— about

Twenty-four years.
One discipline.

I'm Nezih Boyacıoğlu, Storage and Data Resiliency consultant working at the intersection of IBM Storage, cyber resiliency, and the regulatory realities of enterprise Türkiye. This is the longer version of how that discipline was built.

— Nezih

Tech Solutions Director · IstPaz

— Recognition

IBM Champion

They're experts. They're leaders.

2019 · 2022 · 2023 · 2024 · 2025 · 2026

Six-Time Recognition

— biography

The long version.

I have spent more than 24 years working across enterprise storage, SAN architecture, cyber resiliency, and IBM infrastructure. I started with IBM Tivoli Storage Manager and tape systems in 2002, later specializing in IBM Storage Virtualize technologies including SVC, Storwize, and IBM FlashSystem.

Today, I work as a Storage and Data Resiliency consultant and Tech Solutions Director at Istanbul Pazarlama, one of IBM’s Platinum Business Partners in Türkiye. Most of my work happens in environments where storage is not just infrastructure, but operational continuity: banks, telcos, public sector institutions, and regulated industries.

Technology changes. Failure patterns rarely do.

— Twenty-four years in enterprise storage

I am an IBM Redbooks Platinum Author, having co-authored eight IBM Redbooks and Redpapers across cyber resiliency, FlashSystem implementation, performance optimization, VMware integration, and data protection. Over the years, that work also led to 23+ IBM certifications, 44 Brocade SAN certifications, and six IBM Champion recognitions.

I also lead the Turkey IBM Storage User Group and regularly speak at IBM events including TechXchange and Storage Strategy Days. In 2025, I received the IBM Community Hero Award in Orlando — recognition for both technical contribution and sustained community leadership.

— career

Twenty-four years, a few defining moments.

The technology has changed five times. The discipline behind it hasn't.

2002

Career start

Where it began

IBM Tivoli Storage Manager

First IBM certification — Tivoli Certified Consultant, IBM TSM V5.1. Backup, tape archival, and the core disciplines that still anchor everything I do today.

2002–2018

Specialization

Building expertise

IBM Storage & SAN Mastery

Specialization across SVC, Storwize, FlashSystem, IBM Power, and Brocade SAN. 23+ IBM certifications, 44 Brocade certifications accumulated over a decade and a half of enterprise storage practice.

2019

First Champion

First recognition

Named IBM Champion

First inclusion in the global IBM Champion program — the recognition reserved for non-IBMers who advance the technical community through speaking, writing, and mentoring.

2023

Milestone

Three-year milestone

3-Year Champion Badge · January

Awarded the IBM Champion 3-Year Milestone — sustained recognition across multiple years of community contribution.

2024

Platinum Author

Platinum recognition

IBM Redbooks Platinum Author · July

Awarded the IBM Redbooks Platinum Author badge for sustained, multi-domain contribution to the IBM Redbooks library — a recognition that requires deep technical authorship across distinct subject areas.

2024

First IBM stage

Speaker debut

IBM TechXchange — Barcelona

Session 1073: FlashSystem & VMware: Implementation & Best Practices. First time on an IBM flagship technical stage.

2025

Five-year milestone & Hero

Two milestones

5-Year Champion Badge & Community Hero Award

5-Year Champion Milestone in April. Then: Community Hero Award presented on stage at IBM TechXchange Orlando — and Session 1103 with Barry Whyte (IBM Master Inventor) on Storage Virtualize roadmap and performance.

2026

Most recent

Current

Sixth IBM Champion · London Stage

IBM Champion 2026 — sixth recognition. Speaker at IBM Storage Strategy Days in London, April 2026, on Storage Performance Optimization for Linux. The work continues.

— credentials

The numbers, briefly.

23+

IBM Certifications

Across Enterprise Storage Technical Support, Storage Virtualize, Spectrum Storage, Flash Technical Solutions, and more — accumulated over 24 years.

Brocade SAN Certifications

BASA-200 through Gen7 and Gen8 specialist, SAN Professional, NVMe, API, trunking, and performance certifications.

IBM Redbooks & Redpapers

Co-authored across cyber resiliency, FlashSystem implementation, Spectrum Virtualize performance, VMware integration, and Safeguarded Copy/Snapshots.

View Full Credential Wall on Credly →

— Day Job

Istanbul
Pazarlama A.Ş.

An IBM Platinum Business Partner in Türkiye

Role

Tech Solutions Director

Region

Türkiye & EMEA

— affiliation

Independent, but not alone.

I work as an Tech Solutions Director at Istanbul Pazarlama (IstPaz) — one of IBM's Platinum Business Partners in Türkiye. The arrangement gives me what an enterprise storage practice actually needs: direct access to IBM resources, end-to-end implementation capability, and the institutional weight that mission-critical engagements require.

Most of my clients are large enterprises where storage is regulated, audited, and consequential — banks, telcos, public sector, and other industries where downtime is a board-level conversation and DORA is no longer theoretical.

I'm also the leader of the Turkey IBM Storage User Group, which gives me a separate vantage point: not just what's happening at one client, but what's moving across the country's storage practitioners as a whole.

Twenty-four years.One discipline.