The BMC Beat Blog

Finding a Rewarding Career Path in the World of the Modern Mainframe

Mainframe Career Path BMC India
3 minute read
Sandeep Sawant

For over 60 years, the IBM mainframe has been well-established as the platform of choice for handling large volumes of transactions and storing mission-critical data. While many see the platform as a legacy system, the truth is that, thanks to new technologies and approaches, we’re entering an exciting time for mainframe development. An increase in the adoption of DevOps practices and tools, coupled with advancements in automated intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), have put the mainframe on the leading edge of technology and created new and exciting career opportunities. BMC is one such company that is both innovating new technologies and creating rich career paths.

Leading innovation

The modern mainframe gives IT professionals the chance to add to their core competencies, offering those with engineering backgrounds the opportunity to grow their DevOps experience and those with DevOps experience to learn more about mainframe systems.

A good example of the current surge in mainframe innovation is the BMC Automated Mainframe Intelligence (AMI) portfolio. Spanning the core areas of operations, security, and data management, BMC AMI leverages the newest technologies to create smarter solutions that enable a self-healing, self-managing mainframe.

The AI, ML, and predictive analytics behind BMC AMI enable almost limitless innovation to help drive the mainframe into the next 60 years. At BMC, we’re committed to leading innovation to maximize not only the full potential of the mainframe, but also the use of DevOps to develop new applications and transform mainframe management tools and practices.

While DevOps has been used on other platforms for a while now, its adoption on the mainframe is a fairly recent phenomenon. BMC is focused on helping customers facilitate mainframe DevOps with the most advanced set of tools available, from integrations between BMC AMI Security and BMC Helix IT Service Management (ITSM) that give operations teams greater visibility and threat response to the new BMC AMI DevX portfolio of application development tools that help increase the quality, velocity, and efficiency of mainframe software development and delivery.

The BMC employee experience

As BMC continues to grow its mainframe team in India, I look back at how we have progressed as an organization over the three years I have been with the company. Our team has tripled in size during that time, helping advance the intelligence behind our BMC AMI products while also fostering a work environment and experience that emphasizes the people of BMC and a commitment to the community in which they live. Last year, we were ranked #8 in the “Great Places to Work” survey of the best workplaces in India.

BMC fosters a culture of collaboration and innovation, where employees do meaningful work with colleagues who respect their ideas and contributions. Employee respect and communication are an important part of our culture, as shown by our mentorship program, which encourages continuous learning and career development by pairing colleagues who can learn from each other.

But we realize that there is more to life than work. The COVID-19 pandemic caused many companies to switch to a work-from-home model. This transition was easy for BMC, as we have offered flexible scheduling and opportunities to work remotely. We understand the importance of work/life integration and encourage the blending of personal and work lives with family-friendly events and initiatives.

Giving back

Beyond personal experiences, we strive to make a difference in local communities and the wider society. Through our BMC Cares program, we have helped set up COVID vaccination camps and donated oxygen tanks to local hospitals. Through a number of other initiatives, such as promoting digital literacy for girls through support of the Lila Poonawalla Foundation, BMC is committed to putting people first, within the organization and in the community at large.

Personally, I have embraced the opportunity to give back to the community through my workplace by participating in an initiative to repaint local orphanage schools and by working with BMC Cares to produce digital books for visually impaired children. While I was initially drawn to BMC because of the alignment of company goals with my experience in mainframe and DevOps technology, I’ve found the emphasis on personal growth and opportunities to give back to be a fulfilling benefit of the job.

From working on the cutting edge of technology to opportunities for advancement to a collaborative culture and an emphasis on family life and service to the community, it is no wonder that BMC ranks as one of the top workplaces in India. If you are looking for a fulfilling and rewarding career, BMC is the place to be. Get started on your journey on the BMC careers page.

Access the 2023 Mainframe Report

The results of the 18th annual BMC Mainframe Survey are in, and the state of the mainframe remains strong. Overall perception of the mainframe is positive, as is the outlook for future growth on the platform, with workloads growing and investment in new technologies and processes increasing.


These postings are my own and do not necessarily represent BMC's position, strategies, or opinion.

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About the author

Sandeep Sawant

Product Development Director Sandeep Sawant joined BMC in Sept 2018. An Electronics engineering graduate from one of the premier institutes in India (IITs), he has more than 30 years’ experience in the IT Industry, having worked in the US, UK, and India during his career in various roles. Starting as an assembly language programmer in the ‘80s, he has played various roles as a developer, systems programmer, Db2 DBA to a product developer and pre-sales consultant for the IBM MQSeries product while working for IBM Hursley Labs in the UK. He has handled different managerial responsibilities since 1999, after returning to India. Growing competencies and building word class teams is his forte. He was responsible for the DevOps consulting services offering at his previous employer, working with the company’s clients worldwide in helping them transform to the Agile / DevOps way of modern software factories. He currently leads the R&D team for the IMS product portfolio and is also the India location leader for the Intelligent Z Optimization and Transformation organisation.