EXECPGM explores technology, strategy, architecture, and the principles of effective IT work.
Recent posts:
- Beam me up! – On Star Trek en QuantumIn the world of the TV series Star Trek, teleportation is just like taking the bus. You press a button – “beam me up!” – and suddenly you’re somewhere else entirely. It’s the most ordinary thing in the world. The Star Trek series is, of course, science fiction. But in our real world, we have… Read more: Beam me up! – On Star Trek en Quantum
- Infrastructure as Code for the MainframeWhen a critical application update requires new infrastructure, such as additional storage, network configuration changes, or middleware adjustments, how long does your mainframe team wait? In many organizations, what takes minutes in cloud environments can stretch to days or weeks on the mainframe. This is not a technology limitation. It’s a process problem that mainframe… Read more: Infrastructure as Code for the Mainframe
- IT Resilience in 2025: Mainframe Disaster Recovery, Cyber Vaults, and Cross-Region Failover StrategiesThis article is an extension of a presentation on mainframe resilience a colleague and I gave at the GS NL 2025 conference, in Almere on June 5, 2025. Introduction In this article, I will examine today’s challenges in IT Resilience and look at where we came from with mainframe technology. Today’s resilience is no longer… Read more: IT Resilience in 2025: Mainframe Disaster Recovery, Cyber Vaults, and Cross-Region Failover Strategies
- Connecting from z/OS apps to Kafka via MQApache Kafka is the de facto standard open-source event streaming platform. In event-driven architectures, applications publish events when data changes, allowing other systems to react in real-time rather than polling for updates. An example is a CRM application that serves as the system of record for customer data. When a customer’s address changes, instead of… Read more: Connecting from z/OS apps to Kafka via MQ
- Automation: From Repetition to EngineeringI often realize I’m doing repetitive tasks that could easily be automated. Money transfers, reminders, invoices-these are simple, low-effort activities that don’t deserve to consume my time. Every time this happens, I tell myself, “I should automate this to save time and mental effort.” And yet, somehow, I don’t. I tell myself I have no… Read more: Automation: From Repetition to Engineering
- The Cathedral Effect: Designing Engineering Spaces for Creativity and FocusIn software engineering, as in many creative and technical fields, the environment shapes how we think and work. An intriguing psychological phenomenon known as the Cathedral Effect offers valuable insights into how physical and virtual workspaces can be designed to optimize both high-level creativity and detailed execution. What Is the Cathedral Effect? The Cathedral Effect… Read more: The Cathedral Effect: Designing Engineering Spaces for Creativity and Focus