Frank Chu, Senior Software Engineer at ColeSoft, was recently elected to join the board of SHARE, an independent volunteer-run information technology association that provides education, professional networking and industry influence for the enterprise IT community. Frank shares his thoughts about his new role – and the role of SHARE in the mainframe community.

How did you first get involved with SHARE early in your career?

The first time I went to the SHARE conference was in 2002 in San Francisco, about five years after I started working for ColeSoft. We had just added AMODE64 support to XDC, and we wanted to make a big announcement about it. Back then there was no better place to do so than SHARE. I was getting started with the z/OS platform, and I didn’t understand 99% of what was being discussed there. I had nothing to contribute and was just there for the experience. I was definitely an outsider, but I met some great people there. I’d like to think that almost 25 years later, I’ve learned a little bit more about mainframes!

What do you see as the value of being part of SHARE?

The primary value of SHARE for me, is learning. Every time I go to a conference, I gather information about new technologies, new features coming down the pipeline, new hardware, and of course new ways that people are using z/OS. Networking with customers and peers is a close second. I feel that over the last few years the education part has diminished in importance as the focus has shifted to more product demos under the guise of sharing information, but there are still plenty of opportunities to learn about new technology. 

Why did you decide to run for a board seat?

At first, it was more about satisfying my curiosity of how SHARE functions. All of my experience with SHARE has been on the vendor side and being an attendee at the conferences. How SHARE operates and how sessions were selected had been a mystery to me because I was just an engineer who showed up twice a year. As the possibility of running for a board seat became more of a reality, I got really excited about a shift towards a SHARE where sharing knowledge and ideas is the primary goal. I’d love to give a shout-out to the System Z Enthusiasts group for showing me the way.

What do you see as the future of SHARE?

For starters, the organization is in great shape. All you need to do is go to the conferences and see how many incredible companies are there, from major industry players like IBM and Broadcom all the way down to small startups. It’s a great mix of people with incredible ideas, and I don’t think I’ve ever gone to a SHARE Event where I didn’t come home inspired by what I had learned. My goal is to help continue to stand the success of the oldest computer user group in the world while also engaging with people who may not be as involved as they could be. I’m looking for people who are at a point where I was in 2002 when I looked around the room and didn’t know what was going on. A lot of amazing people helped me become a mainframer very quickly, and now it’s my turn to do that for the next generation.

To learn more about what Frank is up to, feel free to reach out to him at frank@colesoft.com.