Ford outsources software for cost control

Several key components of software have been outsourced by a major car manufacturer as a means of controlling costs at the organisation, it has been reported.

Ford, the world's largest car maker after Toyota, General Motors and Volkswagen, is adopting a pay-as-you-go model for its payroll as well as its time and attendance system in order to cut in-house costs on servers, software and staff, Computing recently revealed.

The new secure hosting environment it has agreed to will remove the need to manage software licences in these departments too, though software asset management will undoubtedly be used to oversee other programs to ensure the company does not face difficulty in the event of an IT audit.

Ford hopes it will cut down on costs through increased efficiency via automation across the business, aiming to free payroll staff from administrative tasks and allow for more "value-added activities", the news resource added.

The report follows trends in the automotive industry which has highlighted the need for organisations in the sector to slash expenditure, with General Motors being faced with bankruptcy and offering early retirement to many of its workers.