Congratulations are in order! Dusty Rivers, our Director of z Systems Software: IMS & CICS, has been awarded the very first IBM Champions Lifetime Achievement Award for Z Systems. Rivers, who earlier this year became an 11-time IBM champion, has worked on the IBM Z® platform for 43 years.
The IBM Champion program recognizes thought leaders in the tech community. IBM Champions demonstrate expertise and advocacy for IBM technology, solutions and communities. The IBM Champions Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes IBM Champions who consistently excel and positively impact the community, all while sharing knowledge and providing constructive feedback to IBM.
“We could not be prouder of Dusty and this type of industry recognition,” says Stephen Hassett, president of GT Software. “While he’s been with the company for more than 16 years in several capacities, Dusty is responsible for ensuring our products are well aligned with the z Systems community. We truly appreciate his dedication to the broader technology community, ongoing commitment to the IBM Champion program and his continued enthusiasm for keeping the mainframe relevant with modern solutions.”
In his current role, Rivers works with global companies to API-enable their IBM Z systems. He is also heavily involved in SHARE community and was even awarded the Best of the Best for his session on APIs last year.
“Dusty is the epitome of the IBM Champion program and all it aspires to be. I am so happy and proud to announce Dusty as our first Lifetime IBM Champion for Z,” said Meredith Stowell, Vice President, Z Ecosystem of IBM. “Please join me in thanking Dusty for all he does for the IBM Champion community as well as the IBM Z Platform.
Click here to learn more about Rivers’ exciting achievement.