Mr. Szakal is an IBM Distinguished Engineer and Chief Architect of IBM's Federal Software business unit. He is also an IBM Senior Certified Software IT Architect and an IBM Certified SOA Solution Designer. His responsibilities include developing e-Government software architectures using IBM middleware and leading the IBM federal government software IT architect team.

Mr. Szakal holds undergraduate degrees in Biology and Computer Science and a Masters Degree in Computer Science from James Madison University.

Mr. Szakal has been a driving force behind IBM's adoption of government IT standards and is a member of the IBM Software Group Strategy Team. The team he leads has been responsible for helping the federal government move e-Government into the On-Demand era through the application of SOA. His team has been directly involved with multiple, high-profile, successful government software and services engagements based on open standards and open source.

Mr. Szakal represents IBM SWG on the Board of Directors of The Open Group. He currently holds the Chair of the IT Architect Profession Certification Standard (ITAC) within the Open Group.

Presentation
IT Architect Certification Standard, Level-3, the Distinguished Certified IT Architect
Mr. Szakal will discuss the most recent certification level within the IT Architect Certification Standard, Level-3, the Distinguished Certified IT Architect. The presentation will explain the profession profile and conformance criteria for becoming a Distinguished Certified IT Architect. Participants will be introduced to some of the new concepts of the ITAC program that are integrated into the Level-3 certification process and conformance criteria. This includes the introduction of Career Path Categories (CPC's) for Enterprise Architects, Chief/Lead IT Architects and IT Architecture Profession Executives. Mr. Szakal will outline the process of progressing through the IT Architect career to become a Distinguished Certified IT Architect.

return to program