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The New Jersey governor’s press conference today was really good. Clear, articulate, compassionate, firm, informational.
I KID YOU NOT that Governor Phil Murphy put out a call for COBOL programmers. So if you were a whiz kid writing code for insurance company mainframes in the 1970’s....New Jersey needs you!
Everyone is doing the best they can, but many states rely on legacy systems that are maintained by an army of “historian-coders.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/04/nyregion/coronavirus-ny-unemployment-benefits.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/04/nyregion/coronavirus-ny-unemployment-benefits.html
States are forming partnerships to convert to modern solutions.
Idaho and Vermont went live in 2014 with a new system that saved 75-80% of the mainframe costs and “reduced manual work spent by staff by more than 2,000 hours.” https://www.govtech.com/policy/Collaboration-on-Unemployment-Systems-Creates-Efficiencies-Cost-Savings.html
Idaho and Vermont went live in 2014 with a new system that saved 75-80% of the mainframe costs and “reduced manual work spent by staff by more than 2,000 hours.” https://www.govtech.com/policy/Collaboration-on-Unemployment-Systems-Creates-Efficiencies-Cost-Savings.html
Lest you be shocked inordinately by the states: in the finance industry, “an estimated $3 trillion in daily commerce flows through COBOL systems.”
FASCINATING story of a 75-year-old coder who does emergency public & finance sector patches. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-banks-cobol/banks-scramble-to-fix-old-systems-as-it-cowboys-ride-into-sunset-idUSKBN17C0D8
FASCINATING story of a 75-year-old coder who does emergency public & finance sector patches. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-banks-cobol/banks-scramble-to-fix-old-systems-as-it-cowboys-ride-into-sunset-idUSKBN17C0D8
It’s still wide lapels, bell bottoms and disco at many federal agencies: https://www.nextgov.com/it-modernization/2019/06/10-government-legacy-systems-cost-taxpayers-337-million-every-year/157682/
As states & federal agencies grapple with overloaded systems—this is a good time to remind everyone to update your software, organize files, backup your data, implement smart digital practices at home also.
(Backups as easy these days to the secure cloud or using cheap drives!)
(Backups as easy these days to the secure cloud or using cheap drives!)
(I remember the days of backing up our home computer to a ridiculous number of floppy disks. 
)
Anyway, despite the challenges they create, I love hearing about old, still-functioning systems and vestigial architecture and the elderly “cowboy coders” who keep them running.
)Anyway, despite the challenges they create, I love hearing about old, still-functioning systems and vestigial architecture and the elderly “cowboy coders” who keep them running.
Lolol, #COBOL has been a trending topic all day. If you like computers or tech history--click and read some of the reminiscences and funny stories about this 60-year old programming language that runs a lot of financial, insurance and municipal services.
https://twitter.com/search?q=COBOL&src=trend_click
https://twitter.com/search?q=COBOL&src=trend_click
