Stan Gibson

General Motors has written the book on acquiring IT goods and services—literally. When he embarked three years ago on his landmark outsourcing strategy of handing work to a number of suppliers that would both co-operate and compete, GM CIO Ralph Szygenda said he believed he was entering new management territory where new skills would be […]

For Indian outsourcers its the problem that just wont go away: wage inflation. Widely acknowledged by the outsourcers themselves and until now kept at bay by strong growth, the continual increase in salaries at top Indian firms like Wipro, Infosys and TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) is changing from mere annoyance to a present danger. When […]

Its a natural question: Youve sent critical work halfway around the world to get done and theres a terror bombing. Corporate management calls to ask if you can guarantee that corporate data is secure and your outsourcing relationship—which you painstakingly sold them on a couple of years ago—is not in jeopardy. You wonder, if only […]

Led by strong software sales, particularly in Tivoli and WebSphere products, IBM posted solid second-quarter results that met earnings targets. Earnings were $1.30 per share, compared with $1.14 per share in the year-earlier second quarter, an increase of 14 percent. Second-quarter profit was $2 billion, compared with $1.9 billion in the second quarter of 2005, […]

The curtain is set to go up on the annual SHARE conference in Baltimore from Aug. 13-18, where service-oriented architecture and security are at the top of the agenda for the venerable IBM systems user group. “There is a complete SOA track. But its more than the technology. Its about your business process. To have […]

As EMC, the leading enterprise storage vendor, continues to acquire its way to becoming a software powerhouse—most recently agreeing to buy RSA Security for $2.1 billion—its worth asking where the company is headed and how well its corporate strategy is serving corporate IT. We take a skeptical view of mergers and acquisitions because they reduce […]

The big fear of offshore outsourcing customers has become a reality: a major bombing attack in an outsourcing hub. On July 11, at least 200 commuters were killed by terrorist bombings in Mumbai, India, a key outsourcing locale. In the wake of the attacks, outsourcing providers in Mumbai scrambled to make sure employees and customer […]

The hope that a $2 billion buyback plan would boost its stock in the wake of a failed bid to find a buyer appears to be in vain, as Computer Sciences shares have failed to rebound in the past two weeks to previous levels. On June 29, the El Segundo, Calif. outsourcer and systems integrator […]

The big fear of offshore outsourcing customers has become a reality: a major bombing attack in an outsourcing hub. On July 11, at least 200 commuters were killed by terrorist bombings in Mumbai, India, a key outsourcing locale. In the wake of the attacks, outsourcing providers in Mumbai scrambled to make sure employees and customer […]

Rolls-Royce has signed a seven-year, $20 million deal with Nortel Networks to build a new worldwide enterprise voice-over-IP network. The network is to encompass telephony, unified voice, fax and e-mail messaging, and a platform for advanced mobile collaboration. “Nortels … ability to build large, reliable networks designed for delivery of new services convinced us to […]

The outsourcing boom has passed and maturity is setting in, according to a new study from consulting firm DiamondCluster International in Chicago. The leveling off is due in part to experienced customers becoming more savvy and more picky about the work they hand to outsourcing providers. The reticence on the part of some customers is […]

Its summertime. Although were not against a little downtime to recharge the batteries, the summer is also a good time to get ahead by means of self-improvement—and we continue to think the competitive position of the United States in IT needs a serious makeover. Plenty of things need to be addressed without delay. In several […]