By Nathan Bomey, Detroit Free Press –
DETROIT — General Motors Co. plans to hire 3,000 Hewlett-Packard Co. employees who previously did information technology work for the automaker.
The move is part of GM’s plan to bring 90 percent of its IT work in-house from outside contractors, giving it direct control over new software applications and reducing overlap of current services.
GM Chief Information Officer Randy Mott, who previously held the same position with HP, has been frustrated by the automaker’s outdated and overlapping IT systems since joining the company in February. He wants to speed product development by reducing the company’s reliance on outsourced contracts.
The automaker has also purchased several HP software applications to improve its software development, data management and support processes.
“These agreements with HP will enable us to accelerate the progress of our IT transformation by delivering increased innovation and speed of delivery to our GM business partners, and reduce the cost of ongoing IT operations,” Mott said in a statement. “Transforming our internal IT operations will give us the resources, tools and flexibility we need to provide better services and products to our global customers.”
Separately, GM announced last week that it would hire 1,500 new IT workers at its Warren Tech Center and another 500 in Austin, Texas. The company said Thursday that it still plans to open two new software centers elsewhere.
HP is GM’s main IT vendor with a $2 billion contract awarded in 2010 to manage product development software, maintain networks for desktop computers, supplier management and financial transactions, among other functions.
At one time, much of GM’s IT work was down by Electronic Data Systems, which it acquired from Ross Perot in 1984. GM spun off Electronic Data Systems in 1996. HP bought the company in 2008 and quickly shed thousands of jobs.
