CIO FOCUS
of hiring more IT talent , especially in Germany , although this is becoming an increasing challenge as expertise is becoming scarcer in Central Europe . Second on Brecht ’ s list is to strengthen Daimler hubs in India , Turkey and Portugal , while the third element involves transforming the roles of 1,000 existing staff into more direct IT positions . This is all part of a three-year plan due for completion in 2019 .
“ This is trend I believe you will happening more and more ,” Brecht comments . “ We live in an industry that traditionally functioned in five to 10 year cycles , which is how long it takes to have a car engineered , tested and then on the road . If we turn our industry into a software industry these cycles become shorter and shorter – the multivendor , multi-layered sourcing approach that you find in many IT organisations just isn ’ t fast enough to respond in this new world .”
This is not to state that Daimler is looking to fundamentally alter the balance of outsourced and in-house IT functionality . “ We will not be reversing that ,” Brecht explains . “ Even slight changes to that ratio requires significant skills increases internally . The partners may look a little different than they used to – you need a network of agile , fast-moving partners which means you may be looking at using smaller vendors to build a system of mobility services .”
This stance reflects the priorities now evident in the upper echelons of Daimler senior management , who recognise the critical importance of technology in driving its wider business strategies .
Brecht continues : “ When I returned to Daimler we asked the board of management a multiple choice question about what they want IT to deliver , with the options being speed , more functionality and cost reduction . The unanimous answer was speed .
“ The focus is not just to compete with the digital competitors we have in the car industry , but also the platform companies , especially if they are active in the mobility space . In terms of budget and headcount , IT is a massive part of the overall business strategy .”
An autonomous future ? With the shift from a vehicle builder to
26 June 2017