Storage Specialist – Dell PowerMax to IBM VTS Migration at Sabenza IT

Key Responsibilities

Storage Migration Planning & Execution

• Assess the current Dell EMC PowerMax (PMAX) storage environment, architecture and workload dependencies.
• Lead storage discovery, capacity analysis and migration readiness assessments.
• Design migration strategies, implementation plans, detailed runbooks and rollback procedures.
• Define migration waves and coordinate testing cycles, dress rehearsals and production cutovers.
• Drive migration execution while minimising operational and business disruption.
• Ensure data integrity, validation and reconciliation throughout all migration activities.
• Identify migration risks, dependencies and potential service impacts and implement appropriate mitigation strategies.
• Provide hands-on support during critical production migration windows and hypercare periods.

IBM Virtual Tape System (VTS) Implementation

• Configure, administer and support IBM Virtual Tape System (VTS) environments.
• Work extensively with IBM TS7700 Series technologies.
• Integrate IBM VTS services with z/OS and enterprise backup and recovery platforms.
• Manage virtual tape libraries, tape pools, retention policies and archival processes.
• Support IBM storage integration and associated Copy Services capabilities.
• Optimise virtual tape performance, capacity and resource utilisation.
• Ensure stable and efficient post-migration IBM VTS operations.

Mainframe Storage Administration

• Support enterprise IBM zSeries / z/OS storage environments.
• Manage storage provisioning, allocation and utilisation.
• Support DFSMS, SMS Storage Management and HSM processes.
• Configure, maintain and troubleshoot FICON connectivity.
• Perform storage performance analysis and optimisation.
• Support storage replication, recovery and disaster recovery services.
• Work closely with Mainframe Systems Programmers, Infrastructure teams and Storage Operations teams.

Performance & Capacity Management

• Monitor enterprise storage utilisation and identify capacity trends.
• Forecast future storage requirements and support capacity planning initiatives.
• Monitor storage KPIs, availability targets and SLAs.
• Investigate storage bottlenecks and implement performance optimisation initiatives.
• Analyse workload patterns and resource consumption.
• Produce performance dashboards, capacity reports and operational insights.
• Support continuous improvement across enterprise storage services.

Disaster Recovery & Resilience

• Support storage replication and failover strategies.
• Work with technologies such as SRDF/A and SRDF/S to support resilient storage services.
• Participate in Disaster Recovery testing, failover exercises and recovery simulations.
• Validate that storage solutions meet agreed RTO and RPO requirements.
• Support business continuity planning and recovery procedures.
• Maintain accurate DR, recovery and resilience documentation.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen storage availability and operational resilience.

Governance, Compliance & Documentation

• Develop and maintain storage architecture diagrams and technical designs.
• Create detailed migration runbooks, operational procedures and rollback plans.
• Maintain accurate configuration management and infrastructure records.
• Support audit, regulatory and compliance requirements.
• Ensure adherence to enterprise security and operational standards.
• Facilitate knowledge transfer and operational handover to support teams.
• Produce clear documentation to support sustainable post-migration operations.

Requirements

Strong hands-on experience with:

• Dell EMC PowerMax (PMAX)
• Unisphere for PowerMax
• SRDF/A
• SRDF/S
• SnapVX
• Storage replication technologies
• Enterprise SAN administration
• Storage performance and capacity management

IBM Storage Technologies

Experience with:

• IBM Virtual Tape System (VTS)
• IBM TS7700 Series
• IBM DS8000 Storage
• IBM Storage Insights
• IBM Copy Services
• GDPS integration exposure
• Enterprise backup, recovery and archival environments

Mainframe Technologies

Strong understanding of:

• IBM z/OS
• JCL
• DFSMS
• SMS Storage Management
• HSM
• FICON architecture
• RACF awareness
• Mainframe storage operations and workload management

Data Protection & Recovery

Experience in:

• Enterprise backup and recovery technologies
• Storage replication
• Disaster recovery planning and execution
• Failover and recovery procedures
• Business continuity processes
• RTO and RPO management

Monitoring & Operations

Exposure to enterprise monitoring and performance tools such as:

• OMEGAMON
• RMF
• MainView
• Enterprise infrastructure and storage monitoring platforms

Essential Experience

• 8+ years' experience in Enterprise Storage Administration.
• 5+ years' experience supporting IBM Mainframe environments.
• Proven hands-on experience with Dell EMC PowerMax (PMAX).
• Strong experience with IBM TS7700 / IBM VTS platforms.
• Proven experience delivering or supporting large-scale storage migrations.
• Experience with enterprise production cutovers and migration execution.
• Strong knowledge of storage replication and disaster recovery technologies.
• Experience supporting critical, high-availability enterprise environments.
• Strong troubleshooting, analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
• Ability to work across technical, operational and business stakeholders.

Highly Advantageous

• Experience within Banking, Financial Services or another highly regulated industry.
• Experience with mission-critical Mainframe transformation programmes.
• Exposure to IBM DS8000 environments.
• GDPS experience or integration exposure.
• Experience working within complex enterprise Data Centres.
• Previous experience leading migration workstreams or technical cutovers.

Desired Certifications

The following certifications or equivalent experience will be advantageous:

• Dell Technologies Proven Professional Certification
• IBM Certified Storage Administrator
• IBM z/OS or Mainframe-related Certifications
• ITIL Foundation
• TOGAF (desirable)