Summary

A Senior Software Engineer at IBM shares their personal experience of growth, reinvention, and commitment to the company despite its challenges and the perception of it being a "dead" tech giant.

Abstract

The author, a Senior Software Engineer at IBM, reflects on their seven-year journey with the company, emphasizing a career marked by reinvention and professional development. Despite IBM's period of declining revenue and the common belief that the mainframe market is obsolete, the author has found fulfillment in their work, particularly with IBM Z. They attribute their satisfaction to the opportunities for innovation, personal growth, and the supportive community within IBM. The article highlights the company's historical significance as a tech pioneer and its current efforts to reclaim its status through investments in Hybrid Cloud, AI, and Quantum computing. The author remains optimistic about IBM's future and is motivated by the challenges it faces, seeing them as opportunities to make a significant impact and contribute to the company's resurgence.

Opinions

The author feels that IBM, despite its financial struggles, has provided a nurturing environment for career growth and learning.
IBM's long history and past achievements are seen as a testament to its potential for future success.
The author believes that IBM's current focus on Hybrid Cloud, AI, and Quantum computing is a step in the right direction for the company's revival.
The period of revenue decline at IBM led to some insecurity among employees, including the author, but also inspired a greater commitment to turning the company around.
The author values the culture of reinvention at IBM and the opportunity to constantly evolve in their role.
IBM's challenges, including layoffs and a changing market, are viewed by the author as motivational factors rather than reasons to leave the company.
The author is proud to be part of IBM and is optimistic about its future, despite public perception and stock market trends.

Why I Love Working for a “Supposed” Dead Tech Giant

IBM, Big Blue, call us whatever you want, but dead might not be right

I’m an IBMer

Now this is the section where I should say all opinions and matters stated are the opinions of my own and this is me talking about my experience. Others may have had different experiences and I don’t want to invalidate that.

Here’s a little about my journey at IBM so far!

I’m in my 7th year at IBM. 10th if you count the length of time that I worked for them in college as an intern and a co-op.

I’m currently a Senior Software Engineer at IBM and I’m about to turn 30. Relevant?

Depends on who you ask.

For some, this is a time in life where you’d take a deeper look at your career.

What am I doing with my life? Should I go back to school? Should I leave my job? Should I switch careers?

Luckily, I’ve been locked in at IBM. More interesting than that, I’ve been working on IBM Z the whole time.

(IBM Z is our mainframe division, which if you asked most 7 years ago, would tell you is a dead market)

Being a millennial, it’s odd, especially in today’s job market to stay at the same company and not bounce around.

Now, don’t think I’ve been doing the same things for 7 years since I’ve been full-time at IBM.

I’ve been promoted 3 times. I’m about to switch teams internally for the 3rd time. I’ve been sent to conferences, met amazing customers, experienced 2 different CEOs, and have met and learned from some really incredible and intelligent people.

That’s just the start.

One of the biggest reasons that I love being an IBMer lies right there.

Reinvention.

I’ve had to constantly reinvent myself over and over again. Meet new people, do new things, get outside of my comfort zone constantly, and challenge myself.

Now as I’m becoming a leader, that includes finding a way to innovate and inspire others as well.

IBM is a big enough company that jumping around internally is definitely not the exact same but is similar.

IBM has taken a major interest in me and my career and I’ve loved the community and friends that I’ve made in my time there.

We take care of each other and drive each other to become better individuals.

The FAANG before FAANG

Alright, about the supposedly dead part…

When I came on full-time at IBM we were in the middle of a streak of 22 quarters of declining revenue.

22 quarters. 5 & 1/2 years. That’s a kindergartener's worth of lost revenue.

Luckily we didn’t make it to the first grade. 😅

During that, I won’t lie to you, insecurity crept in. A lot…

Time wondering if the grass is greener elsewhere? Thinking, “Am I even a good enough developer to go elsewhere?”

I graduated with friends who went on to work for Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google, Airbnb, JPMC, USAA, Goldman Sachs, Two Sigma, the list goes on.

Did I make a mistake choosing IBM? Should they have even hired me? Did I only get in because they’re not doing well?

On top of all of this, I chose to work in Z. The mainframe. The #1 thing at IBM that people love to talk about is a dying set of infrastructure.

It was during one of these stints that I was reminded of this tidbit by a mentor at work.

IBM was a FAANG company before FAANG.

IBM is 112 years old and counting.

IBM was a prosperous and super successful company for a very long time. A VERY long time.

Having a window of uncertainty was bound to happen at some point.

IBM has been a pillar in technology over the past 100 years. Helping banks, governments, NASA, airlines, the NFL, Walmart, and even winning Jeopardy at one point along the way.

All of this was slashed in 2018 when we posted a positive quarter of revenue but we’re still not considered saved.

Layoffs, lawsuits, a CEO change, hiring freezes, a pandemic, and an unstable source of revenue growth.

All of this could be perceived as negative. A reason to throw in the towel.

IBM decided to do what IBM does best. Reinvent itself. It may not be pretty. It may not be the cleanest. But spurring IBM's revival wasn’t going to come easy.

We’re becoming a player in the Hybrid Cloud and AI markets. We’re blazing the trail when it comes to Quantum. We’ve sold off parts of the business that didn’t suit us. We acquired businesses that are transforming what IBM is at its core.

We’re clawing our way back.

Seeing IBM not “do well” can have negative results on employee morale. For some reason, I saw it as a reason to buy in.

To turn things around I need to make more of an impact. Fix problems people don’t know they have. Increase productivity. Innovate.

Not to say that I wouldn’t have tried as hard elsewhere. IBM’s interesting position inspired me to try harder. To take lessons from my leaders and become a better leader.

I want IBM to be a company that’s talked about again.

Our Visions Might Be Different

If being the next big thing in tech were easy every company would be making trillions of dollars.

The public vision of what IBM is is very objective. The public sees the results, they see the numbers, and they see the opinions of the disgruntled.

Different parts of IBM have been “dead” since I got there in 2016.

I think that it’s important to remember that the outside noise can be loud, but they don’t have all of the answers.

Arvind has done an amazing job steering the company in the right direction.

Are we back to prominence and dominance? Definitely not. Are we on the way? I think so.

Learning alongside IBM has been amazing.

Learning about Quantum Computing, Qubits, Quantum Entanglement, Probabilistic Computing, Lattice-Based Encryption, the list goes on.

Learning about AI and ML, playing with our custom Generative AI solutions, and theory crafting how we can apply AI/ML solutions to our internal processes.

Learning about Hybrid Cloud, Mainframe Modernization, running multi-cloud, and using modern orchestration platforms like Ansible.

There’s so much going on at IBM that is just hand-waved over.

The worst that we’ve been in my tenure is consistent. The best we’ve been in my tenure is consistent.

The stock price has been trending in the right direction. Revenue has been trending in the right direction. Earnings per share has been trending in the right direction.

I think that our vision for the future of IBM has the potential to make IBM relevant again. Will we get back to Google or Apple levels? I don’t know. All that I do know is that I want to fight like hell to be a part of it if we do.

I’m bought into Big Blue.

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