WE ARE ZELLIS Managing the mainframes
Kathie Hammond takes us behind the scenes with a look at her team's essential work in partnership with IBM.
Tell us about your work at Zellis
My remit is for the Zellis Payroll Extensions Team. What that means is that I’m responsible for a number of ancillary products: Zellis Background Checking and Assessa, for example. I also look after the oldest product in the Zellis stable, Unipay, which runs on the IBM zSeries.
There have been IBM mainframes at our Peterborough site since it was built back in 1986. In April this year, we upgraded to a brand new z16 mainframe. Then in October we moved everything to a data centre for better service and security. My team, IBM UK, and our IBM Premier Business Partner all worked closely together to get us settled into our new home.
What do you enjoy the most?
I think that has to be the variety – no two days are the same. One day I could be taking part in prospective customer meetings with sales colleagues and the next I could be in the depths of legislation with my team.
"The team is awesome, with a never-say-no attitude to picking up projects. We’re a knowledgeable team and we cover a lot across a breadth of subjects. We're recognised subject matter experts within Zellis."
How did you get to this point in your career?
I started as a support analyst with Peterborough Software in 1997. Then came roles as a support consultant and later as a development manager. One of my previous managers identified that I was quite technically minded and was able to bridge the gap between communicating with customers and communicating with developers.
What are you looking forward to working on in the future?
January 2025 brings our re-certification as an IBM Independent Software Vendor. I get to tell someone at IBM about all the great things the Unipay and PRO IV teams have done over the year. This includes our advocacy efforts – like taking part in the recent IBM European Virtual Career Fair, and the fact that we’re coaching an IBM Ambassador student.
I’m also excited to share the skills the team has learned over the year via brilliant online training courses that result in industry-recognised IBM skills badges. ■
