)  (919) nnn-nnnn

street

Durham, NC 27713

Randy Springs - (Acting) Treasurer

Retired (Truist)                  (919) nnn-nnnn

see Randy

Springs earlier

Ed Webb -  Communications Director

Retired (SAS Institute Inc.)  (919) nnn-nnnn

street

Apex, NC 27523

Mike Lockey -  Web Master

Guilford Co. Information Services  336-641-6235

201 N. Eugene St.

Greensboro, NC 27401

Meetings

Coronavirus Change: All meetings for the foreseeable future will be held online at 3 p.m. via the Zoom App. The link to meeting is sent to SPARTA Mailing list within 24 hours of the meeting time for security reasons. Stay safe.

Meetings are scheduled for the first Tuesday evening of each month (except no meeting in January), with optional dinner at 6:15 p.m. and the meeting beginning at 7:00 p.m.

These monthly meetings usually are held at LabCorp’s Center for Molecular Biology and Pathology (CMBP) near the Research Triangle Park (see last page). Take I-40 to Miami Boulevard and go north. Turn right onto T.W. Alexander Drive. Go about a mile or so. Then turn right into LabCorp complex and turn Left to the CMBP Building (1912 T.W. Alexander Drive). In the lobby, sign in as a visitor to see Bill Johnson. Bill will escort you to the conference room.

Call for Articles

If you have any ideas for speakers, presentations, newsletter articles, or are interested in taking part in a presentation, PLEASE contact one of the Board of Directors with your suggestions.

Newsletter e-Mailings

The SPARTA policy is to e-mail a monthly notice to our SPARTA-RTP Group. The newsletter is posted to the website about five (5) days before each meeting so you can prepare. The SPARTA distribution List is maintained by Chris Blackshire; if you have corrections or problems receiving your meeting notice, contact Chris at chrisbl@nc.rr.com.

December 2024 “CBT Tape” Shareware Online

The directory and files from the latest CBT tape V508 (dated December 19, 2024) are available from www.cbttape.org.

If you need help obtaining one or more files, contact Ed Webb (see Board of Director’s list for contact info).

Minutes of the March 4, 2025 Meeting

• The March 4, 2025 meeting was called to order at 3:00 PM by Randy Springs, the SPARTA President.

• The March 4, 2025 meeting was cancelled because of speaker availability issues.

• This Forty-seventh (April 2020 to March 2025) virtual SPARTA meeting was held via the Zoom Software.

• Fourteen (14) people were present at the virtual meeting.

• The business portion of the meeting followed the presentation.

• The meeting started at 3 PM to accommodate the speaker's availability.

OLD BUSINESS

• The minutes of the February 4, 2024 meeting as published in the October 2024 Newsletter were approved.

• The minutes of the February 4, 2024 meeting as published were approved.

• The February 28, 2025 Treasurer's report as published in the March 2025 Newsletter was approved. As of February 28, 2025, the current balance is $805.46.

• Call For Articles: Articles are needed for this newsletter. If you would like to write an article for this newsletter, please contact Ed Webb. Keep in mind that you don't really need to write the article, it can be an article that you read that you want to share with the membership.

• The SPARTA Web page is available at this site: http://www.spartanc.org. Please send any comments or suggestions about the Web page to Mike Lockey. Be sure to check the Web page every once in a while to see any new or changed information.

• 2025 meeting dates, Future Speakers and Topics (subject to change based on internal politics, budget, the weather):

If you have suggestions about speakers and topics, contact Ron Pimblett.

• The next SPARTA monthly meeting will be held virtually on Tuesday, April 1, 2025.

• The annual dues have been suspended (motion passed in the March 2021 monthly meeting).

• Thanks to Randy Springs for hosting the March meeting online via Zoom.

• There are currently about 100 people on the SPARTA e-mail distribution list.

• Send any e-mail address changes to Chris Blackshire so he can update the SPARTA distribution List. The SPARTA meeting notices are being sent via a simple distribution list maintained by Chris.

• Randy Springs is looking for a new Treasurer volunteer. He projects about 2 hours per month is needed.
- Contact Randy if you are interested.

• Randy Springs has setup a SPARTA group on LinkedIn. Please join.

