Thread regarding Follett layoffs

Finishing out the CDO's list

1. Outsourced eFollett development to Infosys.

2. Leader of the wonderfully successful Dual Enrollment program. OMG!!!!

Many companies are figuring this out after all the promises of saving money and having cutting edge technology on the cheap too. Remember if it sounds to good to be true .... it's probably not true.

from an interview with the Target cio

"Tell us more about this shift from out-sourcing to in-sourcing and why that matters?

It was clear to me early on that Target had a strong engineering core. But, like many other large companies, we had outsourced a lot of that work. Too much, I thought. About 70% of our engineering staff was third-party contractors vs. 30% Target team members. We had far more contractors than we needed—especially once we pared back our roster of projects to focus on key priorities.

In just a year’s time, we’ve completely flipped that ratio—so that now about 70% of our engineering staff is team members while 30% is made up of contractors. And going forward I’d like to see that ratio get up to 80:20. I firmly believe that to win in retail today and into the future you’ve got to own and build your own technology."

1. I always think I'm the smartest person in the room

2. I laid off a bunch of people with decades of experience in the College Bookstore field...

3. I get paid a lot more than I'll ever contribute...

I would like to see that - List 5 major accomplishments

You can dispel all the negative comments with one reply - just list 5 major accomplishments. Bet it will be crickets.

Couldn't be farther than the truth. Do us all a favor and stop posting your bad assumptions here. You're stirring the pot and that just shows what kind of a person you are.

Great post below. This isn't a technology issue. Sell your books where the customer traffic is - and that is Amazon. Follett/eFollett will never be a destination that consumers "want" to go to. Blaming technology is an excuse for poor business strategy.

And guess who the founder of SKYO is - the new CDO. It is a fine technical website, but it is a ghost town.

Technology won't save us because technology won't increase sales of products enough.

Our main money maker is still text. And schools are using less texts and students are buying from ANY online marketplace except SKYO.

We are morons for not having our textbooks for sale on Amazon - that's where our customers are buying them.

Yeah they take a commission but that's like saying I don't want a store in the mall EVERYONE shops at because I don't like paying rent. So I'll open a store across town where nobody goes to shop.

I don't think Follett IT (or Sanjeev) will be involved much for what the new CDO is planning. That should solve things.

Oh they have spent a boat load money on TRYING to develop new technology. And that boat crosses the ocean every quarter on the SS Titanic. There just isn't much to show for it.

The new CDO? You mean the guy who has been here 4 years already and continued the same old, same old?

Even if they approved a technology upgrade IT would f--- it up and it wouldnt work the way we wanted it too.

I expect that to change with the new CDO.

It is embarrassing when we deal with customers. We are so behind the times.

They don't want to spend what it costs to have leading edge technology.

Read the innovation website and it will answer all your questions. Number one innovation request enteprisewide? Give us back our vacation.