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GM, Akerson said, now has the ability to watch its factories for production and parts supply problems, and perform more accurate virtual crash tests, saving costs and speeding new products to market. In the past, when most computer technology was outsourced, GM couldn't even monitor its own network of computers, he said. "The responsiveness wasn't there," he said of the outside vendors. "There isn't a company on a global competitive basis that isn't good at I.T., that doesn't control its destiny by virtue of better information in every aspect of the business." GM also can use high-powered computers to analyze data across the globe to discover sales trends and potential new markets for its vehicles. The company said new crash-test simulations that were made possible by the data centers are cutting down on the number of physical crash tests that are needed. That saves the company roughly $350,000 per test, GM said. Even though GM is taking on the added capital investment and personnel costs, Mott said it will save money by eliminating the cost of paying outside computer technology vendors. Bringing computer functions into the company can make it more agile, but there are risks as well, including hiring and keeping people who have many job choices, said Bryan Britz, a vice president with Gartner Inc., a firm that advises companies on information technology issues. Most companies that outsource computer functions continue to do so and don't try to build them from inside, he said. But he also said GM is large enough to build and maintain a talent pool. "It really does come down to execution," he said. "That has proven to be, for a lot of organizations, a barrier too big." GM also needs to make sure that it uses the remaining outsourced work to bring innovation from outside, he said.
[Associated
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