In this episode of the Mainframe Connect podcast’s I am a Mainframer series, Richelle from Beta Systems shares her inspiring journey in the mainframe industry. From her beginnings in the Philippines to her current role in Austria, Richelle offers unique insights into mainframe development, system programming, and the power of open-source communities like Zowe. She discusses her transition across roles, the importance of mentorship, and her vision for the future of mainframe technology.
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[Intro Voice]: This is the Mainframe Connect Podcast brought to you by the Linux Foundation’s Open Mainframe Project. Sponsored by Phoenix Software International and by Vicom Infinity, a converged company. Mainframe Connect includes the I am a Mainframer Series, the Riveting Mainframe Voices Series, and other content exploring relevant topics with Mainframe Professionals and offering insights into the industry and technology. Today’s episode is another in the I am a Mainframer Series, exploring the career journeys of Mainframe Professionals.
Steven Dickens: Hello and welcome to another episode of the I am a Mainframer Podcast, brought to you by the Linux Foundation’s Open Mainframe Project. I’m your host as always, Steven Dickens, and we’re joined today by Richelle from Beta Systems. Hey Richelle, welcome to the show.
Richelle: Hey Steven, nice to meet you. Thank you for having me.
Steven Dickens: Yeah, it’s an absolute pleasure. So let’s just get started. Let’s get the listeners and viewers oriented. Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do for Beta Systems.
Richelle: Yeah, sure. So I call it my Asia to Austria career journey. I like it. I started in the Philippines, where I’m from, so I was straight out of university. I was a programmer trainee, so I immediately started programming in COBOL, JCL; we were taught MVS, so that really laid a good foundation for my mainframe career. So I was a programmer for an in-house programming team for a local bank, but then I moved to a more international bank, still doing the same things, programming software for international banks. And that’s, I think, the first half of my career: being a programmer, a COBOL developer. Then I moved to Europe, to IBM, which is now called Kyndryl, I think. That’s when I moved to more system operations, systems programming space. So that’s when I moved to a different role, not just geographically, but in terms of work as well. Then I realized I wanted to move back to a more development role, so I moved to a software vendor, CA, which became Broadcom, and now I’m working for Beta Systems. That’s when I became involved with projects like Zowe; I became involved with Zowe and the Open Mainframe Project. I even became a Scrum Master for a bit for Zowe Explorer, so I was part of the team that developed Zowe Explorer. So I’m still very much part of that world. But yeah, so I think my role became sort of in that hybrid position: I was a pure mainframe developer, and then I started learning all of these TypeScript, JavaScript, Node.js, Python, so I became more of that. And in my current role at Beta Systems, what really attracted me to it is that I’m now part of the transformation, mainframe modernization transformation journey. So I’m now teaching not just apprentices—we have an apprentice program where I’m teaching them how to program on the mainframe, their first touch with the mainframe, but now it’s via VS Code, via CLI. And it’s not just these apprentices that I’m teaching; now even my colleagues, older colleagues who are interested in more of this modern stuff, or if they want to use it for automation in their work, that’s where I’m helping out. So I’m really happy because for me, part of my passion about it is that I’ve been through so many different roles, from Asia to Austria. I always think, if I had these tools before, how would I have used them? So to me, that’s how I share what I know, what I like about it.
Steven Dickens: So Richelle, there’s a lot to unpack in that introduction. Multiple countries, multiple roles, multiple companies. So I’ll take you back all the way to the beginning: Philippines, first job, working on the mainframe. Tell me about that transition. How did you get into the mainframe? We have a lot of people on this podcast and in the community in general who talk about that transition from recent graduate to mainframe. Tell me a little bit about how you got exposed to the platform and what that first part of the journey looked like.
Richelle: Yeah, sure. So in university, I think I had one COBOL course; it was just part of the list of programming courses that were available. So I was fairly familiar with that. But the first touch with JCL, ISPF, and all of that, I think was jarring, but then because we had really great mentors, that made a big difference. They were really patient with us. They knew that it was very different from what we were used to in the apps nowadays. So they were very patient and it was step by step. So my first real experience as a programmer trainee, because it was a training program, there was no real fear of making a mistake; there was a sandbox environment that we were in. And so I think that made it really smooth. The transition was really smooth. But yeah, if I didn’t have that, it would have been very scary.
Steven Dickens: Yeah, very scary. The other transition that I think I heard you mention in your introduction was that you went from programmer to system programmer. We don’t see a lot of people make that transition. So maybe talk a little bit about what that involves. Try to get you to describe the role and some of the different characteristics, because there are a lot of people who listen to the show who are thinking about career transitions. We get a lot of really interesting mainframers on the show. So maybe just talk a little bit about that and what your experience was going from being a core COBOL developer with JCL and REXX to becoming a system programmer.
