Tony Pearson is a Master Inventor and Senior IT Architect for the IBM Storage product line at the
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The New Tucson EBC - Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
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Last Tuesday, we had our official "Grand Opening" for the new Tucson Executive Briefing Center! 
We sent out fancy invitations to all the IBM executives who supported this center, local dignitaries from the Tucson and State of Arizona level, and all of the IBM employees on the Tucson campus. Since our new center is significantly cozier (5700 square feet versus our previous 15,000 square feet), we split the day into two separate events. The first for the IBM executives and local VIPs, and the second for the rest of the IBM employees on campus. Of course, there is no free lunch. The day started out with a series of speeches. My manager, Doug Davies, was the master of ceremonies to introduce each speaker. 
Alistair Symon, IBM Vice President of Enterprise Storage, explained how important storage affects everyone's lives. If you use an ATM machine to withdraw money, for example, you are most probably using IBM System Storage behind the scenes. Nearly all of the IBM disk and tape storage products are designed here in Tucson. Bruce Wright (shown here) directs the University of Arizona's Office of University Research Parks, serves as CEO of the UA Tech Park, and the founder and president of the Arizona Center for Innovation. Bruce said a few words on how please he was that IBM decided to reverse its July 2011 decision to leave Tucson. The UofA owns all the property, renting back four of the eleven buildings back to IBM, so is effectively our landlord. Next year will mark the 20th anniversary of IBM's sale of the technology park to the University. 
Tucson Councilwoman Shirley Scott talked about the improtance of high-paying jobs to the local economy. While IBMers in Tucson are paid less than our counterparts in San Jose, Austin, Raleigh or Poughkeepsie, we are certainly [paid more than the average Tucsonan], thus helping to raise the standard of living here. Dr. Michael Varney, president and CEO of the local Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, praised IBM for its strong reputation in ethics and diversity. My new second-line manager, Karl Duvalsaint, and my new third-line manager, Doug Dreyer, emphasized the importance of co-locating Briefing Centers in sites that have Research and Development activity. It is important for clients to interact directly with developers, and it is also good for developers to understand directly from clients their needs, preferences and requirements. Worldwide, the IBM Systems and Technology Group has only twelve Executive Briefing Centers, and the Tucson EBC is one of them. This is not to say that IBM does not have centers in other locations. Our newest client center in Singapore is a shining example. Of course, if they want experts to speak to clients there, they need to be flown in. Doug Dreyer mentioned that IBM plans to launch six such centers in Africa as well. 
Next was the ribbon cutting. From left to right, Lee Olguin (our Gunny Sargeant), Tucson Councilwoman Shirley Scott, UofA's Bruce Wright, IBM VP of Program Management Calline Sanchez, My second-line manager Karl Duvalsaint, IBM VP Allistair Simon, my first-line manager Doug Davies, Tucson Chamber of Commerce President Dr. Michael Varney, and my third-line manager Doug Dreyer. We had a member of the local high school band do the drum roll. Once the ribbon was cut, the IBM Executves and local VIPs were brought in to see the new facility, which has two large rooms, one common dining area, an 800-square foot green data center to showcase our products, our own set of restrooms, a galley to stage up the food and beverage service, and two smaller rooms for private conversations or conference calls. A local high school band provided live music throughout the day.
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The new Tucson EBC - A Sneak PeakWell, I am back safely from my trip last week to Chicago, and now I am writing this in Madrid, Spain, on my way to Brussels, Belgium for the IT Storage Expo. For those who have asked how the construction on the new Tucson EBC is going, here are a few pictures I took on Friday. As you can see, it is coming along nicely. The official grand opening will be April 2. 
This is Building 9032 
We have a row of dedicated parking spaces! 
Our main entrance is through the lobby! 
I get to walk past fresh flowers every day! 
Our front door! 
This is the "Catalina" room. 
Shelly's command-and-control desk 
Signage for the "Santa Rita" room 
The "Santa Rita" room. 
The Dining Area As you can see, we are not quite there yet. |
IBM Tucson Executive Briefing Center is Hiring!
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With the economy recovering from the [Global Recession], my manager has been given authorization to hire new Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) for the [IBM Tucson Executive Briefing Center!] Here are a few answers to questions you might have:
The job is immediately available. Apply today!
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Oracle OpenWorld - 2011 Recap
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Next week is Oracle OpenWorld 2012. I won't be there this year, so I thought I would recap my experience from last year.
Last year, the Austin Executive Briefing Center had a room full of experts to help customers learn about IBM hardware to run Oracle applications. This year, IBM is back in San Francisco, with subject matter experts representing Power Systems, System x servers, PureSystems, Storage and System z mainframes. If you are in San Francisco, consider taking 1-2 hours out of your schedule to speak to IBM experts. These are intended to answer the question: Why choose IBM for your Oracle (and other) workloads? Event: IBM Mini-BriefingsSubject Matter Experts:
IBM will also have a booth presence on the main Oracle OpenWorld showroom floor. Please stop by and visit my colleagues! To sign up for a Mini-Briefing at Oracle OpenWorld, for any or all of the topics above, visit the new [IBM STG Austin EBC] website. Oracle won't be the only one making announcements next week. Register today for next week's [Oct. 3rd Smarter Computing webcast]. Only a few days left! Check out this [short 2-minute YouTube video]!
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Announcing the new IBM STG EBC Website
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Well, it's Tuesday again, and you know what that means... IBM Announcements! This month, I am celebrating my six-year "blogoversary". I started blogging September 1, 2006 to celebrate [the 50th anniversary of disk system innovations]. This month, I am pleased to announce the new [IBM STG Executive Briefing Center] website, representing a huge improvement over the previous website we had been using over the past two years. STG refers to IBM's Systems and Technology Group, the division that focuses on servers, storage, switches and the system software that makes them run. This new website is for the dozen STG EBCs that span the globe. The new website reminds me of this famous quote: "Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away" Let's take a quick look at what makes it so much better.
I invite you all to check out the new [IBM STG Executive Briefing Center] website. Let me know what you think in the comments below!
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Where is the job located?
The job is located in Tucson, Arizona, which is a great place to live! Tucson is the headquarters for IBM storage design and development, with the largest collection of engineers, software developers and testers. The IBM Tucson Executive Briefing Center is located on the [