Computerworld: Best Buy rebuilding IT capability it outsourced, starts hiring

E-commerce, mobile computing, tablets and other emerging channels have become so important to Best Buy that the company is rebuilding internal IT resources it outsourced seven years ago.

Best Buy is hiring some 200 IT professionals as part of this effort, and expects its IT department to increase to as many as 350 employees once this round of hiring is completed.

The electronics retailer, which saw its online revenues grow 13% in the last quarter, is putting IT at the heart of a strategy to respond to the expanding e-commerce market.

“IT is becoming a focal point for Best Buy to compete in the marketplace,” said Scott Heise, vice president of application maintenance and development at Best Buy. “A key component of that is us retaking control of IT.”

The strategy is illustrated by the people the company intends to hire.

More of the Computerworld article from Patrick Thibodeau

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