• There has been some discussion about a possible 2025 in-person meeting, depending on vaccinations and room availability. Stay tuned.
- Randy will contact Bill Johnson to determine the LabCorp meeting place status.
- Jay Hall will look into using a NCSU Centennial Campus room.

NEW BUSINESS

• None.

• There was significant discussion about how to increase attendance at SPARTA meetings. After discussing ending SPARTA given lack of participation, the attendees decided to keep trying for another six months.

• We will continue meeting virtually for now with a future in-person meeting date TBD. Stay tuned.

• The Presentation started at 3:15 PM after attendee introductions.

• Presentation Topic: SHARE 2025 Washington, DC (145), February 23-27, 2025

by Ed Webb, Retired z/OS Systems Programmer from SAS

• Agenda
• Why Go to SHARE?
• Odds and Ends
• Best Sessions
• Other Sessions of Interest
• SHARE Status

• Presentation Access - See Below for a full outline of the presentation.

See the SPARTA webpage for all recent presentations including this March one with Ed's notes.

• Contact Info:
Speaker: Ed Webb
Retired z/OS Systems Programmer from SAS
Email: EdwiStuO@aol.com

• The presentation and questions/answers ended about 4:30 P.M.
• The March 4, 2025 monthly meeting ended about 4:45 P.M. after a short business meeting.

Treasurer’s Report for March 2025

contributed by Randy Springs

The balance in the account is $805.46 as of February 28, 2025.

SPARTA Financial Report
02/01/2025 through 02/28/2025

Items of Interest

SPARTA Schedule and Menu for 2025

contributed by Chris Blackshire

Apr 1, 2025 BarBQ
May 6, 2025 Pizza
June 3, 2025 Chicken
July 8, 2025 Subs (Jul 4 holiday falls in the first meeting week date)
Aug 5, 2025 BarBQ
Sept 9, 2025 Pizza (Labor Day holiday is in first Tuesday meeting week)
Oct 7, 2025 Chicken
Nov 4, 2025 Subs
Dec 2, 2025 BarBQ

You Can Still Register for IBM Z Day: Special Edition on April 8

contributed By Ed Webb

"The countdown is on... for something SO BIG it only happens every 3 years🔥🔥🔥! Don't miss our IBM Z Day: Special Edition 1 day virtual mega-event on April 8th and be one of the first to see the future of mainframes up close. Catch 150+ speakers | 3 tech tracks | hands-on demos. Go deeper with technical sessions designed for all levels to advance your expertise. Skill up, badge up & join thousands of participants from 165+ countries. 

🚀 🚀 Register now >> ibm.biz/ibmzday2025-se

Unveiling the Future of Mainframe Technologies:
✨ Experience the future of mainframes and get an exclusive look at the newest innovations from IBM Z.
✨ Connect with the experts behind these technologies & explore what’s possible with next generation capabilities."

Deadline Extended for SHARE Cleveland Call for Proposals

Contributed by Ed Webb

"There's still time to submit a session proposal for a chance to present at SHARE Cleveland, taking place Aug. 17-21. Don't miss your opportunity to demonstrate your expertise and showcase your innovative approaches to the industry!


The deadline to submit a proposal has been extended to Monday, April 7.”

COBOL Lives On!

Contributed by Chris Blackshire

"Q. Is COBOL programming still used?
A. Yes, COBOL, despite being an older language, is still widely used, particularly in industries like finance, insurance, and government, primarily for maintaining and supporting legacy systems that handle critical business transactions.

Q. How many lines of COBOL code are there?
A. According to a SHARE presentation and Google, there are 800 billion lines of COBOL.
(For some perspective, the COBOL line count is 8 times the stars in our galaxy).

Q. How many banks use COBOL?
Although developed over 60 years ago, over 40% of banks still use the COBOL programming language as the core technology of their banking systems.

Q. Which banks still use COBOL?
A. Not surprisingly, it is difficult to replace. A large percentage of the daily transactions conducted by major companies such as JPMorgan Chase, American Express, Fiserv, Bank of America, and Visa rely significantly on COBOL.

Q. Does the IRS still use COBOL?
A. Yes, the IRS still uses COBOL, a legacy programming language, to run some of its IT systems. The IRS has been modernizing its IT systems, but the transition to newer languages is challenging.

