IBM Champions are individuals, non-IBMer and recognized professionals in the IBM community.
IBM introduced the IBM Champion program back in 2008, [1] [2] initially only in the IBM Information Management Software division. The program describes itself as: [3]
As of 2024, the program has elected 1247 professionals across the globe. [4]
Originally, champions were divided by categories:
IBM Champions are nominated by their peers. An IBM internal committee publishes the results once a year and the title is valid for one year. The champion needs to be nominated every year, with the esception of Lifetime IBM Champions.
In 2016, in addition to being elected as an IBM Champion on a yearly basis, IBM announced the entitlement for a lifetime achievement to the following personalities (as of 2023):
Collaboration Solutions
Power
Cloud and Automation
Data & AI (formerly Analytics)
IBM Z
Storage
Security
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