Inside Wal-Mart IT 409
prostoalex writes "Information Week magazine takes a look at Wal-Mart's IT infrastructure. Wal-Mart's yearly global sales are quoted at more than 250 billion dollars, their IT spending is less than 1% of that. At the same time, the company manages to pursue new venues in optimizing retail with the wonders of technology. And what about outsourcing IT for the sake of optimization? 'We'd be nuts to outsource,' a top IT executive at Wal-Mart replies."
Head of Walmart IT (Score:5, Interesting)
Not outsourcing! (Score:4, Interesting)
Maybe they just haven't got around to it yet - or they're just paying the US staff Bangalore salaries....
Not the point (Score:3, Interesting)
Oh, yeah - they have it together! (Score:2, Interesting)
no ousourcing? yeah right (Score:2, Interesting)
They run a business for the shareholders, where profit, not jingoist sentiment, rules.
"We'd be nuts!" says the guy who'd be outsourced.. (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:IT outsourcing (Score:5, Interesting)
Well, sounds like they got their infra working (Score:5, Interesting)
Before that, I remember hearing that Wal-Mart used to make every store identical - down to the IP addresses of the boxes. It was a great idea, until it broke all the software that used IP addresses to track state. Imagine: push software to a box, then go to the next store. But wait, the software's already been sent, so no push. Doh!
Overall, their business application people seemed really good, but their infrastructure people were less-than-stellar. It's an interesting environment nevertheless.
Oh, and they were really cheap, too. You'd think they'd understand the value of infrastructure, you know?
RFID could let suppliers cheat (Score:5, Interesting)
One of the things that RFID would help with is the ability to not only locate a palette of some item in the stock room but also count the number of them. (Among numerous other benefits outside the stock room.) If Walmart employees (and you know how well-trained they are) get complacent about this and assume that what the reader tells them is accurate, then suppliers will try to take advantage of it. What happens if a palette comes in with more RFID tags than stock items (but not so many more that it's immediately apparent), and the supplier charges for the number of tags.
This would result in a loss for Walmart, and if it's subtle enough, it could take them a LONG time to track down.
Re:one of my friends works there (Score:5, Interesting)
I applied for an IT job there about five years ago and one of their managers called me back. Their salary range was definitely below industry standards but he said something funny which really turned me off on the job: this position required a lot of travel and when they travelled, they slept two people in the same hotel room because "it's the Wal-Mart way".
Me: No thanks.
Centralized planning at last! (Score:5, Interesting)
But now, we see how centralized planning can work. With hourly updates, bar codes, online registers, and quick feedback to stores and suppliers, the American economy is now run from a central location. Bentonville, Arkansas. Wal-Mart controls more production than Gosplan ever did. They definitely control production; ask any Wal-Mart supplier.
Wal-Mart is more standardized, more controlled, and more centrally managed than the USSR ever was. In financial terms, bigger, too.
Offshore Outsourcing Software Development (Score:5, Interesting)
Offshore outsourcing software development is all about short-term gains at the expensive of long-term profitability.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that training people who will ultimately take that knowledge and compete against you isn't a viable long-term strategy.
I'm looking forward to seeing the faces of American executives when Indian software companies start competing against those same American companies who decided offshore outsource. "Gosh, we didn't expect them to compete against us after we paid them for years and years, giving them the crucial experience necessary to compete against us!"
Oh, wait. Those executives won't care. They'll already have stolen their millions from the companies whose long-term viability they destroyed, and be sipping drinks while counting their money.
Outsourcing != offshoring (Score:5, Interesting)
Offshoring on the other hand can be done without outsourcing. Wal-Mart just has to establish a developement center in another country that they fully control. Companies like IBM, Oracle, and Microsoft are offshoring work to China and India, but they are not outsourcing since these develepment centers and employees belong to the company, not a third party.
My (slight OT) Walmart Interview Story (Score:5, Interesting)
One of the questions on the form was something along the lines of:
"Do you feel that everyone tries drugs at some point in their life."
The question wasn't specific. It didn't ask about "heroin," "marijuana," or even "aspirin."
Anyway, I am sometimes Honest and I felt I needed to answer the question truthfully. So, checked "Yes," and wrote: "Yes, I believe that, at some point during a person's very long life, one tries 'drugs'."
Yes, I was a dink.
