Hi: Here is a possible game changer in my opinion for blind IT professionals trying to get the high-paying main frame jobs of today. I hope GW is both aware of this and has experience working in, or at least, researching this new arena since it applies to many, many, applications heading into the Cloud these days. ... The most popular high-paying Main Frame language used by the large companies is COBOL, CICS and some form of DB. Because of the complexity of trying to run an accessible remote terminal programming session in these environments, this massive and high-paying environment has been pretty much avoided. Yet, trying to get a job with big industry, health care or insurance and government Agencies usually requires working in this environment. A new approach is here and may offer, in many cases, a really nice solution to these problems. Here is an article about the leading company, MicroFocus, who has been creating off-line fully compatible products for IBM Main Frames which can be run on a Micro Computer for decades now. I used it about 20 plus years ago on a project with Ford Motor Company and it's use has grown since then. Today the development environment is including the Microsoft .net platform on local machines and in the Azure Cloud. This means the possibility of good paying jobs for many Blind Professionals if it works out. I think GW Micro is working on using modern Accessibility hooks on local machines and on the Web and, if they can get the Azure Platform Accessible, there can be a uniform and accessible way for Programming IBM Main Frame Applications from a PC if I read it right. Here is the first little article I found that forced me to write this posting. Do any of you have experience with these products and, GW, do you have any experience with any of these products? I may be over stating it but this could be a game changer for many students looking to get high-paying Programming jobs with major industry or Government. Here is a blurb about one of the MicroFocus products that provides MainFrame Communications for most IBM Main Frame installations which is now supported along with COBOL, IBM's DB/2 and other IBM Main Frame tools in the .Net environment such as Visual Studio 2010. <BeginArticle> Micro Focus Announces CICS® for .NET Extends established mainframe migration capabilities, delivering CICS support as a managed .NET component for the Microsoft Application Platform including AzureT Washington, DC, July 12, 2010 - At the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2010, Micro Focus ® (LSE.MCRO.L), the leading provider of enterprise application modernization, testing and management solutions, today announced a new managed code version of the company's industry-leading mainframe migration and application modernization solution for the Microsoft Application Platform including AzureT. This new release will help large organizations significantly mitigate risk and dramatically reduce costs by migrating their COBOL, CICS® and DB2® applications to the Microsoft Application Platform. Migrations are accomplished without making changes to the underlying application code or data, thus retaining all the core business logic locked away in these enterprise assets and significantly reducing testing costs related to re-hosting. Based on Micro Focus Visual COBOL® and Microsoft Visual Studio 2010, the new solution provides a rich development and testing environment for the migration, modernization and new development of mainframe applications on the Windows Application Platform. For the first time, Visual Studio developers and Windows system engineers can now modernize and support mainframe applications, addressing the growing skills gap in many businesses. "This solution will provide our customers with the greatest platform for innovation of their enterprise data and applications," said Peter Duffell, Vice President of Strategic Partners at Micro Focus. "The Microsoft Application Platform offers our customers unrivalled cost and performance benefits, and together Micro Focus and Microsoft have created the best solution for the migration of mission-critical mainframe applications." Micro Focus Server Enterprise Edition for .NET leverages the full power of the Microsoft .NET Framework, Windows Server 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2008 R2, enabling customers to make significant gains in time to value, productivity, and total cost of ownership. "Organizations with IBM System z servers are migrating to the Windows Application Platform to more competitively address their business requirements and significantly reduce their costs," said Bob Ellsworth, Director of Enterprise Platform Modernization at Microsoft. "The ability to run COBOL and CICS applications as .NET components provides a dynamic, cost-effective alternative for IBM customers." To learn more about this new solution and collaboration with Microsoft, visit Micro ... Rick USA If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original sender only. If your reply would benefit others on the list and your message is related to GW Micro, then please consider sending your message to [email protected] so the entire list will receive it.
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