One Emergent View Of IT

Came across an online interview that's probably worth reading, "GM's Ralph Szygenda Drives IT Innovation" in eWeek.

In it, I saw how they'd created a very different picture for themselves about what IT is all about, or -- more importantly -- might be in the future.

If you work in an IT organization, and ever wonder "what's it all about?" -- it's worth a few minutes of your time.

OK, So GM Maybe Isn't Doing All That Well Out There

Look, they're in a tough, nasty and globalized business.  If times were good, would they care so much about IT?  But when times are rough, it's interesting to note the level of transformational investment that GM has made -- and, if you listen to Ralph -- the benefits that have resulted.

Sure, good IT helps in good times.  But it really, really helps in bad times.

The Magic Of Multisourcing

Take a moment and look at how Ralph describes his multisourcing relationship with different vendors.  [Full disclosure alert: EMC does a lot of business with GM through GM's partners].

He talks about the "what" he wants, but doesn't spend a lot of time on how it gets done -- that's up to his vendor partners.  He doesn't care if they offshore, automate, etc. -- whatever works.

His job is to measure the vendors, and incent them to do better in the future.

How He Describes His IT Organization

If you read the interview carefully, you'll see that he's describing three primary functions of IT:

• "IT brokers" who work with the business
• "architects" who make sure that there's integrative value in meeting indivdual requirements
• "vendor managers" who manage his quasi-outsourcing partners

That's pretty much it.  What he's saying (I think) is -- in his world -- that's where the value of IT is.

It's Been A Long Journey for GM IT

I've gotten exposure to how GM does IT at many points in time.  Simply put, Ralph has accomplished an amazing transformation in IT philosophy and effectiveness in a relatively short time.

And, based on Ralph's comments, there's no doubt as to its effectiveness.

The real question in my mind is -- how many other large, complex IT organizations are up for the same journey?