Good Morning, Guten Morgen, Bonjour
I am very happy to have been awarded the title of IBM Champion for 2025 , better late than never as the saying goes !
My IBM career started in the 80s while I was working in the accounts dept of an Engineering company, I did consider the option of being a Lion Tamer !! but one day our head of Personnel asked me if I was interested in taking a test from a company called IBM to see if I would be suitable for the DP dept. Well, I could have said no and stayed in the office job working out bonus payments manually, but in a sliding doors moment I said yes and took the paper based test in the canteen along with many other aspiring techies. The rest as they say is History !! I passed with flying colours and it was a no-brainer considering my starting salary would be 33% higher even as a trainee
After that, to cut what could be a very long story short ..... I progressed through that company and then into the freelance world through many other places across Europe and the US, learning all kinds of "Mainframe" skills not uniquely IBM but the vast majority of work places were IBM of course.
Now the circle of "Mainframe Life" is approaching the latter stages and I have found myself mainly working in Support roles which I really enjoy, helping customers/clients and also helping my #newtoz colleagues start their own #mainframe career
I am really looking forward to my first year as a Champion, I have been involved with many current Champions over the last 2-3 years and have really enjoyed learning from may of them.
And as a last thought, one of my life mottos comes from those most excellent Philosopher Dudes
Be Excellent to Each Other
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Andrew Brisland
Mainframe Support Analyst
LITIT
Liverpool
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