Richelle: Yeah, I think because if you’re a COBOL developer, you interact with the system operations in general. So you kind of know what you request them to do, but you don’t actually know how they do what they’re doing. And so the transition for me was more about learning the processes and also having the right access for everything, which was very important. It became very clear to me because previously, as a programmer, it was like, “This is the project; give me access.” And so, first, knowing what you can and cannot do and why the accesses are set up in this way. Then slowly getting to know—so I was working with Tivoli Workload Scheduler and more DB2 admin stuff. So it became very important, the criticality of the work, to be able to immediately assess problems as they come and so on. So to me, the transition was more about the focus and the criticality was heightened. But I think because I was already familiar with the tools and the interfaces, it was easier.
Steven Dickens: So let’s wind forward now. I think you said you had a strong foundation. So let’s wind forward now. What are you doing on Zowe? It sounds like from the introduction I got about you, “You’ve got to speak to this lady on the show; she’s really huge in the Zowe community, doing a lot in the space.” So that’s what I was told. And then you touched on some of the roles that you’ve taken in that Zowe community. We’re kind of five years into Zowe now. Tell me a little bit about what you’re doing and also if you can position where you think the Zowe community is, where we are sort of five years into that journey.
Richelle: I like how you focused on the word “community” because to me, that was really the main thing; it’s a very important part of Zowe. So in my previous role, we were building part of Zowe, like the Zowe CLI commands and all of that, even before it became Zowe. And then when it became Zowe, I was part of the Zowe Explorer team, first as a contributor, so we were doing TypeScript programming and building out the features to have parity with Zowe CLI, so the CLI commands that we built, we were putting that in Zowe Explorer. And suddenly—I don’t know if it was suddenly—but I became part of the leadership as a Scrum Master, and so I was doing the admin stuff behind that and managing our deliverables. So because of that role, I was part of the meeting planning and all of that. So I really saw the roadmap and I became really active in Slack as well; our community is really thriving. So to me, that was a really, really good experience, just talking to different people from different backgrounds. In Zowe, we have the hybrid of people who have been in mainframes for 30, 40 years, and then you have people from the distributed side bringing in different perspectives on how we use the CLI in our environment, and maybe we should change that to be more accessible to everyone. I think that’s the beauty of the project: the community that comes together, we’re learning from each other. It’s not saying one is better than the other; when we combine all of those knowledge and experiences, I think that’s when we create good solutions.
Steven Dickens: I think you hit on it there for me. When I look at the genesis—I was in the room when we announced Zowe at SHARE five years ago—I think we’ve captured magic in a bottle because, as you say, the ability to bring together various different perspectives in the community. I don’t think any one company would have been able to create Zowe; it really has been the product of a community effort. Yes, we’ve got some big contributors, yes, we’ve got some big people who support the platform, but I think it’s been a community effort. And I think the thing that gets missed, and I’m glad you touched on it, is that the community pulls in non-mainframers as well. Because if it was just a community of mainframers, we wouldn’t have seen the success. Would you agree?
Richelle: Absolutely, I agree. I think it’s a different mindset, but it’s needed. But I think you also need that perspective that we cannot just go fast and break things because it is the mainframe; it’s critical and essential. So it has to be a balance of both: we cannot just go ahead and implement this or pull in this open-source stuff, but at the same time, you need that perspective that it’s a different mindset, and we need both sides.
Steven Dickens: So it’s interesting; you’re probably a good person to ask this question. Where do you see Zowe going? Where do you see it going next? What can we look forward to? Obviously, the community owns the roadmap, but where do you see Zowe going next?
Richelle: I think from my perspective, since I’m also in my current role, I’m in that in-between space. So to me, that’s my perspective: I think Zowe really shines in that we can use it in the mainframe context; we can pull mainframe info and then use it on my workspace and vice versa. So I think Zowe in that way is that bridge; we’ve always used Zowe as a bridge, that analogy, but I really think it will shine because the hybrid mainframe transformation is happening, and that’s what most organizations surveyed have said: they’re doing transformation, and they’re doing hybrid transformation. And I think that’s where Zowe will shine.
Steven Dickens: So are you involved in any other open-source projects, maybe even outside of the Open Mainframe Project? Are you committing code to anything else, or is your focus in the mainframe space?
Richelle: Yeah, Zowe is the main one, and I’ve recently, this year, also contributed to Zowe Explorer stuff.
Steven Dickens: Okay, fantastic. So tell me a little bit about what you’re doing at Beta Systems. They might not be a huge name; I know them, know some of the people there. Tell me a little bit about what you’re doing at Beta Systems, maybe take a corporate view for a minute.
