Asean's first Linux on IBM System z training programme
ConvergenceAsia staff
18/03/2009

Republic Polytechnic (RP) has partnered with Red Hat and IBM to offer Linux training for RP students and industry professionals. This ‘Red Hat Enterprise Linux on IBM’s System z mainframe’ training earns RP the honour of being the first-ever educational institution in Asean to embrace the Red Hat Academy and IBM System z Academic Initiative programmes jointly. RP expects to train up to 150 students and 75 industry professionals over the next three years.

The collaboration complements the current System z Operating Systems (z/OS) training offered by RP’s School of Information and Communications Technology (SIT) and aims to offer skills enablement for the next generation of entrepreneurs, IT specialists and business leaders. The new training programme will ensure RP graduates and industry professionals are well-trained in open standards-based technologies and Open Source software used by many employers and help pave the way to an expanded pool of trained personnel ready to meet the growing demand for Open Source skills and enhance Singapore’s greater competitiveness. This programme was made possible through a combined investment, over three years, of S$5.45m to cover hardware, software licenses, services and maintenance support.

As part of this new programme, RP upgraded their System z mainframe server to support the running of Red Hat Enterprise Linux on the system. This upgrade included the addition of the z/VM operating system which enables the virtualisation of system resources to support running multiple Linux servers on the single mainframe. Red Hat and IBM also injected additional assistance and resources into the centre, including the training of RP academic staff on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and System z curriculum, structuring the necessary Open Source technology course curriculum and employable skills training, and collaboration opportunities with Mainframe and Open Source end-users.

"Industry research companies have identified several major trends in the data centre – server consolidation, virtualisation and the growing acceptance of Linux. These trends are also being seen by our partners Red Hat and IBM in Singapore and the region. They lead to an increased need for trained IT professionals who are conversant in Linux and virtualisation technologies, and on IBM’s System z mainframe as well,” said Mervin Beng, Director, RP School of Information and Communications Technology.

Spearheaded by SIT, the new training programme is an extension of the RP Enterprise Computing Learning Centre that was launched in 2006 with support from IBM to provide mainframe education in Singapore. The centre houses an IBM System z890 mainframe that will be used for training RP students up to the level of Red Hat Certified Technician (RHCT) or Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE). According to IBM’s Mainframe Charter, IBM aims to produce 20,000 mainframe-skilled professionals globally by 2010.

This new academic programme is another unique way that IBM teams up with business partners and colleges as part of the larger ecosystem, to educate the up-and-coming mainframe programmers of tomorrow, said Cheah Saw Pheng, Country Manager, IBM Systems & Technology Group, Singapore.

Added Alan Ho, Manager, Services, ASEAN, Red Hat Asia Pacific, "The IT industry is changing and Singapore's next generation of entrepreneurs, IT specialists and business leaders now truly understand that if they want to be part of the future, they would need to expand their skills by embracing Open Source technology."

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