Did you know that more than 80% of the world’s corporate data resides on the mainframe? Learn how it is done...
I work as a Mainframe Deep Technical Support Engineer as part of the EMEA Mainframe hardware team. We are responsible for the mainframe hardware environment in Germany, Italy and UK. Mainframe services is a critical technology with a “Zero downtime”, 100% immune to all computer viruses. It is a high end technology even for programs written on the first generation mainframe 50 years ago, and will still run on the latest 13th generation mainframe, the z13 and it uses the most powerful processor on the planet.
I am responsible for all the upgrades, decommissions of old equipment, configuration and design of Mainframe hardware, break/fix replacements with hardware vendors like Oracle, IBM and more. Working in such a big and professional team is a great opportunity, as I am able to learn a lot from my colleagues, not only for the Mainframe hardware and software, but also for Storage and Networking as well, which broadens my opportunities for future development.
In HPE, everyone can drive their own career. There are two main paths – Technical and non-technical and it is never too late to change the direction, but I’ve decided to improve my knowledge and experience as a Technical Support Engineer.
Since I was in 7th grade, I wanted to become a Biomedical Electronics Engineer, that’s why I went to a technical high school “UKTC”, which is managed by the Technical University of Sofia. Guess my career plan was pretty clear at that time. After my high school graduation, I began studying in the Technical University of Sofia, Biomedical Electronics, of course, and I graduated with a Bachelor’s degree. I continued my education, as I wanted a master degree in the area, but unfortunately 5 years ago my expectations were far away from the reality of the medical electronics in Bulgaria, so I decided to change completely the scope. Mainframe services was the choice I made as it was something exotic and interesting for sure.
My journey with the company started in 2011 as a Junior Mainframe Support Engineer. After 2 years, my hard work was spotted by my direct manager, and I was chosen to attend the first Mainframe Academy driven in Bulgaria. It started with 2 months intensive trainings, and ended with “CA Technologies” certification exam, followed by online courses and mentoring. Mentors were onsite, so we had good ground for high quality skill knowledge transfer. After a couple of months the real work started, and the work/training balance changed in favor of the real tasks. Not long after that, I took the challenge to move to the next level and joined the EMEA Mainframe Hardware team - that was the moment I started to develop my career as a Deep Technical Support Engineer.
I would say that any Mainframe hardware related trainings and experience is valuable for our team, as we are responsible for the whole Mainframe configuration and design such as CPU, Storage, Networking, and Cabling. Furthermore, we must know the software running on all the kits in the mainframe data-centers. All the trainings provided by the vendors are extremely helpful. My mentor is a great colleague and friend who is sharing her knowledge and experience with me and the rest of the team. She has not only a hardware, but also a software background, which gives us a wider perspective as a team. There are no black boxes in front of me with such a colleague. In the Mainframe hardware area every day is a challenge.
In such a complex technology there are lots of aspects which could be improved or upgraded. One of the last challenges we had was an optical technology used to increase bandwidth over existing fiber optic backbones circuit migration between two data-centers in Germany. Together with one of my colleagues from UK, our hardware guru, we managed to migrate all the services and even to improve their performance. We managed to bring the performance/throughput of the whole network to a next level, which was our mission. That’s why HPE partnership is key! This is a complex environment where all the issues are looked within our team as opportunities.
Thanks to my team, I’ve managed to win several awards, for example Star & Today winner for Q4 FY2014, ITO Global Delivery Centers – Hero for March 2015, Top Employee FY15 and so on. In HPE, hard work is always recognized and rewarded, this is why I am proud to be part of this company! I am looking forward to take my career forward, and I am confident in that goal.
The opportunities to find your path and grow your career are countless if you set your mind to it. See it for yourself and take that step, by applying on our HPE Careers website ->http://careers.hpe.com/search/mainframe/.
About the author
Svetlin is Mainframe Deep Technical Support Engineer in HPE and has been working for the company for more than 5 years. He is excited to let you know more about the Mainframe technology he is working with, in Sofia, Bulgaria. This is only one of the many unique roles for his country which HPE is offering. You can connect with Svetlin on LinkedIn.
DesireeCH
Employer brand and digital media evangelist. Proactively searching for new trends and best in class practices to find, converse, share, engage and refer potential candidates and bring the best Talent for the company.
