By Dan Ilett, 8 November 2005 10:15
NEWS
Lorries still cart magnetic tape around the city after a hard day's banking. Even in this age of high speed networks, some institutions still insist on getting their data in this way.
Chris Dunn, business development manager at payments company Voca, said: "It sounds amazing but the settlement we give to the Bank of England is on physical media.
"The banks are keen to retire [tape] because it's not produced any more. We would much rather not heft these things around on tape."
And it's not just the tape that's old - banks continue to rely on technologies installed 30 years ago - but the number of IT workers with the skills to keep them running are declining.
Dunn said: "The biggest barrier is 'if it's working why should we get rid of it'. You've got to look at the cost and the reliability in the long term."
Voca is currently trying to move away from legacy systems with its Bacstel-IP programme. Dunn said the pressures of European markets pushed Voca to adopting a new model. The project is costing around £100m.
He added: "You have to have a really good reason to move. It's only when you get to the other side and you've managed the risk you can breathe a sigh of relief. These things are rarely cheap."
Analyst Forrester is seeing a trend in banks looking to move on from their legacy systems. It claims they are in the middle of a €100bn spend in a "race to renew their IT platforms" by 2010.
The analyst claims 69 per cent of European banks either have plans to update applications or are already doing so to dump outdated systems and change business strategies.
But one IT recruiter said demand for mainframe operators and support staff is as high as ever.
He said: "We've done loads of mainframe recruitment. The more specialised roles are where people are making the money. The development market is more buoyant but the support and maintenance staff are hard to find.
"It's mainly for banks and retailers because it's robust and they've worked with it for between 20 and 30 years. There is a reluctance to move out of that area until it's been tested."
And Bill Bentley, a managing consultant for Fujitsu Business, said that more legacy workers are retiring - making the remaining ones highly sought after.
He said: "The skills are dwindling so companies have to pay increasingly high contractor rates. If [firms] are running their business on technology that is getting harder to support that will drive a move."
Bentley said he didn't think university computer studies graduates are attracted to the idea of working on legacy equipment: "I suspect if you are an IT graduate you will be motivated by the creativity of new products rather than thinking of more money from working with older stuff. I'd guess the older people would have the monopoly on this stuff.
So as the creators of legacy leave the industry, firms are being forced to change - not to keep up with technology but perhaps to keep up with the skill set.
Bailey added: "People and technology - I don't think you can separate the two. There is also a people problem at IT management level. Mainframe and modern technology is very different. The whole industry is built around connecting the two."
Comments
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1. Julian Dobbins, Micro Focus
Much of the concern at the heart of the ‘legacy skills’ dilemma is in regard to the age of the workforce. The popular view is that many of the staff with appropriate skills will soon be retiring, taking with them, as they leave, not only the systems expertise they accumulated over the years, but also much of the business knowledge they acquired through years spent moulding information technology to the ever changing contours of the corporation.
This certainly is an issue, with the average age of US federal government workers just shy of 50, and a recent survey across COBOL programmers in the US finding the average age to be between 42 and 49. However, given that most of these workers still have a decade or more of regular employment ahead of them, the concern is less one of replacing their technical skills, important though these might be, but more the business knowledge that they possess.
Organisations must act now to map out their legacy applications portfolios in order to achieve a greater awareness of just how significant any loss of knowledge might be when staff members leave. Separating strategic business knowledge from commodity IT skills, or indeed the skills associated with applications for which there is no strategic requirement, is a vital step in creating the appropriate skills initiatives.
With retirement of key legacy workers still some way off, there is plenty of time for the IT industry to ensure a smooth transition of skills, but it can only do this by embracing the cultural needs of today’s recruits, and ensuring that existing staff have every opportunity to impart their knowledge of the legacy systems and the business processes they encapsulate.
2. anonymous
What do mature IT workers want?
1. stability. No threats to outsource or offshore.
2. respect. Just because someone is technical doesnt mean he shouldnt rank with management, but with the cleaning crew.
3. pay. Along with the above, he should be renumerated in line with management.
4. hours. Working hours should not include "on-call" after normal working hours. Companies should invest in sufficent hardware and resources to conduct IT work during normal working hours. If a system must run 24/7, then hire resources to man and monitor.
In return, employers should expect that their mature IT workers will lead the way in transfer of BI, and welcome the next gen of IT workers.
3. anonymous
If this is true, why have I been out of IT for more than 2 years. I lived in the New York City area and there wasn't a job to be found. Now I live in the Eastern South Florida area (Delray Beach to be exact) and the mainframe world here is just about non existant.
I have over 30 years of mainframe programmer/analyst experience and since my exit (hopefully temporary)
I have moved into the retail field.
4. mary
OUTSOURCING is why those of us who are 'older' are out of work. Too much was sent overseas, leaving nothing for the elders. The whippersnappers from overseas have absolutely no idea how to successfully decommission (shut down) legacy applications without affecting the business. After all, maintaining status quo is their bread&butter.