Kerrie Holley

Kerrie Holley, IBM Fellow

Kerrie Holley (born 1954), Chief Technology Officer of IBM’s Worldwide Global Business Services (GBS), Application Innovation Services (AIS) and IBM's SOA Center of Excellence, is a pioneer in the field of software engineering, Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), which turns application portfolios into technological LEGO-like blocks that can be snapped into virtually any configuration.

Since, like LEGO, the only real limit on what can be done with these blocks is the builder’s imagination and vision, SOA turns technology into a supple instrument of business strategy. It strips technology of rigidity and incompatibility and enables enterprises to concentrate less on maintenance of IT infrastructures and more on innovation.

Prior to SOA, applications had to be “hard-wired” together, a cumbersome and costly way of doing things that substantially slowed down innovation. With SOA, large travel providers, for example, can expose their online reservation systems to third-party websites (like travel agencies and other complementary travel providers), allowing for a big market expansion at relatively little cost.

For his work Holley was recognized as an IBM Fellow . In 2000 he was appointed to IBM Distinguished Engineer and in that same year elected to IBM’s Academy of Technology for his sustained contributions in architecting high performance financial services applications. Holley is the co-patent owner of the industry’s first SOA method and SOA maturity model, which helps companies develop SOA-based applications and infrastructures.

Education

Holley was raised by his maternal grandmother on the South Side of Chicago. While never having met his father and living in a neighborhood marked by poverty and gang activity, Holley defied social odds by channeling his love for math and science through his academic studies.^{[citation needed]}

He became a student at the Sue Duncan Children’s Center in 1961 where he was tutored in math and science.^{[citation needed]} As he excelled in the program, he became a tutor at the Center, later tutoring current United States Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan and actor Michael Duncan Clarke .

In 1976 Holley received his Bachelor’s of Art in Mathematics from DePaul University in Chicago, followed by a Juris Doctorate Degree in 1982 from DePaul University College of Law .^{[citation needed]}

Holley continues to be an advocate for education. He currently serves as an adviser for the College of Computing and Digital Media at DePaul University.

Career

Holley joined IBM in 1986 as an Advisory Systems Engineer. In 1990 he became an analytics consultant with IBM’s consulting group, now called IBM Global Business Services . He was appointed Chief Technology Officer of IBM’s GBS, AIS and IBM's SOA Center of Excellence where he works with clients to create flexible applications that enable companies to respond to rapidly changing markets.

IBM Fellow

In 2006 Holley was named an IBM Fellow, the Company’s highest technical leadership position.^{[citation needed]} The Fellows program, founded by Thomas J. Watson in 1962, promotes creativity among IBM’s most exceptional technical professionals. The IBM Fellow recognition is the most prestigious recognition in the IBM technical community where the criteria for appointment includes:

• Distinguished, sustained record of technical achievements (usually a creative contribution to science and technology, landmarks to IBM) and a strong potential for continuing contributions to IBM's growth and stature.

Technical abilities considered are:

• Originality and creativity
• Inventive activities
• Insight into the technical field of expertise
• Consulting effectiveness and leadership
• Technical publications
• Professional society contributions

The criteria for appointment are stringent and take into account only the most significant technical achievements. Appointment as an IBM Fellow, is made by the Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, and is a career designation. Since 1963, 217 IBM Fellows have been appointed. Of these, 73 are active employees (as of May 2010).

Publications

In November 2010 Holley’s first book "100 SOA Questions: Asked and Answered" was published. The book describes how enterprises can adopt Service Oriented Architecture.

His next book "Is Your Company Ready for Cloud" , co-authored with Pam Isom, will be released in 2012.

He is widely published in the field and a sought after speaker and consultant in SOA.^{[citation needed]} His expertise centers around software engineering, architecture and translating business requirements into designs for cutting-edge network centric distributed solutions with a focus on business and IT fusion. Holley’s responsibilities include technical leadership for service oriented architecture, technical oversight for network centric software engineering projects, adaptive enterprise architecture design, IT strategy, formation of partnerships among clients and vendors, leading architecture reviews and managing technical risks.

Patents

Holley owns several patents ranging from how to maintain functionality when faced with component failure, to how to locate lost mobile devices and software engineering patents in service-oriented architecture.

Holley is a co-patent owner of the industry's first SOA development method and first SOA maturity model. The maturity model helps enterprises assess where they are on the road to adopting a Service-Oriented Architecture and provides a plan for achieving an SOA-based infrastructure.

Awards and Honors

• The 50 Most Important Blacks in Research Science
• 2003 Black Engineer of the Year
• 2006 IBM Fellow
• 2011 Red Herring 100 Global Award Finalist
• 2000 IBM Distinguished Engineer and first African American to receive this honor^{[citation needed]}

Other Publications

• 100 SOA Questions: Asked and Answered
• Migrating to a service-oriented architecture
• Harnessing Data to Fight Crime
• Powerful Enterprise Architecture and Information Technology Strategies
• Remarkable Person: Kerrie Holley
• IBM fellow foresees computers’ role in helping spread health care information
• Black Engineer of the Year Seminar Tells How to Become ‘Technology Leader’
• A Conversation with IBM’s Kerrie Holley
• The Big Deal: IBM’s Kerrie Holley
• Ten Minutes That Mattered: IBM’s Kerrie Holley
• Kerrie Holley: The Great SOA and IBM Man
• We Need to Use Roads More Intelligently
• IBM’s Holley advises grads to focus on turning data into knowledge
• IBM Aims to Build ‘Smarter Planet’
• Increase Flexibility with Service Integration Maturity
• New forecast technology introduces by IBM
• Arne Duncan in Atlanta: Perfect storm for reform
• Future perfect? What 2011 holds for business technology
• The Big Blue Centenarian: What’s Next for IBM?

External links

• The Sue Duncan Children's Center
• Forbes: The Big Deal
• Article: The Great SOA IBM Man
• Book: 100 Questions Asked Answered
• Patents