Close
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
eWEEK.com
Search
eWEEK.com
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications

    Council Governs Corporate Technology Standards

    By
    STAN GIBSON
    -
    May 3, 2004
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      As the merger of Daimler-Benzag and Chrysler Corp. unfolded, the need for corporate technology standards came to the forefront and resulted in the creation in 2001 of the Global Technology Council.

      “We understood we needed some governing body for new technologies,” said Vince Morrotti, chief technology officer at DaimlerChrysler AG, in Auburn Hills, Mich. Morrotti, an American, was CIO of Daimler before the merger with Chrysler.

      /zimages/1/28571.gifClick here to read eWEEKs interview with DaimlerChrysler CIO Susan Unger.

      The council, which meets monthly via a global videoconference, has approximately 20 members, drawn from the Chrysler, Mercedes, Commercial Vehicles and Financial Services divisions.

      “If someone has a need for content management, for example, the requirements are reviewed by this cross-functional group. Then they decide on a standard offering. Anyone else coming along after that has to use that technology,” said Morrotti, adding that Vignette Corp.s V6 Content Management Services emerged as the content management standard.

      Purchasing products from a list of approved global standards cuts acquisition costs by generating volume purchases. It also cuts support costs because more expertise is accumulated in the company in fewer technologies.

      Establishing IBMs Lotus Notes as a corporate e-mail and groupware standard was a first critical step. Subsequently, “we had a number of different middleware products, and we standardized on [IBMs] WebSphere,” said Morrotti. Proving, however, that DaimlerChrylser is not in lock step with a single vendor, the company has embraced Microsoft Corp.s .Net architecture for applications that use Web services.

      Sometimes vendors are selected through online bidding. A case in point is worldwide PC purchases. In the United States, Dell Inc. was the winner for desktops and laptops. In EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and Asia, Hewlett-Packard Co. and Siemens AG desktops are used along with IBM laptops.

      Where the GTC weighs in is on the software image thats loaded onto each PC. “On laptops and desktops, thats very important to us, to distribute software and apply security patches,” said Morrotti.

      DaimlerChrysler is in the midst of a rollout of Windows XP on 170,000 PCs worldwide. With about one-third of the upgrades completed, Morrotti aims to have 90 percent converted by years end.

      Discipline stressed by Morrotti was critical in DaimlerChryslers use of IT through the dot-com boom-and-bust cycle, said DaimlerChrysler CIO Susan Unger. “At the beginning of the e-hype stuff, Vinces group took a very strong stand and made some bets early on when it wasnt so well-known what the right choices were going to be. That team made the right bets. We have an e-infrastructure thats in place and working globally,” said Unger.

      /zimages/1/28571.gifCheck out eWEEK.coms Enterprise Applications Center at http://enterpriseapps.eweek.com for the latest news, reviews, analysis and opinion about productivity and business solutions. Be sure to add our eWEEK.com enterprise applications news feed to your RSS newsreader or My Yahoo page: http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/my/addtomyyahoo2.gif

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      CHRIS PREIMESBERGER - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      CHRIS PREIMESBERGER - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      EWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      ZEUS KERRAVALA - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      WAYNE RASH - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more
      eWeek


      Contact Us | About | Sitemap

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      Terms of Service | Privacy Notice | Advertise | California - Do Not Sell My Info

      © 2020 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×