Q. Why is Social Security still using COBOL?
A. Government agencies rely on COBOL-based mainframes for critical financial transactions, including tax payments, Social Security and Medicare. The systems, when properly maintained, are highly reliable, with built-in redundancy and fault tolerance.

Q. What programming language replaced COBOL?
A. Some companies choose to convert the COBOL code to more modern programming languages, such as Python, Java, or Cobalt. But translating a procedural language such as COBOL, to an object-oriented language such as Python, Java, or Cobalt presents its own challenge.

Q. Is it worth learning COBOL in 2025?
A. Even in 2025, COBOL and JCL remain crucial for mission-critical systems in banking, insurance, and government. These decades-old technologies may seem outdated, but they handle over 70% of global business transactions and manage massive workloads with unmatched reliability.

Q. Do ATMs still use COBOL?
A. It may be old, but COBOL is still useful. Indeed, when you get cash from an ATM, 95% of the time you're interacting with a COBOL program. Behind them, 43% of banking systems are written in COBOL, and 90% of banks still use some COBOL.

Q. Is COBOL lucrative?
A. According to data from 2023, there were about 123,394 positions for COBOL programmers in the United States. In terms of salary, the national median salary for COBOL programmers was reported to be $99,715.

Q. What is the entry level salary for COBOL?
A. How much does an Entry Level Cobol Programmer make? As of Mar 5, 2025, the average hourly pay for an Entry Level Cobol Programmer in the United States is $58.25 an hour.

Q. What is the average hourly rate for a COBOL programmer?
A. As of Mar 10, 2025, the average hourly pay for a Cobol Programmer in Los Angeles is $62.77 an hour.

Some COBOL definitions

COBOL (COmmon Business Oriented Language) on Wikipedia

Are You Interested In Learning COBOL? See Free PDF Manuals and Examples

Hint: Google = cobol manual pdf"

Enterprise COBOL for z/OS 6.4 Language Reference - Index of / IBM
Fourth edition (28 June 2024 update). This edition applies to Version 6.4 of IBM® Enterprise COBOL for z/OS® (program number 5655-EC6) and to all.

Micro Focus RM/COBOL Language Reference Manual

COBOL Quick Guide

COBOL Tutorial in PDF From Tutorialspoint

Teach Yourself COBOL in 24 Hours (contains examples)

Geeks For Geeks Basic COBOL Syntax

What is the best COBOL compiler for Windows?
A free/libre COBOL compiler GnuCOBOL produces native executables from COBOL source code. It is known to work on Linux, BSD, many proprietary Unixes, macOS, and Windows, among others. The current release, version 3.2, is the best version for all users.

Humor

Wit and Wisdom continued

contributed by Ed Webb

Hard work has a future payoff—laziness pays off now.
The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
Diplomacy is the art of saying “Nice doggie” until you can find a rock.

Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your lips are moving.
If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.
The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.

Membership Information

Don’t Forget the Next SPARTA Meeting

Tuesday, April 1, 2025

Time: 3 p.m.

Location: Online

Information about access to our online meeting will be sent to our e-mail list by Tuesday, April 1.

Free Food before meeting: Your Food at Your Home

Program:

What a z/OS Guy Learned About AWS in 10 Years

Speaker:

Scott Chapman, the CIO of Enterprise Performance Strategies Inc.

SPARTA Corporate Sponsors:

March 2025 Presentation outline

• Presentation Topic: SHARE 2025 Washington, DC (145), February 23-27, 2025

by Ed Webb, Retired from SAS Institute Inc.

• Agenda
• Why Go to SHARE?
• Odds and Ends
• Best Sessions
• Other Sessions of Interest
• SHARE Status

• WHY GO TO SHARE?
- Mainframe Skills Council - customers and vendors and IBM
- - https://newsroom.ibm.com/IBM-Mainframe-Skills
- - Mainframe Skills Council - IBM, SHARE, other key organizations
- Late-breaking z/OS 3.1 News - 2Q2024 Continuous Delivery Functions
- Networking with peers and IBM developers and executives

