I agree with Brian. It really depends on what you need done. But start with
1) where or how is syslog, stc output and jobs archived - this is nice 2) what are the smf jobs - also nice 3) hope for SDSF 4) hope for the correct access as a sysprog 5) hmc access 6) doc if it exists Most everything can be figured out if you have this stuff. At this point you should be able to drop in and help. If you can't.. well.. most of the people I see on the list could do it.. they might complain.. but given a terrible turn over for a system.. who wouldn't. My 2(of whatever diminutive denomination you would like to use) Rob Ps Most of the rest can be figured out.. tools/JCL can be downloaded On Sat, Feb 18, 2023, 19:58 Seymour J Metz <sme...@gmu.edu> wrote: > I've been able to be productive on the first day for things that didn't > require institutional knowledge, but I've never picked up all of the non > technical things anywhere near that quickly. I've also never taken as long > as 6 months. But if the installation is a real mare's nest, all bets are > off. YMMV. > > In general, I can learn a new language or a new OS more quickly than a new > shop. Search for "dusty card deck". > > > -- > Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz > http://mason.gmu.edu/~smetz3 > > ________________________________________ > From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] on behalf > of Mark Zelden [m...@mzelden.com] > Sent: Friday, February 17, 2023 6:35 PM > To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU > Subject: Re: How long for an experiened z/OS sysprog to come up to speed > on a new environment? > > Wow! I think I'm pretty good and I would never say "1 day". Even back > when I was consulting > full time at different small-ish clients it normally took a few days to > get into the groove and figure out > the local environment. And that's with bringing all my own tools to help > figure things out > because they are rarely documented well as someone wrote. Even if things > are documented, > each site has naming conventions, processes and procedures that are > unique. Figuring out and > learning all the red tape takes longer than one day! Back at that time I > did a lot of jumping > around to different clients there were usually local sysprogs around and > they didn't want to > help a consultant anyway. So someone helping / volunteering information > would make it a > bit easier. I still run into that today with people that think it is job > security to share information > or purposely don't document something. I always felt it was my duty and > it also let me > move onto other things if someone could do what I was doing easy enough > with proper > documentation. > > Today, I work in an environment with 8 sysplexes, 30 LPARs, different > standards for things > in different sysplexes. I've often wondered how long it would take a good > experienced > sysprog to be productive in it. Not a "superstar". What I deal with is > "experienced" > off shore resources that typically have 6-8 years of z/OS system > programming and > even with a ton of documentation about everything they still aren't > productive at all > for 6 months and it takes another 6 months before they're doing real > work. I'm not > talking about being able to do parmlib APF and LNKLST updates. I'm > referring to > being able to install, configure and roll out software upgrades (not just > installing > PTFs) across a large complex environment without breaking something. And > hardware? Forget it... they don't have a clue. > > And my comments above refer to "OS" system programming. Other areas like > CICS, DB2, MQ, Network have similar challenges but the local learning > curve is > probably half or less than half. > > Regards, > > Mark > -- > Mark Zelden - Zelden Consulting Services - z/OS, OS/390 and MVS > ITIL v3 Foundation Certified > mailto:m...@mzelden.com > Mark's MVS Utilities: > http://secure-web.cisco.com/1omHWGxIkiiMSX-BcfoSVGoO99e23DSy9x98OyPh1DcTN24ve7mVeOQFWQh40PrhekHuuLemMeR8pdcoGO6Yl3H-aB7nZwjs3UCaGGdQZVrrkl8lNHNamcjrCmT63aAiAmZ34T38nQOJLiKfGaovT5DK8alcAfVBFYQi9Wn3WTRuIJtnXQ0qKdyMqjK3wBl7DmMQobkelwp9CsYIGSPKbPC_mrMNigfarMjjFiukLOseNsCcktKRnrYOCLTktEWtF3As35enhjqkzaSZgEDtd1cIlFk2SiHree05AV71zd-K2t61IfzjzntxcTgqAT-QAeZb1wJFcOpC0Y17TieYjp0OFjCliG7eJgVfZpeDSCQ6HnvkgeP17AjsQ-UfE6x8H-617Bbdqxu5mrYoDVcBnISVjjM5RQ11StSarp-qGgw4/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mzelden.com%2Fmvsutil.html > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
