Banks scramble to fix old systems as IT 'cowboys' ride into sunset

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Apr 11, 2017, 2:40 AM UTC

nsxwolf wrote: post #31

clumsysmurf wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At my last employer, there were a few "mainframers" (we called them). I was curious so I would ask my mainframer coworker how things worked on his end. I always struggled to understand, because it seemed everything was different ... the terminology, the culture, the ideas. I couldn't use analogy to tie what he was describing back to what I knew.

You got that right. I had to deal with an interesting banking file format and I asked a question on Stack Overflow and got this gem of an answer. I politely accepted it as the right answer but boy oh boy does it feel like it's from an alien civilization. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/28640159/what-is-the-diff...

Post by teh_klev » Tue, Apr 11, 2017, 2:42 AM UTC

coleca wrote: post #16

That's why I'm keeping my COBOL for Dummies and MVS/JCL handbooks as my retirement plan should the markets go south on my 401k. :-)

Post by Fuzzwah » Tue, Apr 11, 2017, 2:49 AM UTC

nsxwolf wrote: post #31

clumsysmurf wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At my last employer, there were a few "mainframers" (we called them). I was curious so I would ask my mainframer coworker how things worked on his end. I always struggled to understand, because it seemed everything was different ... the terminology, the culture, the ideas. I couldn't use analogy to tie what he was describing back to what I knew.

You got that right. I had to deal with an interesting banking file format and I asked a question on Stack Overflow and got this gem of an answer. I politely accepted it as the right answer but boy oh boy does it feel like it's from an alien civilization. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/28640159/what-is-the-diff...

Post by lmkg » Tue, Apr 11, 2017, 2:50 AM UTC

dsr_ wrote: post #27

hackits wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Technically IT is a tool its their to service the business requirements.

That used to be true - up until sometime in the late 1970s/early 80s. Since then, banks are IT. Take that away and what's left?

  There are no airplanes, only computers that fly. There 
  are no cars, only computers we sit in. There are no 
  hearing aids, only computers we put in our ears. There 
  are no 3D printers, only computers that drive 
  peripherals. There are no radios, only computers with 
  fast ADCs and DACs and phased-array antennas.

Post by phil21 » Tue, Apr 11, 2017, 2:57 AM UTC

pmiller2 wrote: post #48

nodesocket wrote: post #2

Cobol expert = $1,000 an hour rate. Great niche, but eventually will get replaced. Awesome marketing and PR for his company Cobol Cowboys ( http://cobolcowboys.com . > His wife Eileen came up with the name in a reference to "Space Cowboys," a 2000 movie about a group of retired Air Force pilots called in for a trouble-shooting mission in space. The company's slogan? "Not our first rodeo."

If I made $1000/hour, I would only need to do that for like 3 or 4 years before I could retire.