CIOs who question whether a lack of younger workers with mainframe skills will influence their hardware platform choices are asking the wrong question. At issue isn't the viability of the zSeries platform, but how CIOs can offset any anticipated shortage of zSeries skills. Academic initiatives from IBM and Micro Focus offer large-systems and COBOL education to universities and colleges around the globe to combat anticipated skills shortages. CIOs with extensive investments in the zSeries platform should leverage the academic programs by hiring and pairing graduates with veteran workers who are nearing retirement.