Wal-Mart – Duh

It was reported by the Wall Street Journal that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is in the midst of changing the way it prioritizes Information Technology (IT) projects.

In what I would presume is an ‘epiphany’ driven by lackluster results for an extended period time, WMT has finally decided to do the smart and prudent action and channel all IT projects through the office of its CIO, Karenann Terrell.

It was further reported that the idea behind the structure is to:

* Eliminate duplication of IT projects
* Make sure the company’s goals are met
* Use resources as efficiently as possible

It would be interesting to know how they did things previously; but as long as they have finally seen the light, I am now hoping other companies will follow suit.

The only caveat to this plan is the fact that Mr. Tallman, the architect of the new plan, was quoted as saying: “The days of bringing in contractors for staffing are gone.” Which, to me, means existing employees are expected to do more.

It would have been nice if someone had mentioned an increase of FTE hiring to off-set the “no contractor” edict.

My opinion? – WMT is hurting…. badly.

Todd