Richelle: Yeah, sure. So we are a software vendor that focuses on automated solutions, like z/OS, so those products that have also a hybrid approach. We have a lot of mainframe customers, but we also take care of non-mainframe customers, so we have that hybrid approach. My role is to help in that journey, not just in the development space but helping the developers automate their stuff. I think my main project in the previous years was our installation; we were enhancing that installation to be more aligned with SMP/E installation, so I’m working a lot with SMP/E. Also, I advocate for the use of Zowe within our systems when we’re developing, in our pipelines, and all of that. So we use also that open automation utility in our pipelines, in our day-to-day tasks. So to me, that’s very exciting because I’m still working with mainframes, but I’m working with these modern tools, and then I become sort of the go-to person if they have problems with VS Code because they know I was part of the Zowe Explorer project. So if they have problems, they will come to me. So I really like that role; I’m the in-between person.
Steven Dickens: So a couple of questions that I always ask of people. I’ll go first here with one, and I’m really interested to get your perspective because you’ve had a varied career: open source, working for vendors, working for end users, working in different countries. What advice would you give to Richelle at age 21, coming out of college? You’ve got a few years now of experience; what advice would you give to your younger self?
Richelle: That’s a good question. I think I would go with encouragement. I think I’m going to say, have faith, trust that you will know the right time if you’re going to stay or leave; you will know the right time when to stay or when to leave.
Steven Dickens: That’s good advice. I think so many people stay when they should have left, and they go when they should have stayed. It’s a fascinating point. Maybe just elaborate on that; I cut you off, but give me a little bit more of what that means.
Richelle: I think you’re right; many people are averse to change, and that applies not just to jobs or countries but to technology as well. So again, from that perspective of being in between, I feel like just because one thing is working right now doesn’t mean that you’re not going to experiment and try something new. I think trying something and if it doesn’t work, that’s okay. I think that fear of “I don’t know this” is something I don’t like. I’m a very curious person, and so I’m curious about change. I’m not a very risky type of person, but at the same time, my curiosity sometimes leads me to think, “What if I move to Europe? What if I move to a different country?” Or “What if I move from systems operations to this open-source stuff, or from COBOL developer to systems operations?”
Steven Dickens: So I think you’re doing yourself a disservice if you don’t explore those options. Some of those moves would be really risky for a lot of people, so you’re probably selling yourself short. So final question, Richelle, and I ask it of everybody on the show, and I’m really fascinated to get your perspective. Where do you see the mainframe three to five years out? You’ve got a crystal ball; you’re able to look into the crystal ball, and the mists clear. Where do you see the platform in a few years from now?
Richelle: I think this hybrid space where I am now will grow. I think that’s where I see it. I see that we are going to pull more people in from distributed environments, and then we’re going to pull mainframers from pure siloed tools and processes to more open-source distributed processes. And I also feel like in a few years, we will see more and more women in the space. I really think so; I hope so.
Yeah, I recently attended a conference where there was a Women in IT track. I think we need more and more visibility, and I think that will happen because the onboarding process is easier now, right? So it’s not about this big box in my mind anymore. The mainframe is accessible even to students, to people who are just starting their career; it’s easier for them to start, and it’s not that big box anymore.
Richelle: And we talked about the visibility of women in mainframe, and our podcast, Mainframe Coven, will be hosted under Mainframe Connect, under the Open Mainframe Project. So that’s our main vision: we want visibility of women’s stories. Our tagline is “Real stories from essential yet unseen minds behind the machine.” So it’s about the stories from women, not just from the past like the Ada Lovelace and Grace Hoppers, but to the present, our current colleagues, and also going to the future, as we were talking about the future of mainframe. So we want to be able to see that women’s visibility will be there when we’re talking about AI; we want to see women in mainframe when we’re discussing the next generation of Z. So our podcast, we have 10 episodes planned; the first one will happen in June, and our first episode will be about the term “kilo girl,” which is a very controversial title, but I think that’s a very good first episode topic.
Steven Dickens: Yeah, we’ve had some fantastic women on the show over the years. I think it’s really powerful for me to see the community rally around the women in this industry. I think we’ve got some fantastic leaders: I’m thinking of people like Deb Carbo, Nicole Fagan, both at Broadcom; thinking about Tina Tarquinio and Meredith Stowell at IBM; thinking about Rosalind Radcliffe. There’s a whole bunch of female leaders in this industry, Priya Doty at BMC in a leadership role, even in Zowe. Yeah, I’m missing thousands of women, just mentioning a few there off the top of my head, but it’s fascinating to see the community rallying around. And absolutely, check out that show; I think it’s going to be fantastic. I’m under the Mainframe Connect, the Open Mainframe Connect podcast series, which obviously this is one of the shows. Fantastic, looking forward to those; I’ll be checking out those episodes. Richelle, thank you so much for joining us. Click and subscribe to this show, click and subscribe to the new show that Richelle just mentioned, and we’ll see you next time. Thank you very much for watching.
[Outro Voice]: Thank you for tuning in to the Mainframe Connect Podcast and this episode in the I am a Mainframer Series, sponsored by Phoenix Software International and by Vicom Infinity, a converged company. Like what you heard? Subscribe to get every episode or watch us online at openmainframeproject.org. Until next time, this is the Mainframe Connect Podcast.
