GM Prepares For New CIOGM Prepares For New CIO

Indeed, Szygenda has been an unrelenting task master as CIO at GM, yet he's delivered what top management expected of him following GM's spin-off of EDS in 1995. Szygenda's legacy is moving GM past a sole-source IT outsourcing relationship that he inherited with EDS, to a multi-source model that gave GM much more control over costs and expectations.

Szygenda never made any excuses for doing what he felt was necessary to cut IT costs at GM, starting when he joined in 1996. And in numerous interviews with information over the years, he often focused on all he was doing to get more out of his IT service vendors.

In 2006, Szygenda offered up to $15 billion in multi-year IT services contracts to suppliers. But to win, he required that service providers adhere to 44 standard processes GM created for IT projects. Companies that got the biggest contracts, including EDS, Capgemini, Covisint, Hewlett-Packard (which hadn't yet acquired EDS), IBM, and Wipro, had to put aside proprietary approaches and competitive differences to get their employees all working for GM the same way.

Szygenda clearly relished holding all the cards during the 2006 contract process, and made it clear to EDS that despite its longtime relationship with GM, he was willing to give all or none of the contract work to the company. This ruthless tactic must have sent shock waves through EDS's management ranks, particularly given its one-time ownership by GM.

While EDS retained the largest chunk of GM's business, its annual contract rate was set at about $1.8 billion a year -- about $500 million less than it had been making. And it was awarded on the condition that EDS would "redo the organization -- how they manage their people, how to manage common processes," Szygenda said in a 2006 interview.

In recent years there's been a lot of tension between GM and EDS, said a former EDS employee, requesting anonymity. He described a performance dashboard that Szygenda used to keep on the screen of his desktop computer, which would analyze performance metrics for GM's IT vendors using color codes.

"We all knew that no one would ever see green on a dashboard because it would not give him leverage. If any vendor felt like Ralph was happy with him, he would lose all his clout," said the person.

Service providers may be more receptive to Kline's personable style. Yet Kline also will have to prove he can demand the most of EDS and other vendors at a time when GM, post bankruptcy, and at its most vulnerable, could lose negotiating leverage.

Kline's former co-worker thinks he's up to the task. "You could not find a more dedicated person," this person said. "He has such a demanding and difficult job that he's never lost sight of and probably never will, because of his make-up."

Szygenda did not indicate what his plans are following GM. "The signature of my life has always been to look forward, to keep my eyes on that horizon, to never rest on the laurels of the past," he said. "I will maintain that attitude when I leave GM October 1."

information's Informed CIO series lays out 10 steps to achieve excellence in service assurance initiatives. Download the report here (registration required).