The interviewer took my form to be "analyzed" and, to this day, I remember the anger on her face when she walked out of that office.
She said, "So, you think people try drugs, huh? Well, I don't think we have any place for a person like that."
I don't think I can ever work at Walmart. I imagine my "form" along with my name and SS has been filed somewhere.
Anyway, I suppose that Walmart's IT folks aren't pot-smoking, heroin-shooting, aspirin-chewing, drug-experimenters who sit in a daze watching Matrix letters melt on their screens, eh?
"We'd be nuts to outsource.." (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:one of my friends works there (Score:3, Interesting)
So you think that 950k people is the majority of the IT infrastructure the world over? Wal-Mart isn't setting standards, they're just dragging the average down.
Considering... (Score:4, Interesting)
The people in charge of Wally*Mart most certainly received their degrees decades ago. I doubt there are any PDP-11s--or whatever they programmed their PIC projects on--still in use today. I also doubt they use Pascal/Fortran on the job, but your sundry 80s BS CS has some of that on her transcript.
.
* PHBs and other people who don't know how to interview/judge an applicant's stillset abscribe "value" to a degree, but if you asked them exactly how that applies to the job at hand, you'd get nothing more than vapor lock in return.
Re:IT outsourcing (Score:4, Interesting)
Do yourself a favor... (Score:4, Interesting)
Don't sell IT software or services to Wal-Mart. They treat IT vendors just like they do makers of physical goods. http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.htm l
They'll negotiate you down to nearly 0 profit on your goods and service, and you'll sell because at the /next/ renewal you'll increase the rates slightly and make some of that money back... and Wal-Mart is a good reference account (just look at those seats man!).
Once they get you in-house they'll rape your internal IT support until they become your most expensive customer to support... after all their internal people are underpaid and undertrained. And if you balk, their lawyers will eat you alive. Then next year when you try to raise your rates to a level where you can at least break even, they'll find some other vendor stupid enough to think Wal_Mart makes a good reference company and tear out your solution to implement their. And the cycle continues.
Instead of landing Wal-Mart as an IT customer just give 2.6 million dollars to them and pound a nail through your hand. It's cheaper and less painful.
Great article; clarifications for /. postings (Score:5, Interesting)
Disclaimer: I work for walmart.com so you can think whatever you want about my potentially biased opinions, below.
I've been working for walmart.com since June. walmart.com is wholly owned by Wal-Mart Incorporated; our computer systems are different from IDS's, the group mentioned in the article, but the company culture and mission are the same. I see a lot of misinformation about what Wal-Mart and walmart.com do or do not in terms of IT and jobs. Most of what I see is bullshit spoken by people who've never worked here or who have bought the "Wal-Mart is Evil" propaganda.
I've worked as a systems architect for some of the largest banks in the world, Nortel, Bell Atlantic, Sun Microsystems, IBM, start-ups, etc. Nowhere other than walmart.com have I seen an environment where the technology folks are encouraged to do their best like at walmart.com. While the politics in most places veer toward "it's not my job", here we are all encouraged to help and participate in addressing a problem and solving it. As a result, things get done very smoothly, people aren't afraid to speak their minds, and lots of sharp people keep joining the ranks (for example, one of the lead guys behind OS X now works for us).
As far as the tools required to do your job, the company will get you, no questions asked, anything that you need to get your job done, with a minimum of red tape. Our standard development environments are Linux and Windows. For various reasons I filed a special request for a Mac with the latest OS X to complement my other two, brand new--and high-end--Dell boxes. I got it within hours as soon as I justified what I needed it for. The company will also pay for mobile/cable Internet access/Blackberry/etc. bills if you're using those to accomplish your job. Even if that means that you only log on to work once a month over that cable/DSL/whatever connection to check an email. Special software that you may need is only a signature away.
After having worked at so many places, I can say that the people at walmart.com have a sense of mission and truly enjoy their work mainly because the company's and employees' goals are aligned. There are cases of people burning out, like at any other company, but even those who've left speak kindly of the company. I, for one, have a lot of fun with my work and almost immediate gratification when it comes to the sense of accomplishment.
We interact with the folks from ISD, the ones that the article was about. As far as I can tell their sense of mission is as vibrant as ours.
