World Class IT Principle Five, External Partnerships, eSeminar with Bob Willett, CEO of Al Futtaim Group, and Former CIO of Best Buy and CEO of Best Buy International

Summary: This interview is the fifth in a special series of five eSeminars covering the Five Principles of World Class IT. The five interviews have been broadcast in sequential weeks, and in this conversation on principle five –External Partnerships, Bob Willett discusses the following ideas: The lessons learned from having been a provider of outsourced services to the time when he was a user of them The rationale and benefits of outsourcing the majority of the IT department The benefits he sought and gained through outsourcing, and why reducing cost was not the number one priority How Best Buy’s “Business Information Officers” served to translate business requirements to vendors How best to evaluate external partners beyond just measuring SLAs