My first Thinkpad

Tomorrow is my 26th anniversary with IBM. When I first joined IBM, they gave me one of these:

It’s a notebook. I wish I still had it, for IBM stopped giving this out some time ago.

(Thanks to Kottke for this)

Papers I have written

 I have written or co-written four papers for IBM’s developerWorks web site:

• Evaluating physical nodes for runtime topologies
• Converting a project from a waterfall to an iterative approach
• Developing resilient architectures: Identify, analyze, and design for change
• Make your team more productive with integrated Rational tools

I enjoy writing articles for developerWorks: the people who work there are very friendly and helpful when it comes to being published.  I’d highly recommend anyone who wanted to get a technical article, white paper, or tutorial published to submit it to them.

What I currently do for a living

I work for IBM Canada as a member of Application Services, which is part of Global Business Services. I am an IBM Certified IT Architect and a Master Certified IT Architect with The Open Group. I have over 24 years of experience in designing, creating and implementing complex solutions. I’ve  performed in a wide variety of roles, from leading large teams to developing small applications. I’m a member of the IBM Architect’s Certification Board. I have also published a number of papers on IT architecture and IT methodology.

You can find more details in my resume (it’s listed on the side of this blog).

Why this blog?

I created this blog, because I wanted to have a way of consolidating and expand on the information currently out there on the Internet regarding me. For example, if you wanted to find out more about me, you could do a search on a person using a search engine like Google. That will tell you some things (e.g., I am a runner), but it can also be misleading (e.g. , I am not related to Steve Michalik the body builder!). One can also use a service like LinkedIn to get more information on me, but that may not contain all the facts. I restrict my Facebook profile to my family and friends. And my resume is simply a snapshot of what I have worked on: it doesn’t provide a full picture.

Given those limitations, I thought this blog could be the way to address them.

Hello world!

My name is Bernie Michalik.  Thanks for visiting one of my blogs! While I have a number of blogs on different topics, I plan for this one to be an extended resume or CV.