About Jesper Pedersen

Where I make the greatest difference

Jesper Pedersen is an independent mainframe transformation consultant with experience spanning hands-on mainframe development, architecture, programme leadership and large-scale transformation.

I am at my best in large transformations where there can be a considerable distance between the strategy discussed at executive level and what actually has to work in the projects.

I have a strong mainframe background. I know the technology and can go into COBOL, PL/I, Assembler, CICS, IMS, DB2, batch and JCL when necessary. But my role today is much broader than that of a traditional mainframe specialist.

Throughout my career, I have helped build new solutions and organisations from the ground up, led major development and migration initiatives and, most recently, helped establish an end-to-end process for transforming a very large mainframe portfolio.

Large-scale mainframe transformation

In recent years, I have worked on the large-scale transformation of Danske Bank’s mainframe portfolio, working across portfolio assessment, architecture, migration planning and execution.

I have helped define the end-to-end transformation process and planning approach and turn it into something that works in practice. At the same time, I have had practical responsibility on the mainframe side for areas including source, data, analysis and preparation.

I have done this together with a team of eight people whom I have led and developed. The work has not only been about delivering specific tasks, but also about building the knowledge, methods and processes required to make transformation repeatable and scalable.

My work has included portfolio and application assessments, technical deep dives, transformation architecture, estimation, migration planning, evaluation of tools and suppliers, and the establishment of a Migration Factory.

I have worked closely with AWS on the development and improvement of AWS Transform. This has given me practical experience with a new generation of transformation tooling as part of large-scale mainframe transformation work.

A consistent pattern throughout my career

The combination of technical depth and broader responsibility has been a recurring theme throughout my career.

At KMD, I started as the sole PL/I developer on what became KMD Opera Jobcenter. The project grew rapidly to around 50 people, and my responsibilities grew with it. I moved from developer to lead programmer, architect and project manager, helping shape the architecture, development model and standards, training new colleagues and leading developers.

Later, at Schultz, I was involved from the beginning in building a new software development organisation and Schultz Fasit from the ground up. I was the first Product Owner while also working with architecture and integration. This took me from having played a central role in the development of KMD Opera to helping build a competing solution from the start.

At Telia, I worked with a very different kind of transformation. As project manager, I helped move a data centre from Denmark to Sweden, involving approximately 225 systems and 800 servers. We established a common migration process so the many systems could be analysed, planned, migrated, brought into production and subsequently decommissioned through a repeatable model.

Standardisation did not mean assuming every system was the same. Systems with particular dependencies, security requirements, operational constraints or criticality were handled individually—within the standard process where possible and outside it where necessary.

Standardise what can be standardised. Understand the exceptions. Treat them deliberately.

Where I add value today

These assignments are very different, but they share a common pattern: my responsibility has repeatedly expanded from the technical problem itself to include architecture, project leadership, processes, teams and execution.

That is the experience I bring into transformations today. I can work closely with a CTO or programme leadership while also going into individual projects to understand what is actually happening. I can work with mainframe specialists and architects while also engaging with cloud specialists, project leadership, suppliers and senior management.

For organisations facing a major transformation, I bring an experienced and independent perspective that can bridge technology, people and leadership—and help turn transformation ambitions into something that can actually be executed.

I understand legacy technology in depth. My focus is on what comes next.

For my full career history and colleagues’ recommendations, see my LinkedIn profile.