The second story, however, line is more hopeful: GM will gain some needed freedom if, as expected, it files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and reorganizes. It will be able to jettison contracts and IT plans that may not be working for it and better position itself to .

Among the companies that make up GM's suppliers is supply chain management vendor i2 Technologies Inc. As with other vendors, i2 is paid on a 60-day term, meaning that if GM files for bankruptcy, there is a chance it won't be paid for two months worth of work, said Kelly Thomas, senior vice president and general manager of manufacturing at i2.

Which vendors are paid after a bankruptcy is filed will be up to a judge, but Thomas said his firm will stay with GM, regardless of a court decision. "You make a bet that you will be a much stronger partner because you stuck by their side," he said.

There are many other IT vendors at risk of losing money in a GM bankruptcy. Automakers and their supply chains spent $9 billion on IT last year, according to IDC's Manufacturing Insights -- and GM is a big part of that spending. In 2006 alone, in multi-year outsourcing contracts. Overall IT spending for this year in the U.S. is estimated to be nearly nearly $500 billion, according to IDC.

But once GM is out of bankruptcy, vendors continuing with the company will be paid. The court "will make sure there is a financing system," said D. Mike Darland, a partner at CRG Partners, a New York consulting firm that handles restructurings and corporate turnarounds.