Christopher Gombola
Senior Technical Sales Architect  ·  IBM Z / Mainframe  ·  Financial Services  ·  Columbus, OH

Trusted technical advisor with 25+ years architecting and selling enterprise Mainframe solutions for global financial institutions. Rare combination of hands-on operator experience — having led mainframe infrastructure through 400% workload growth at a top-20 U.S. bank — and deep IBM sales engineering expertise spanning AI/ML, hybrid cloud, quantum-safe encryption, and application modernization. Consistently exceeds revenue targets by translating complex platform capabilities into compelling business outcomes for CIO- and Director-level stakeholders.

Experience
IBM Columbus, OH
IBM Z Client IT Architect – Financial Services Oct 2021 – Present
  • Serve as primary trusted technical advisor to CIO- and Director-level stakeholders at major financial institutions, influencing multi-million dollar Mainframe hardware and software roadmap decisions.
  • Design and propose enterprise architectures integrating AI/ML in-transaction scoring, quantum-safe encryption, and hybrid cloud with existing Mainframe workloads.
  • Lead technical proofs of concept for IBM and third-party interoperability (hybrid cloud, API enablement, AIML), directly resulting in new workload adoption and year-over-year revenue growth.
  • Facilitate application integration workshops — discovery, requirements analysis, solution design — across infrastructure, application development, performance engineering, and capacity planning.
  • Coordinate solution delivery across IBM development labs, brands, sales, and field technical teams to meet complex customer requirements.
  • Partner in a global banking technical council directing future platform innovation to drive customer success.
  • Mentor and develop junior architects across the IBM Z field technical community.
Huntington National Bank Columbus, OH
Senior Infrastructure Manager – Mainframe Platform Feb 2016 – Oct 2021
  • Owned end-to-end planning, engineering, and operations of Mainframe infrastructure over 5 years — successfully scaling the platform through nearly 400% workload growth with zero unplanned capacity events.
  • Led a team of senior engineers in continuous improvement, problem resolution, and day-to-day operations; managed 20+ hardware and software vendor relationships.
  • Drove a Mainframe cost containment initiative that reduced MIPS consumption and total cost, repositioning the platform to absorb new strategic workloads.
  • Successfully delivered GDPS MGM 4-site implementation — best-in-class disaster recovery architecture for critical banking infrastructure.
  • Collaborated with Enterprise Risk to ensure Mainframe controls were fully documented and implemented across regulatory frameworks.
  • Developed and delivered Mainframe 101 curriculum to uplift organizational understanding of platform value across application development, architecture, and leadership teams.
  • Owned capital budgeting, financial planning, and executive-level business case development for infrastructure investments.
IBM Columbus, OH
Software IT Architect – Mainframe Platform Technologies Aug 2006 – Feb 2016
  • Advised CIOs and IT Directors at enterprise organizations on Mainframe software strategy, hardware roadmaps, and application modernization — consistently exceeding annual revenue targets.
  • Led technical proofs of concept for SOA, Open Source Software, and Mainframe interoperability, resulting in new workload adoption and expanded platform utilization.
  • Facilitated application integration workshops and cross-functional solution design for complex infrastructure, application development, and capacity planning challenges.
  • Partnered in a global insurance industry technical council, directing platform innovation aligned to customer success outcomes.
  • Coordinated across IBM labs, brands, and sales teams to deliver integrated solutions addressing unique customer requirements.
IBM Bethesda, MD
Field Technical Support Specialist – Senior I/T Specialist Jul 1998 – Aug 2006
  • Led hands-on implementation of the first z/OS cross-domain field system for the Federal Innovation Solution Center (FISC), including z/VM virtualization, Linux/WebSphere Portal, and DB2 v8 with row-level security.
  • Drove architecture and implementation of Linux for System z and virtualization environments across the entire IBM Federal territory — 8 years of deep Linux/z/VM expertise.
  • Led capacity planning and performance analysis for new and expanding z/OS workloads; performed ongoing skills transfer with federal customers on virtualization and Linux server technologies.
  • Mentored entry-level technical specialists; supported broad IBM Mainframe customer territory.
Core Competencies

Technical

  • Mainframe Architecture (z/OS, z/VM)
  • DB2, MQ, WebSphere
  • Hybrid Cloud Integration
  • RESTful API Enablement
  • Linux for System z
  • DevOps & Agile

AI & Emerging Tech

  • AIML In-Transaction Scoring
  • Quantum Safe Encryption
  • Big Data & Analytics
  • Application Modernization
  • Service Oriented Architecture

Business & Leadership

  • Executive Communication
  • P&L / Budget Ownership
  • People Management
  • TCO & Financial Analysis
  • Vendor Negotiation

Architecture & Process

  • Requirements Analysis
  • Capacity Planning
  • Disaster Recovery (GDPS)
  • IT Risk & InfoSec Controls
  • Reference Architecture Design
Education
American University — Kogod School of Business (AACSB)
M.S., Information Technology Management — 2006
Coursework: Data Management, Networking, Statistics, Finance, Marketing, Process Improvement, Research Methods.
Shippensburg University — John L. Grove College of Business (AACSB)
B.S.B.A., Management Information Systems — 1998
Publications & Thought Leadership

Co-author — "Linux for S/390: Distributions" , IBM Redbook (SG24-6264), 2001. One of the definitive early references for Linux on IBM mainframe platforms, contributing to the foundation of z/VM and Linux adoption across enterprise organizations.