Storage Specialist – Dell PowerMax to IBM VTS Migration

Transform Enterprise Storage. Lead Critical Migration. Deliver Resilience.

Are you an experienced Storage Specialist with deep Mainframe and Enterprise Storage expertise?

We are looking for a Senior Storage Specialist / Storage Migration Lead to play a critical role in a major enterprise transformation within a highly regulated environment.

This is an opportunity to lead and support the migration of mission-critical mainframe storage workloads from Dell EMC PowerMax (PMAX) infrastructure to IBM Virtual Tape System (VTS) and associated IBM storage technologies.

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.
  

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)
  

If you are a Senior Storage Specialist who thrives in complex enterprise environments and has the expertise to successfully navigate a Dell PowerMax to IBM VTS transformation, we would like to hear from you.