• WHY (DO I STILL) GO TO SHARE?
- Because I’m a Z Person who has attended these conferences since 1979;
- - first at GUIDE starting in 1979, then at SHARE in 1999
- Networking with Friends and Vendors
- Staying Current and Being Re-energized about z/OS
- SHARE Emeritus Membership eliminates Membership Cost
- - Dramatically Reduces Registration expenses

• SHARE 2025 D.C.- 5 Days In-Person!
- Four Days Full of Content
- SHARE Opening Reception Sunday evening with food
- SHARE Tech Exchange Monday and Tuesday evenings with food
- SHARE Tech Exchange Wednesday lunch with food
- Lunch (free) and Learn Sessions on Monday and Thursday
- Broadcom-sponsored Lunch (free) on Tuesday
- SHARE Partners with dedicated sessions on Tuesday

• ODDS AND ENDS
- Curious about some new z/OS function? Then locate details here:
- - https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/new-function-apars-zosplatform
- - https://www.ibm.com/support/z-content-solutions/managementservices
- New to Z Community - IBM Training for Z jobs
- ( https://community.ibm.com/zsystems/talent/ )

• SHARE 2025 D.C.
- Held at Gaylord National Harbor Resort, National Harbor, Maryland
- Technical Agenda https://www.share.org/Events/SHAREWashington-2025/Technical-Agenda
- Presentations are currently only available via the SHARE app on your mobile device
- Members can access Washington proceedings whenever that’s built
- https://www.share.org/Events/Past-Events/Proceedings
- Search for SHARE DC 2025 ???

• BEST SESSIONS

• z/OS and Stack Products Upgrading and Installation
- By Marna Walle of IBM
- - To install z/OS, Customers must use a z/OS Upgrade Workflow and a z/OSMF Portable Software Instance
- - No upgrade book to install software
- - Goals
- - List of interactive activities related to installing z/OS stack software
- - Order of recommended usage of these activities
- - - z/OSMF Software Management
- - - z/OS 3.1 Upgrade Workflow on existing system
- - ZOS-I-2828 IBM User Idea (requirement) to install small product PSI into existing z/OS PSI
- - Post-deploy (do not skip these steps)

• Rocket Software
- Mainframes are efficient contributors to worldwide IT
- - 800 Billion Lines of COBOL
- 71% cyber incidents involve use of stolen or compromised credentials
- ESMs (External Security Models? (RACF/ACF2/Top Secret) are not enough

• SHARE Opening Session and Keynote
- The Future of Work by Tom Koulopoulos
- - Smart phones changed behavior
- - Era that began with the dawn of human intelligence will soon be over
- - AI hard part is predicting future
- - Each decade use of computers has gone up from 1000 in 1960 to 10,000,000,000 today
- - - By 2100, 1x10(21) more computers than grains of sand on the planet
- - - iPhone 16 is 400m Eniacs of 1960??
- - Data center energy use is growing exponentially
- - What will future look at? (Artificial Intelligence)
- - Challenge of Trust for the next 5 years
- - Embrace AI as a collaborator

• Core Tech z/OS Track Welcome
- Critical z/OS Service by John Shebey of IBM
- IBM Support Recommendations
- - Subscribe to Red Alerts
- - Use enhanced HOLDDATA

• z/OS Futures - z/OS Next and ecosystem
- by John Petreshock, z/OS principal product manager
- - Fuel innovation and growth
- - AI-infused z/OS
- - Workload Modernization
- - Data Serving and Modernization
- - Security (AI driven)
- - Foundation support
- - z/OS Client Engagement

• What’s New in z/OS 3.1: The DC Edition
- By Steve Warren and Marna Walle of IBM
- - z/OS 3.1 with CD (Continuous Delivery) 4Q2024 update
- - Java on z/OS release lifecycle

Notes:
1 - All statements regarding IBM's plans, directions, and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice.
2 - Extended support dates are projected and are subject to change or withdrawal without notice.

