Security breaches and disruptions to IT networks not only can compromise the confidentiality of vehicle programs, they can wreak havoc on the collection of payments from dealers and customers.
General Motors said today that Randy Mott, 55, an outsider but veteran of several corporate chief information officer positions, will lead General Motors’ global information technology. Mott’s IT appointment is effective immediately. The latest senior executive change follows the appointment last week of insider Jon Lauckner, 54, as vice president and chief technology officer.
Both appointments are crucial to GM’s ongoing recovery.
Lauckner succeeds Tom Stephens who always pushed for the best product possible, and knew the difference in an insider’s view “very exactly between merely good and great cars and trucks.” This showed in increasingly better GM cars and trucks during the last decade, a trend widely noted by the media and buyers.
Lauckner joined GM in 1979 as a test engineer and held a number of positions in product engineering, powertrain engineering and product development.
Less obvious to Detroit media, though, is the importance of IT in a global corporation of GM’s size and complexity. Mott was former Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Hewlett Packard where he was responsible for the company’s global information technology strategy and all its IT assets. He also held CIO roles at Dell and Wal-Mart.
Security breaches and other disruptions or shut downs to IT networks and systems not only can compromise the confidentiality of new car and truck programs, it can wreak havoc on the collection of payments from dealers and customers of GM Financial.
Worse, from a legal point of view, access, disclosure or loss of information could result in legal claims or proceedings, liability or regulatory penalties under laws protecting the privacy of personal information.
On the product side, Lauckner joined GM in 1979 as a test engineer and held a number of positions in product engineering, powertrain engineering and product development, including international assignments in South America and Europe.
