I really hope someone here can dispel this rumor! I learned from LinkedIn in the last few days that people now speculate the IBM Redbooks are going the way of the dodo. Apparently some brilliant IBM exec figured out how to mitigate bad 3Q business results. With an IBM client support structure in shambles this is really the last thing we should do to avoid disaster.
I hope clients will inform the clueless people at the IBM helm that this is not such a good move (if true).
Further support to the notion that IBM is a sinking ship and that Mainframe and other IBM HW are now just a cash cows. I decided to jump this ship a while back, similar to many of our clients.
I used to be proud of working for IBM, now I decided to be more low key, as I do not want to be associated with this utter mess. Nothing shocks me anymore when it comes to IBM.
Sounds like redbooks is being dismantled.
"Really? Paper? Isn’t that all online now?"
Yes, they are all online now, and have been for decades. That is not the issue at hand. Will the creation of new Redbooks continue? I know some of our Mainframe clients will not implement new releases of z/OS or Z HW before they have the corresponding Redbooks in their hand. People who can fog a mirror and with fingers on the pulse knows this. Please stop this nonsense from shortsighted IBM "leaders".
The sme's on Redbooks team pushed out to the markets in Americas....true. But when rumors hit, VP pushed down to the troops to dispell the rumors, because plans for z Redbooks will continue. The Redbook Mgr and blue badges were put in industry sales segments, so contractors are the ones left. I know 2 people working on redbooks outside the group who were told to stop all work on their topic. Neither were z. Same happened to the Systems Garage architects, tools team (think metrics and marketing), customer education group and project managers. Welcome to comp plan, targets, pip and the exit door! Let's close 4Q with a Bang! Go, TEAM!
Really? Paper? Isn’t that all online now?
Consulted IBM Redbooks may times back in the day ... they were an excellent source of technical information. You could order them online from Mechanicsburg, and they'd show up in the mail nicely shrink-wrapped a few days later. But, nothing is sacred at IBM anymore ... other than exorbitant salaries and stock options for Senior Management, of course, as they continue to pillage IBM for all it's worth. 😏
IBM who???
The Redbooks were the only referenceable information, especially for configuration how-to. The info will get moved online, updated by non-SMEs, and become a bigger mess then it already is...
No one cares about what ibm does anymore in tech world.
My team has been doing "Red Papers" instead of Red Books: shorter, very specific, technically detailed. They are much easier to get produced, have a faster turnaround time, and actually have a chance of being kept current. And our users love them.
So if the reality is to stop doing long, tedious Red Books that are obsolete within two years and never updated in favor of "Red Papers", I am on board with that.
I hope so, I co-authored one. Mind you, I couldn't understand a word of what my other co-authors wrote, so someone may have a point here.
Does anyone actually ever read these books?