A new way

The transition requires a huge cultural shift within Freddie Mac's IT group, say Smialowski and his lieutenants. For instance, application developers within the company's 1,700-person IT division who had been focused on writing code are now more focused on integrating data between packaged software, and customizing and configuring commercial systems. Project managers who once oversaw in-house development projects are learning new skills such as vendor relationship management and contract management, says Kunkun Callaghan, a business technology partner director.

Making the transition isn't easy. Building applications "was a source of pride" for developers, says Kim Petty, a vice president of the single and multifamily sourcing and servicing business information services group, which supports the systems used to buy and service mortgages. "Now you're trying to show people that they're adding value with a different type of skill set," says Petty, a 17-year company veteran.

The intent is to eventually have a formal training program for developers and other IT staffers who are being affected by the build-to-buy transition, says Petty. But meanwhile, IT staffers who are skilled in areas such as vendor and contract management are being "seeded" into different business divisions in order to help train their colleagues. At this point, most of the retraining that developers are receiving in areas such as understanding software license agreements is being done on a one-on-one basis or through workshops with these mentors.

Although a small percentage of Freddie Mac's development team have opted out of the retraining and have left the company, Petty and other IT managers are working hard to convince the remaining developers that they are needed to handle other requirements "and they aren't going away," she says.