Marc Smith retired from IBM after 33 years of experience in technical writing, project management, Early Support programs/beta programs, marketing and channel enablement. Products he worked on included 8100 DPCX, IBM Mainframe OS’s and hardware, and OS/2 WARP. Marc was an active volunteer for the IBM z Systems Academic Initiative program where he went out to colleges and universities to recruit them to teach mainframe courses to address the growing need for mainframe skills as baby boomers retire. Marc also was instrumental in the development if the IBM Destination z on-line community and started a scholarship fund that is still awarding scholarships today. Marc goes out as a volunteer to do guest lectures at local high schools and colleges to highlight to students the importance and impact of the IBM Mainframe, and the career opportunities they know little about.
After IBM Marc was involved in a startup company, worked with ACTs Corp. to deliver mobile apps to some select clients, worked with Bill Carico to build a technology certification program, and is continuing his interest in promoting mainframe training as a consultant with ProTech Training out of Pittsburgh, PA.
Marc also services as the president of his Home Owners Association, is a Director on the board of the Fern Bluff Municipal Utility District, and participates as an industry partner volunteer for the Business & Industry Academy at McNeil High School in Round Rock, TX.
From Mainframe Magazine 2019/2020
Marc I. Smith is a mainframe educational programs consultant with ProTech Training. He spent 28 of 33 years at IBM as a member of the IBM Z (mainframe) community. He began his mainframe career working with VM/HPO and VM/ESA development before moving on to planning and managing VM Early Support Programs (ESPs), marketing z/VSE and z/VM until moving into marketing and channel enablement positions within the IBM Z hardware family. Marc was a Z Academic Initiative University Ambassador in Texas, working to recruit colleges into the program and started bringing students to SHARE and other IBM conferences to see the mainframe and meet people who work on/around the mainframe. He is also one of the IBM team members who brought Destination z into existence and managed the online community until his retirement from IBM in 2012. He was announced as an IBM Z Champion for 2018, 2019 and again in 2020.