As some of its senior database administrators (DBAs) contemplate retirement, xwave Solutions Inc. is taking a proactive approach in the face of a potential mainframe skills shortage within its data centre. The St. John’s-based IT integrator announced this month that it is using an automated solution from BMC Software Inc. to consolidate its DBA staff.
Xwave recently completed several mergers and initiated an IT consolidation project to bring together its system programmers and DBAs into a single data centre. To this end, the firm is using Houston-based BMC’s SmartDBA tool to manage databases across both distributed and mainframe environments through a common-look-and- feel interface.
According to Craig Piercy, senior technical analyst and team lead for xwave, the IT environment includes IBM Corp.’s DB2 and IMS, as well as Oracle Corp. databases.
Xwave sought to streamline its data management process and stave off a potential shortage of its xwave’s senior mainframe DBAs, many of which are expected to retire soon, according to Piercy.
The average age of xwave’s mainframe group is 40, Piercy noted. Replacing them with fresh talent is a challenge as there are relatively few mainframe DBAs entering the workforce. Locating highly skilled DBAs or pro