Joseph Bush
Jonesboro,AR
Summary
Experienced IBM iSeries Systems Engineer with 24+ years in system support, high availability, and disaster recovery. Expertise in system administration, hardware configuration, and OS/400 recovery. Improved customer trust in disaster recovery and reduced downtime. Ensured seamless operation through consistent system maintenance, administration, and upgrades.
Overview
24
24
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
IBM I Systems Engineer
Tectrade Computers Corporation
06.2020 - 09.2024
- Successfully supported and maintained remotely, 100% availability of IBM i systems for disaster recovery testing at Kyndryl Holdings sites in Boulder, CO, and Research Triangle Park, NC, ensuring uninterrupted business continuity for clients, while providing expert user support to resolve technical issues and enhance client satisfaction.
- Configured disaster recovery (D/R) environments, including LPAR, HMC profiles, external SAN storage, and physical and virtual tape libraries, in alignment with customer contracts for D/R testing and real-life emergencies.
- Installed and tested IBM RS vanilla OS/400 (v5r4 to v7r4) to verify hardware, software, and I/O equipment functionality, and recovered iSeries systems using OS/400 option 21 and IBM iSeries BRMS, ensuring accurate, timely system restoration and increased client confidence in disaster recovery capabilities.
System I Support Specialist
IBM - Global Technical Services
09.2012 - 06.2020
- Provided comprehensive support and maintenance of IBM i systems at IBM Business Continuity and Resiliency site in Boulder, CO, and later including Research Triangle Park, NC site, achieving 100% system availability for disaster recovery testing and actual emergencies. Ensured uninterrupted business continuity for IBM clients throughout these operations.
- Configured IBM iSeries hardware disaster recovery (D/R) environments, including LPAR's, HMC profiles, external SAN storage, and physical and virtual tape libraries, in accordance with customer contracts for D/R testing and for actual emergency situations.
- Installed and tested IBM RS vanilla OS/400 (versions v5r4 to v7r4) to verify functionality of hardware, software, and I/O equipment, ensuring readiness for disaster recovery testing and emergency production environments.
- Recovered and restored customer iSeries systems using OS/400 option 21 and IBM iSeries BRMS, ensuring accurate and timely system recovery.
- Supported customer D/R testing events, enhancing customer confidence in disaster recovery capabilities.
Senior Systems Engineer
Kindred Healthcare
08.2008 - 09.2012
- Resolved OS/400 and hardware issues for Pharmerica Corp, exceeding SLAs, reducing downtime, and improving end-user satisfaction through enhanced system reliability.
- Designed and implemented multi-LPAR iSeries backup solution using IBM BRMS, enhancing data protection, system reliability, and disaster recovery.
- Supported smooth upgrades of 19 LPARs from V5R3 to V5R4 and two HMC footprint upgrades, improving system performance, stability, and uptime.
- Applied system Cumulative, HIPER, and PTF packages, enhancing system security, stability, and performance while ensuring uninterrupted operations.
- Trained and supported iSeries Host Operations team, reducing problem resolution time and boosting operational performance and team confidence.
Systems Engineer
Harrah's Entertainment
06.2004 - 08.2008
- Managed and administered multiple iSeries/i5 LPARs across various models, ensuring system stability through regular performance analysis, IPLs, PTFs, application installs, and hardware upgrades.
- Participated in high availability implementations and role swaps using Vision's OMS/ODS400, and supported LPAR configuration and migration after company acquisitions.
- Implemented BMC Patrol for iSeries to enhance system performance monitoring and analysis, while overseeing daily system performance using tools like PM/400 and OS Director.
- Assisted in Save/Restore project using IBM's BRMS product, and supported implementation of Harrah's Enterprise Records Management system with Broderick Spool Administration, iSeries NetServer, and iSeries NFS.
- Managed scheduled jobs with ROBOT Schedule, contributed to i5/OS upgrade from V5R3 to V5R4, and created detailed technical documentation for various projects.
AS/400 Systems Engineer
Horseshoe Casino & Hotel
05.2000 - 06.2004
- Managed all aspects of AS/400 operations and administration, including daily system checks, monthly IPLs, PTF installations, and system backups using self-written CL programs, ensuring optimal system performance and reliability.