As far as salaries are concerned, nobody I know has any complaints. I make a 6-figure salary before a substantial bonus coming my way next year; you never hear anybody bitching about salaries at the water fountain or coffee station. The benefits are great. The salaries, benefits and perks are above those of most companies in Silicon Valley (we're located at its outer edge, in Brisbane, CA). We have the option to telecommute and/or have a flexible schedule.
In sum, it's a fun, exciting, and challenging place to work.
I posted this because I get tired of people engaging into Wal-Mart bashing without knowing what the hell they're talking about. I know as a fact what the work, salaries, benefits, working environment, etc. are like. We are at the cutting edge of technology and we are successful at it. While the article from InfoWeek may not fit some slashdotters' perception of the company, it is probably accurate in describing the goings on at Wal-Mart technology.
(Another disclaimer: I don't think I'm supposed to discuss what our exact infrastructure is; I will tell say, though, that whatever Netcraft is reporting about software from an Evil Company is wrong.)
Oh, before I forget... we're still expanding and continuously hiring smart Linux/Java/etc. people, in case you want to come and see for yourself. In fact, I know we're hiring at a higher rate and with much lower attrition than most places in Silicon Valley as well.
Cheers,
Anonymous Coward today, with aCool story (Score:5, Interesting)
Guess what -- They're ARKANSAS. (Score:1, Interesting)
Guess way, there aren't lots of high tech jobs in Arkansas. If you're in IT, odds are you work for Wal-Mart, Acxiom or Tyson. Low competition means low salaries. If you don't like it, move to another state. All three are customers of my current employer. All three have some unhappy employees.
On the other hand, things are cheap there. A friend just bought a 5000 square foot home on many acres of land for the same price I paid for my 900 sqft condo . (I live in Boston.)
Its a nice place to visit (I've been there twice for work) but I wouldn't want to be employed there.
Walmart vs Navy (Score:3, Interesting)
The Navy decided to outsource their entire network (not just the IT component) via the Navy Marine Corp Intranet (NCMI) contract. A 8.9 Billion, dollars which is best described as a system design in a vacuum at the top with no input from the working level, emphasizing centralized control and is centered around Microsoft core products.
Dissension is strictly forbidden at all levels - even constructive criticism. All press releases are rosy. But from the inside the situation is anything but rosy.
Some at the upper end forgot that Scientist and Engineers work for the Navy and need a wide range of tools to do their job and be innovative. Very little open source software is on the approved for use including dangerous software like Apache or Firefox. Strangely we are required to use IE instead of Mozilla or Firefox.
In practice what is see happening is that the old "legacy" netowrk is staying around why everyone just uses the NCMI network to read email and access the web. So in effect the Navy just hobbled its budget by $8.8x 10^9 dollars. Great winfall for Microsoft and Dell though.
A while back Cringely [pbs.org] had an interesting article on the comparision of the NMCI venture and the way Walmart does IT. In a protracted war he placed his bets on Walmart winnng.
funny wallmart IT story (Score:5, Interesting)
Anyhow one day I got a call from a customer at WallMart who was having trouble ocring a document that was made in word (she told me this right at the begining). The problem was the program wasn't picking up text inside grid like cells. I found later on the OCR app was marking all the grids as artifacts (ie pictures that can't be captured). I then made the mistake of asking if they could just get the word document and make that into a pdf if it would be a better work flow.
Turns out the only reason they bought this ocr application was to move word documents from a machine across the room. Reason? They couldn't email the document from one computer to another, the computer's floppy drive was locked down, the computers usb port was locked down. So someone had the brilliant idea to spend thousands of dollars on an ocr application, print the document out, capture the document on another machine, which made it into a pdf, where they would take acrobat and save it as a word doc and correct any mistakes. Yes Wallmart's wonderful IT department is saving them money and time.
I'm not kidding in the slightest - I swear on a stack of bibles this is really what she told me.
WalMart does outsource (Score:5, Interesting)
Since I don't work for Wal-Mart, and my butt was the one 25ft up in the air running cable, I would call this outsourcing.
Re:one of my friends works there (Score:3, Interesting)
Were I working at a small startup, sure, maybe I'd be willing to share a room, hoping those cost savings will help keep the company afloat, or make the options worth something.
But really, a company of that size asking traveling employees to share a room? WTF? Let me guess, its probably at Motel 6 too. I don't mind staying at hotels that are not as nice as if I were on vaction...fine, as long as I can get net access I'm happy. I don't expect the company to spring for the Four Seasons like I would.
