Rio Tinto ditches outsourcers to build its own software
Summary
Australian corporates, led by the big banks, have invested heavily to grow their technology headcounts, with aims of both optimising their operations and competing in the race to develop new digital products and services. Mr Evans said the change in strategy would allow Rio’s development to move quicker, more closely serve the needs of the business and train and enable it to retain its own talent. “Where we’ve outsourced in the past, we still see the high level of churn in those partners, so you don’t necessarily buy yourself an insurance policy against some of those risks.” Manjunath Bhat, VP analyst at Gartner, said there was an increasing trend and interest in moving software development in-house. As well as forming partnerships with universities, Rio has changed its recruitment strategies and processes and tasked its HR teams with identifying neurodiverse candidates. “Neurodiverse candidates bring amazing things to the table that other employers may overlook, or actually they can use it as a reason not to hire someone,” Mr Evans said.