- Administered and maintained Lakeview's Mimix product for High Availability and Disaster Recovery, overseeing replication and mirroring between source and target systems, conducting audits, and supporting system role swaps and disaster recovery plans.
- Led semi-annual disaster recovery exercises, traveling to remote sites to restore and test AS/400 functionality, network connectivity, and applications, ensuring readiness for real-life scenarios.
- Managed system security by configuring user profiles, OS/400 System Values, object authority, and auditing using PentaSafe Security, while troubleshooting interactive and batch job issues in coordination with IBM and third-party vendors.
- Provided support for system devices (terminals, printers, tape drives), property applications (Casino Management System, Micros POS), and infrastructure (Wintel servers, Exchange server, network), ensuring smooth operations across all systems.
Education
Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) - Management Information Systems
University of Memphis
Memphis, TNSkills
- Problem solving
- Communication
- Customer/User Support
- Teamwork
- Organization
- Time management
- AS/400 9406-270
- AS/400 9406-720
- AS/400 9406-840
- AS/400 9406-890
- 520 Express (8203-E4A)
- P5 9117-570
- P6 570-MMA
- P6 Model 595
- P7 770(9117-MMC)
- P7 795 (9119-FHB)
- P8 (9080-MHE E880C)
- P8 (9119-MME E870)
- P9 (9080-M9S E980)
- IBM TS3500 (3584)
- OS/400 (V4R3 to V7R4)
- Aldon CMS
- BMC Pratrol
- BRMS
- Broderick Spool Organizer
- Cisco SAN DCNM
- Mimix (V4R1)
- Pentasafe Security
- PowerTech Security
- Various IBM Tape Libraries (TS3100, 3584, 3592, etc)
Certification
- PowerVM on IBM i - I: Implementing Virtualization and LPAR ExitCertified 2023
- IBM Power Systems Virtual Server - Technical Sales Intermediate IBM 2023
- IBM Power Infrastructure as a Service Solutions - Technical Sales Intermediate IBM 2023
- IBM Power Infrastructure as a Service Solutions - Sales Foundation IBM 2023
- IBM Core Cloud IBM 2021
- Storage Area Networking Fundamentals (SN71G) ExitCertified 2020
- Patrol for AS/400 Performance BMC Software 2006
- Backup and Recovery Media Services IBM 2006
- IACET Continuing Education BRMS IBM 2006
- Cisco Network Fundamentals (CCNA I) Mid-South Community College 2003
- 2151 MS Windows 2000 Network and OS Essentials New Horizons 2003
- 2152 Supporting MS Windows Professional and Server New Horizons 2003
- Mimix V4R1 Operations and Administration Lakeview Technology 2000
- iSeries System Operations IBM 2000
Military Service
United States Navy
July 1984 to October 1993
Timeline
IBM I Systems Engineer
Tectrade Computers Corporation
06.2020 - 09.2024
System I Support Specialist
IBM - Global Technical Services
09.2012 - 06.2020
Senior Systems Engineer
Kindred Healthcare
08.2008 - 09.2012
Systems Engineer
Harrah's Entertainment
06.2004 - 08.2008
AS/400 Systems Engineer
Horseshoe Casino & Hotel
05.2000 - 06.2004
- PowerVM on IBM i - I: Implementing Virtualization and LPAR ExitCertified 2023
- IBM Power Systems Virtual Server - Technical Sales Intermediate IBM 2023
- IBM Power Infrastructure as a Service Solutions - Technical Sales Intermediate IBM 2023
- IBM Power Infrastructure as a Service Solutions - Sales Foundation IBM 2023
- IBM Core Cloud IBM 2021
- Storage Area Networking Fundamentals (SN71G) ExitCertified 2020
- Patrol for AS/400 Performance BMC Software 2006
- Backup and Recovery Media Services IBM 2006
- IACET Continuing Education BRMS IBM 2006
- Cisco Network Fundamentals (CCNA I) Mid-South Community College 2003
- 2151 MS Windows 2000 Network and OS Essentials New Horizons 2003
- 2152 Supporting MS Windows Professional and Server New Horizons 2003
- Mimix V4R1 Operations and Administration Lakeview Technology 2000
- iSeries System Operations IBM 2000
Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) - Management Information Systems
University of Memphis
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