It's GA day, and my interview with Donna Freck

Nothing more exciting than a GA day - especially when its a new mainframe ready to ship to our clients around the world. This GA day is extra special - as it marks the general availability of four different models, IBM z16 A02 and LinuxONE Rockhopper 4.... and their first of a kind rack mount model counterparts.

Days like today represent years of incredible teamwork - aligned to a goal of a high quality, innovative offering, that will continue to power our clients into the future. The IBM z16 and LinuxONE 4 product families also represent the outstanding collaboration amongst many teams going into and out of a pandemic, with all the new ways of working together but apart. Nothing short of outstanding, if you ask me.

My interview today is quite special - Donna Freck is the development program manager for these new systems, a role that spans all of IBM to bring these offerings to GA day. Donna was also my first IBM manager, someone else had recruited me, but when I arrived on my first day I was told that they had moved on, and she was my new manager. How lucky I was!! Not only was she a great manager - she was the first Woman In Tech I saw in action. Thankful to have started with a shining example of women leadership, setting me on my course to do the same. I learned a lot in the first job, and quite a bit of it from Donna. My interview with her below.

What is your current role and why do you love it??My current role is the IBM Z Air-Cooled System Program Manager, and I love it!??As the program manager, I work with a wide variety of teams.??Creating a high quality Z system requires new firmware code, updated manufacturing processes, new tools to install the system, and everything in between.??With all that goes into producing these systems, I learn something new every day.???Best of all, I get to work with people who are the best in their field and who are passionate about IBM Z.???

One thing you do daily that keeps you on top of your game?? I’m sure I’ll get some chuckles, but I keep lists!!??With everything all that happens daily in a program, I keep lists of to-do’s, milestones, and things that require following up.???It feels good to see those items get crossed off as we approach general availability.?

Three words to describe the mainframe???Reliable, Secure, Flexible?

If you could invite anyone in IT over for dinner, who would it be and why?? I would invite one of our early ship clients or vendor partners, such as Jim Fyffe from Evolving Solutions.??Our early clients are amazing and provide essential initial feedback on our product.???Since this is the first time that IBM Z has offered a rack mount solution, that feedback was more important than ever.???

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You can check out Evolving Solutions 's install of their new rack-mount IBM z16 here, and then go check out the all new IBM z16 and LinuxONE 4 offerings!

You can join the IBM ZSystems Community to engage with others in working on the mainframe! Stay tuned as I feature many of the awesome women who make IBM Z and LinuxONE amazing (and who are already working on the next big thing)! Do you know an awesome woman working on the mainframe, maybe its you ? Send her my way !

#WomenInTech #IBMZ #LinuxONE #LoveWhatYouDo IBM Servers & Storage