General motors transform its information technology strategy:

Plenty of companies crow about their IT “transformations,” but none of

them can be compared in size and scope to the one General Motors.
GM’s IT organization has collapsed 23 large, legacy data centers
operated by suppliers worldwide into two modern, more cost-efficient
ones in Michigan. Those two in-house data centers, leveraging a private
“cloud-like” architecture, handle most of GM’s enormous worldwide
computing needs. Moreover, most of the production, customer, and
other data that was scattered across GM operations worldwide and
held by various third-party contractors has been integrated into one
central enterprise data warehouse. That EDW, which now holds about 1
petabyte of structured and unstructured data, is managed by a
dedicated team of more than 400 people. However, GM utilizes its
information systems resources to fully complement wider
organizational strategic objectives by assessing the extent to which
functional integration of value chain activities are successfully realized.
Information systems are an essential ingredient of any firm that aspires
to be successful in today’s globalized, digital economy. The fundamental
aim of IS’s is to bring together the sociotechnical elements
of organizations whereby “optimal organizational performance is
achieved by jointly optimizing both the social and technical systems used
in production.”
Questions:

1. The benefits of GM’s insourcing strategy are that they are

upgrading their IT system so it can do things as such. In addition,
instead of outsourcing work to 3rdworld countries like India they
will hire people to work in house as part of their upgraded
business strategy. It looks better for GM, they are insourcing
within instead of working with other companies, as these are
processes they can perform on their own.
2. As mentioned in the case, what makes General Motors think they
are better than other companies that only specialize in that one
Feld of IT. It is a big transition and I wonder if it is something that
will really benefit them, it is a whole added system that needs to
be overseen. A transition as such can cause several problems for
the company.
3.  Information technology has made possible what has been called
“mass customization” the efficient and reliable production of
goods and services according to the highly personalized needs of
individual customers. It can be used to manage safety through
Accountability with IT transparency and accountability.
Information Technology (IT) plays a central role at General Motors
as we combine modern designs with powerful technology to
usher in a new era of mobility. By utilizing supercomputing
technology, advanced simulations and design tools, we’re creating
vehicles that do more than drive, they enhance customers’ digital
lives. Also, information system has a major role in it, and I think
that IT will be core to the company’s success in the future. The IT
operations arguably can influence every part of GM's business.
While not the driving force behind monumental decisions such as
exiting unprofitable vehicle segments and markets, including the
sale of GM's European operations, IT is helping Barra and other
senior leaders to make quicker, more well-informed decisions
than executives ever could before. Now, more than 80 percent of
GM's IT employees develop tools and find ways to be more
efficient, rather than just "run the business," as vendors had been
doing previously so it’s really so beneficial.