Bryon Kataoka is the author of Digital Transformation and Modernization with IBM API Connect, we got the chance to sit down with him and find out more about his experience of writing with Packt.
Q: What is/are your specialist tech area(s)?
Bryon: IBM API Connect and Gateway
Q: How did you become an author for Packt? Tell us about your journey. What was your motivation for writing this book?
Bryon: Many years ago I was offered the opportunity to be a reviewer for a book a friend from IBM was writing. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and was later offered the opportunity to write my first book. That book, WebSphere Application Server Bible, was published by John Wiley and I thought that would be my last. Over the years I have continued to work with customers and help them learn new technology. In today’s agile environments I felt the need to help fill in the gaps that occur when technology moves at a faster pace than before. I also wanted to prove to myself that I could endure the book-writing journey once again. And here we are.
Q: What kind of research did you do, and how long did you spend researching before beginning the book?
Bryon: Most of my research was done on the job and that is when I determined that with agile development and Continuous Deployment there were so many gaps in solving challenges by my customers. My efforts are an accumulation of solving real problems with customers and I couldn’t have accomplished that without support from my network of fellow API Connect technologists. Learning by research is great, but learning by experience – amazing!
Q: Did you face any challenges during the writing process? How did you overcome them?
Bryon: Our greatest challenge was participating and coordinating with a total of 3 authors. Until you have written your first book there are so many deviations and digressions one can fall into. I’ve always led by example so I worked with our team to ensure that the book read as a single author versus multiple personalities and egos. That was a difficult task but in the end, the final product is what mattered.
Q: What’s your take on the technologies discussed in the book? Where do you see these technologies heading in the future?
Bryon: This book is about Digital Transformation and Modernization using IBM API Connect. The product is continuing to improve and APIs are critical in the transformation. The technology is heading more towards the cloud with an emphasis on microservices, containers, and management with Kubernetes. This will continue to be the future and those taking the visionary path with IBM Connect will enjoy the ride.
Q. Why should readers choose this book over others already on the market? How would you differentiate your book from its competition?
Bryon: There aren’t any API Connect references available outside of the IBM Documentation. There are a few articles but that entails considerable search that often finds old versions of information. With the continuous deployment of API Connect, the documentation often is lacking. Our book will help fill in the gaps while also providing an easy-to-read experience.
Q. What are the key takeaways you want readers to come away from the book with?
Bryon: That API Connect is an easy-to-use API Management solution that is growing towards the future of the hybrid cloud. It already has many features that other API Management solutions lack.
Q. What advice would you give to readers learning tech? Do you have any top tips?
Bryon: Learn by working with the product.
Q. Do you have a blog that readers can follow?
Bryon: Yes. We will begin posting about the book soon. Link: https://www.isoagroup.com/blog/
Q. Do you belong to any tech community groups?
Bryon: LinkedIn API Connect and DataPower User groups
Q. What are your favorite tech journals? How do you keep yourself up to date on tech?
Bryon: Not really. IBM technology keeps me pretty informed.
Q. How did you organize, plan, and prioritize your work and write the book?
Bryon: Based on previous experience I created outlines and a table of contents to ensure the flow would be proper. I also always considered the reader.
Q. What is the one writing tip that you found most crucial and would like to share with aspiring authors?
Bryon: Write with the reader in mind. Stay focused and don’t let your ego get in the way. Make sure you write with a purpose to help the reader learn and don’t do a brain dump and assume context is better than images.
You can find Bryon’s book on Amazon by following this link: Please click here
