‘IBM Is Dying’: X User Shares Reddit Post Laying Bare Employee Rant On Company’s Declining Cloud Market Position And Workforce Challenges

In a recent viral post shared on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, a user shared a screenshot of a Reddit rant that left many stunned. The Reddit post, written by a reddit user (r/IBM), expressed deep frustrations about the company’s current state.

The X user who shared the screenshot and commented, "This is the most devastating employee rant I’ve ever read."

The original Reddit post pulls no punches in criticising IBM’s direction, stating bluntly, “Why are any of us still here? IBM is dying, and we know it.”

After working at IBM for a couple of years, the employee admits to questioning why anyone stays. They cite the company’s poor performance in the cloud market, describing IBM Cloud as “an absolute joke,” only used by companies that are trapped by IBM’s legacy systems. “They’re not using it because it’s good but because they have no choice,” the post reads.

One of the most striking elements of the post is its harsh assessment of IBM’s cloud strategy.

The employee claims that IBM is still struggling to recover from its failure to build innovative cloud solutions, opting instead to buy Red Hat for USD 34 billion to compensate for the company’s shortcomings.

“Why build innovative cloud solutions when we can just acquire something decent and slap our logo on it?” the employee asks sarcastically, pointing out the lack of real innovation.

“Our hybrid cloud strategy is merging old systems with slightly newer systems,” the post continues. Rather than developing innovative solutions, IBM is accused of merely patching up its legacy technology. “We basically sell the solution to problems that IBM products make,” the post states, pointing to IBM Global Services as an example of how the company profits from its own complexity.

IBM’s mainframe business, specifically its System Z products, is another target of the employee’s rant. The post highlights that IBM still makes billions from keeping these systems operational, as many institutions rely on them for their core operations.

“We make billions just keeping System Z mainframes on life support,” the employee claims, adding that these clients are trapped by IBM’s complex, legacy infrastructure.

IBM’s AI Efforts: WatsonX Under Fire

The employee also takes aim at IBM’s AI platform, WatsonX, describing it as little more than a rebranding of old ideas. “Everyone knows we’re not coming up with anything innovative,” the post reads, accusing IBM of merely riding on the coattails of more innovative companies like Meta.

Workforce Restructuring

Another point of contention is IBM’s workforce rebalancing efforts, which the employee sees as short-term cost-cutting at the expense of long-term productivity.

“Employees feel less motivated and valued when we see our peers get laid off for cheap labor,” the post reads.

In perhaps the most damning part of the post, the employee predicts that IBM’s future is bleak. They foresee a time when IBM’s mainframe clients will migrate to other systems, leaving the company with “nothing but scraps.”

Once competitors like Microsoft, Google, and AWS perfect tools to help companies transition off IBM’s legacy systems, the employee believes IBM will be left behind. “Our future is collapsing rapidly,” the post warns.

Netizens Reaction

One of X user responding to the post wrote, "True that this may be - $IBM is at an all time high."

Another user added, "Legacy systems are slower, less efficient, and more costly than modern systems, but tend to be simpler and more reliable. There must be an opportunity in the business of keeping legacy systems alive..."