Mainframe as a career option

So what are Mainframes ?

I am sure that most of us won't be aware of what mainframes are and there is a career around it, So here is a definition from IBM on what mainframes are.

"At their core, mainframes are high-performance computers with large amounts of memory and processors that process billions of simple calculations and transactions in real time. The mainframe is critical to commercial databases, transaction servers, and applications that require high resiliency, security and agility." - IBM

So basically mainframes are large computer systems which can process billions of transactions with high security and reliability.

Where are we using Mainframes or Domains where mainframes are being used mostly?

Being an old technology mainframes are still widely being used in Banking, Healthcare, Insurance, Airlines, credit card transactions (ATMs) and many more such industries. So even though you might not we aware of Mainframes but one way or other its highly possible that you have interacted with a mainframe in past few days

Mainframe as career option :

I'll discuss about my viewpoint here according to the experience I have had working on Mainframe technology in a large Indian IT field MNC.

Mainframes are used where extensive data crunching and security is needed. Since mainframe is really old technology, you won't see it being used anywhere in startups but mostly in large IT firms where its being used from past 10-20 years .

If you are working in mainframe its most likely that you will be working on black/blue terminal screens writing code in Cobol or assembly level languages with minimum to no GUI being used. So it somehow gives a unique feel and its quite possible that other people think of you as a hacker from some sci-fi movie.

Lets discuss about pros and cons :

Pros

• Less Competition - As Mainframe is not taught outside or in coding bootcamps in general, so there isn't much competition in this field. Also students this age are less inclined towards learning mainframe.
• Chances Abroad - If you are working in an Indian IT MNC then you might get the chance to go work abroad because people who are working in mainframe at client locations are mostly of old age and near their retirement
• Less stressful work - Most of the mainframe work will be support and analysis around the large codebase which is already developed, So it'll be less stressful work.
• Not much to learn - Once you have acquired related knowledge in mainframe technologies, then there won't be much to learn for you in core Mainframe.

Cons

• Mystery - Most of us aren't aware of Mainframe technology so you will have to explain a bit whenever you tell people in which field you are in.
• Old/ Legacy codebase - Most of the times you will be working on quite old codebase which is there from past 10-20 years
• Not much development work - In most companies you will not find much development work around mainframe but support work.
• Less Salary - In general Mainframe Developers earn less than their peers working in other technologies.
• Shift to new technology - Companies are now thinking or have started shifting from mainframe to cloud/java/oracle and other technologies.

Conclusion : I feel you should go for mainframe if you really like working on it or if you don't have any other choices currently in that case you can later make a switch or if you are fascinated about it after reading this article 😜. Else go for other trending technology and keep upskilling because as we all know this field is ever changing and evolving.

Let me know what you think about it?