WdfM - Server has been withdrawn from Marketing

• What’s New in z/OS 3.1: The DC Edition
- z/OS Anomaly Mitigation - PFA, RTD, SLIP/PER
- - 38 members supported
- - z/OS Education Assistant for z/OS 3.1 materials at z/OS github:
- - - https://github.com/IBM/IBM-Z-zOS/tree/main/zOS-Education/zOS-3.1-Education
- - z/OS Requirements (RFEs) are now Ideas based on AHA platform:
- - - https://ideas.IBM.com
- - Here’s the Link to User Requirements satisfied by z/OS 3.1?):
- - - https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/zos/3.1.0?topic=documentation-pdf-fileszos-310-library
- - Use SHARE requirements to submit requirements
- - - https://www.share.org/Connect/Advocacy-Requirements-System

• Upgrading to 3.1: Planning (1 of 2)
- - Upgrade workflows (WF)

• Upgrading to 3.1: Technical Actions (2 of 2)
- - IBM z/OS Change Tracker (CYGSTC)

• “Big Migs” occurring on V2.5

• “Big Migs” occurring on V3.1

• Bit Bucket x’45’, By Donna Hudi, ???, Ed Jaffe
- Fully Wired System Programmer REBOOT
- By Donna Hudi of Phoenix Software International (PSI)
- - Search for CBT Tape https://www.cbttape.org
- By ???
- - IPCS Treasure Hunt
- By Ed Jaffe of Phoenix Software International (PSI)
- - IPCS is “the dark art [of diagnostics] in the realm of mysticism, and the arcane”
- - - Undocumented IPCS commands
- - - Enable Sysprogs and system admins to perform diagnostic tasks
- - - 23 unsupported functions in 2.6i of IPCS

• Z Next Preview
- By Faezeh Gholami of IBM
- - IBM aspires that skills for Z can be used on other platforms
- - AI revolution is here
- - On-chip Data Processing Unit
- - Reduced power for IO management
- - Floor space savings
- - 8 Cores
- - Improved on-processor AI acceleration on zNext
- - Predictive AI plus LLMs and GenAI

• What a z/OS Guy Learned About AWS Over 10 Years
- By Scott Chapman of Enterprise Performance Strategies, Inc.

• Planet Mainframe zRoadshow
- By Frank Kyne and Mark Wilson of Planet Mainframe

• Leveraging Generative AI as a System Programmer or Developer
- By Brenna Fernandes, Eduardo Rocha of Kyndryl, Sommya Kameswaran of IBM

• Make the IPL work for You
- By Ray Bowdish, DTS Software

• IOF Securely enabling SYSPLEX-Wide Services for Non-Authorized Users
- By Jay Hall, Fischer International

• Deadly Sins of IT Presentations
- By Anastasiia Didkovska, nastasia@de.ibm.com
- - Cluttered foils, too much text, reading off slides

• DICe-y Workflows: Managing Digital Certificates on the mainframe from Start to Finish
- By John Bay and Katie Juhala, Broadcom

• AI Framework Overview and AI-Infused WLM Batch Initiator Use Case
- By Anastasiia Didkovska, IBM Germany, Product Manager for AI on z/OS

• JES2 Product Updates
- By Tom Wasik, IBM JES Architect
- - JES2 3.1 Enforces Limits on TGs
- - Any job including Started Tasks will be waited
- - Control via JOBCLASS or Policy or Exit
- - New Policy in z/OS Next release
- - z/OS Next release JES2 updates
- - SPOOL data set browse

• What’s New for z/OSMF 3.1
- - 93% systems running z/OSMF, plug-in installs increasing

• STATUS OF SHARE

• SHARE Association Update
- Strategic Plan 3-5 year plan is Approved
- - Volunteer Task forces in progress
- SHARE Ambassador program
- Efforts to Increase students attending SHARE Conferences
- New partners in STE (SHARE Technical Exchange expo)
- Women in IT and Veterans in IT groups at SHARE
- Purpose positive impact for mainframe community
- - Bring together global mainframe community for knowledge sharing
- SHARE Cleveland Aug17-21 at Hilton Cleveland Downtown
- - Registration is Open Only for Alumni (that is, SHARE DC attendees) with a special rate available thru 24Apr2025
- 21Feb2025 call for proposals open
- - Encourage user speakers or joint session with vendors
- - New products or update should focus on how users are applying new product/feature
- 2 director at large positions are open for election in August

• QUESTIONS?

* * * Next SHARE is in Cleveland, Ohio on August 17-21, 2025 * * *

The presentation and questions ended about 4:30 PM and the meeting ended at 4:45 PM after a short business meeting.