At least Wal-Mart (fuck-Mart?) seems to be consistent. They treat employees equally shitty, at least up to a certain level. My guess is that the execs don't share rooms at Motel 6, they probably don't fly coach either.
damn I hate that company. Done ranting........Now
I worked with Wal*Mart for about a year (Score:2, Interesting)
But yes they have a great can-do, really make it work attitude and if you implement something for wal*mart and it works, it will probably work anywhere. I know several folks whose careers were made at wal*mart. Almost any competitor will gladly snap you up with a big, big raise if you have made your credentials in wal*mart IT.
Oh yeah, and did anyone mention how nasty wal*mart can be if they find out you plan to leave them? (* if you quit and you are useful they figure you are going to a competitor *eventually* So therefore you are a "traitor" *) Most folks who quit try to leave as quietly as possible. Its the only place I ever worked where I saw that sort of behavior.
Re:Not outsourcing - from a business point of view (Score:3, Interesting)
From what I've been reading so far, Walmart doesn't outsource because they've figured out that you can always find enough people domestically that will work for peanuts in a lousy environment. I've yet to hear anyone who has/does work there say anything positive about the experience.
Re:Outsourcing - an undue bad rep (Score:2, Interesting)
A Job is who you are. Cook, Smith, Cox are not just job descriptions, they're last names. After a certian period, jobs are owned by the employee.
Management has to do what it must to cut costs, and improve profitability. It's about the bottom line.
At the expense of the Middle Class. Whose going to afford the products if there's no one left to buy them?
As to those who believe that outsourcing provides poorer quality goods and services
Outsourcing produces poor quality goods and services, because the company loses QA control over the product. Sure, blindly saying 'all outsourcing produces crap' is not correct, but the chances of a poor outcome is more likely.
Re:walmart = oinkers (Score:1, Interesting)
I just want to know, what the hell is wrong with companies offering part time employment at a low dollar per hour?
Yes, I agree, if you were to try and support your whole family on nothing but your income from Walmart, you'd likely be in the poor house as you describe.
What about the people who actually just want to work part time jobs? *gasp* What? People who choose to work for this wage? Maybe college students, people with second jobs, soccer moms, people needing a quick in-betwene position to make ends meet, etc.? What's so wrong with this?
You're also very incosiderate to the people who do choose to work at Walmart. I wouldn't be suprised that when you visit a Walmart, you think how pitiful the people are for working there. Do you think these must be the scum of the earth for working there? Is it even conceivable for a second that the people working for Walmart want to be there and take pride in their work?
Just exactly how many jobs have you created in the economy?
It's the communist/socialist perspective, like yours, that believes every job needs to be of equitable wage, able to support a single parent with several children.
Is Walmart the only employer in the world? There are hundreds of thousands of jobs out there available that that provide all the wage and benefits you describe. It's not like Walmart is forcing people to work for them.
If Walmart couldn't employ its workforce the way it does, then they'd have to compete for their talent and would obviously increase wages and benefits to attract people. These are simple free market principles.
The biggest shortage is not enough good managers. (Score:3, Interesting)
That's sad.
"... looking like a junk heap." It's amazing what a mess the stores are now.
It's even more amazing that a huge company was so dependent on just one person for good management.
A famous venture capital manager said that there is plenty of money and plenty of ideas. The biggest shortage is not enough good managers.
--
Bush: Borrowing money [brillig.com] to try to make his administration look good.
The post no one will ever get to or see. (Score:2, Interesting)
Most businesses like retail don't want to wait for work to get done. Fuck (first time I ever swore on a bulletin board, forgive me) delivering effective solutions, deliver efficeincy. Ok, let's think about this. You have an efficient process that is not effective... you just have crappy system no one trusts. The next thing you know your clients want report after report so they can manually pour through and determine if the IT process is correct. Oh and of course in the end, strategic or operational decision making will be based on someone's uneducated gut instinct. Which makes you wonder why you built the stupid system in the first place. This is reality. It happens where I work, it happens all over it really is bullshit. In the end everyone wants a piece of the good old capital budget so they can capitalize on some operational costs so the books look good.
I don't know how many of you stay read about Sarbanes Oxley and the whole compliancy thing but things may finally change in IT. Ever since the stupide
Ok, enough ranting for a post that won't get read.