Rick Schoonmaker

Work:

I'm originally from Wallkill, NY and I attended Wallkill Senior High School. I went to Siena College in Loudonville, NY and majored in Computer Science with a Business track minor.

After graduating, I came to work for IBM in Poughkeepsie, NY as a Software Engineer in IBM's Transaction Processing Facility (TPF) group. For the next 10 years, I worked in some really exciting areas of TPF such as Communications, TPF Mail Server and SOA.

After 10 years as a Software Engineer with TPF, I took a role in management. I became the functional manager for TPFDF, Languages, Build and Tools, WebSphere Transaction Cluster Facility and IBM Passenger Rail Reservation Service. I also had responsibility for planning the TPF Users Group conference from an IBM perspective and became a member of the TPFUG Board of Directors.

Four years later, I took over as the Program Director of the TPF Development Lab.

In January 2014, I became the z Systems Worldwide Client Care Manager, responsible for ensuring that some of the largest z Systems clients in the world are satisfied with our products, services, and support. My group deals with high profile critical situations for our enterprise clients.

In 2019, I moved into a product manager role and was responsible for bringing the IBM Z single-frame program (z15 T02 and LinuxONE III LT2) to market. This was a huge learning opportunity for me and greatly helped me to expand my knowledge and network across IBM Z and LinuxONE landscape.

After delivering on the z15 single-frame program, I became the Linux Product Management Program Director in 2021, leading Linux on the IBM Z and LinuxONE platforms from both a HW and SW perspective.

Then in 2023, I got promoted to my current role as the Director of Product Management for IBM Z and LinuxONE Hardware and AI. In this role, my team and I are responsible for the strategy and direction of these amazing brands. We get to work with the entire set of cross functional teams, as well as our clients, to bring the latest generation of hardware to light, as well as the latest for AI on the platforms.

Home:

I got married to Maura Schoonmaker in 2002 and we have a daughter who was born in 2007.