IBM presented the IBM Gen z Workshop, in partnership with State Farm and the School of Information Technology, on the Illinois State campus at the Hancock Stadium Club on October 20, 2016.
The daylong Gen z Workshop brought practicing IT professionals and Illinois State students together to learn more about the global impact of mainframe computers. Attendees participated in design thinking labs, analyzing client case studies, and developing innovative solutions for real-life problem scenarios.
A participant in the Gen z Workshop at Illinois State.
Who uses mainframe computers, you ask? Only 92 of the top 100 worldwide banks, all 10 of the world’s 10 largest insurers, over 90 percent of the largest U.S. retailers, and you! Mainframe computers process 30 billion business transactions per day, including credit card transactions, ATM transactions, stock trades and money transfers.
Many organizations leverage the power, reliability, and security of the mainframe behind the scenes to support essential customer facing solutions we are all familiar with. Those organizations are concerned about a future shortage of IT professionals with required mainframe skills. The Gen z Workshop presentation was in support of the School of Information Technology’s Enterprise Computing Systems program, which teaches mainframe computing skills aimed at preparing students to fill that need.
You can learn about the School of Information Technology’s Enterprise Computing Systems program at the School of Information Technology website.
