The decision to source software development to an overseas firm (offshoring) is looked at frequently in simple economic terms - it's cheaper, and skilled labor is easier to find. In practice, however, offshoring is fraught with difficulties. As well as the considerable challenge of controlling projects at a distance, there are differences in culture, language, business methods, politics, and many other issues to contend with. Nevertheless, as many firms have discovered, the benefits of getting it right are too great to ignore. This book explains everything you need to know to put offshoring into practice, avoid the pitfalls, and develop effective working relationships. It covers a comprehensive range of the important offshoring issues: from ROI to strategy, from SLA to culture, from country comparisons to provider marketing. Written for CTOs, CIOs, consultants, and other IT executives, this book is also an excellent introduction to sourcing for business students.

This book is generated from a thesis written by this author in 2009 and provides an insight into the myth that is offshore outsourcing. The Information Technology field has often been criticized for its offshore outsourcing strategy and the negative impact it has on the American Economy. This book however, will provide insight and data gathered over the last twenty years, to show the true effects of offshore outsourcing. The advantages provided by offshore outsourcing are evident through the research in this book. Are we really losing all our jobs to offshore outsourcing? The rapid deployment of call centers to Asia Pac, has many claiming that all our jobs are overseas, this book gives you an insight into how globalization has affected the Information Technology field. The results might surprise you.

This book considers offshore client/supplier relationships' biggest challenges, including the protection of intellectual property, and managing knowledge transfer and offshore outsourcing at project level. Based on over 150 interviews and case studies, this is an invaluable read for managers and researchers looking to learn from real experiences.

This research study seeks to understand the nature of organisational change with respect to offshore outsourcing of information technology services in a multinational pharmaceutical company, and to examine the effectiveness of approaches used to manage this change so that lessons may be drawn from these experiences. Despite the abundant literature on effective organisational change management, the key factors that need to be managed properly at different stages of the offshore outsourcing process are not well understood. The research adopts a processual view to paint a broad picture of the issues involved in these different stages. A generic process model of change, based on the review of the change literature, was first developed to represent how change was intended to occur. This model focuses on the following four stages in the change process: context, diagnosis and planning, implementation, and institutionalisation. The research employs an interpretive case study approach and draws on fieldwork from three independent information systems departments (cases) of the company, where offshore outsourcing programmes were implemented. Qualitative data from semi-structured interviews, direct observation and document analysis are analysed by applying the generic process model to produce a detailed account of the way in which change was managed in the case organisations. The findings reveal that a combination of contextual factors, both external and internal to the company, influenced the adoption and use of offshore outsourcing in the case organisations. Externally, the economic forces were found to be the main catalyst for the change, while internally the role of the executive leadership and the lack of internal resources further explain the motivations behind the adoption of offshore outsourcing. The study illustrates that achieving successful outcomes from offshore outsourcing activities critically depends on the organisation adequately addressing a number of factors, such as conveying a sense of urgency, developing and communicating the vision, identifying the benefits of change and how they will be delivered, generating short-term wins, providing education and training, developing a fit between the change and organisational culture, etc., throughout the change process. The findings also highlight the effects of offshore outsourcing on the case organisations, including change in job roles and responsibilities and organisational learning activities that enable corrective actions to improve change management efforts. An important contribution of this research is the development of a model providing a more comprehensive understanding of the change process associated with the implementation of offshore IT outsourcing. Recommendations for policy makers and change managers to improve change management practice based on the research findings, as well as recommendations for further research, form a significant part of the conclusions.

This book contains 14 carefully reviewed and selected papers from the 4th Workshop on Global Sourcing, held in Zermatt, Switzerland, March 22-25, 2010. They have been gleaned from a vast empirical base brought together by leading researchers of outsourcing and off shoring. This volume is intended for use by students, academics and practitioners interested in the outsourcing and off shoring of information technology and business processes. It offers a review of the key topics in outsourcing and off shoring, populated with practical frameworks that serve as a tool kit to students and managers. The sourcing models available to client firms are discussed in great depth. Vendor capabilities as well as client capabilities are studied and links are offered to the various sourcing models. Issues pertaining to knowledge and expertise are also discussed. Last but not least, the book examines current and future trends in outsourcing and off shoring, paying particular attention to the role that CIOs will play in shaping their sourcing strategies.

Describes recent market dynamics and trends in industries supplying IT goods and services and offers an overview of the globalisation of the information and communication technology (ICT) sector and the rise of ICT-enabled international sourcing.

This book represents the compilation of papers presented at the IFIP Working Group 8. 2 conference entitled “Information Technology in the Service Economy: Challenges st and Possibilities for the 21 Century. ” The conference took place at Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada, on August 10 13, 2008. Par ticipation in the conference spanned the continents from Asia to Europe with paper submissions global in focus as well. Conference submissions included complete d research papers and research in progress reports. Papers submitted to the conference went through a double blind review process in which the program co chairs, an associate editor, and reviewers provided assessments and recommendations. The editor ial efforts of the associate editors and reviewers in this process were outstanding. To foster high quality research publications in this field of study, authors of accepted pape rs were then invited to revise and resubmit their work. Through this rigorous review and revision process, 12 completed research papers and 11 research in progress reports were accepted for presentation and publica tion. Paper workshop sessions were also esta blished to provide authors of emergent work an opportunity to receive feedback fromthe IF IP 8. 2 community. Abstracts of these new projects are included in this volume. Four panels were presented at the conference to provide discussion forums for the varied aspect s of IT, service, and globalization. Panel abstracts are also included here.

Includes the most important issues, concepts, trends and technologies in the field of global information technology management, covering topics such as the technical platform for global IS applications, information systems projects spanning cultures, managing information technology in corporations, and global information technology systems and socioeconomic development in developing countries.

Praise for the The Executive's Guide to Information Technology "This book is important reading. It offers practical, real-world insight and pragmatic no-nonsense approaches for people who have a stake in corporate IT. " --Lynda Applegate, Henry R. Byers Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School "Information systems and processes are very important parts of our due diligence assessment of a company--yet the jargon is often more difficult to understand than many foreign languages. Baschab and Piot effectively translate IT into words and concepts that businesspeople can easily understand and act upon. This book is a helpful reference guide for corporate executives and private equity groups of all types." --Neal Aronson, Managing Partner, Roark Capital Group "Business success increasingly depends on effective use of IT. Effective use of IT depends on the kind of in-depth, practical insight in this book. Baschab and Piot provide a pragmatic approach to information systems investment that should be required reading for senior executives and CIOs alike." --Erik Brynjolfsson, Schussel Professor of Management, Director of the Center for Digital Business, MIT "This book should provide valuable guidance for management and technology consultants. The Executive's Guide to Information Technology provides field-proven insight on all important aspects of IT planning and execution, from governance to applications to operations and infrastructure." --Gary J. Fernandes, former vice chairman, EDS, member of the Board of Directors, Computer Associates "Baschab and Piot do a great job of laying out the fundamental issues and challenges that every IT organization faces. More often than not, the issues are not technical in nature, but are a reflection of how the IT and business teams work together to define, execute, and implement new business tools. The threshold issue is leadership. Often it is difficult for business leaders to feel that they have the skills and perspective to provide that leadership on technical projects. The Executive's Guide to Information Technology provides non-technical business leaders a solid framework for engaging with their IT peers." --Tom Nealon, Chief Information Officer, J.C. Penney

"This book uses general ethical principles as a basis for solutions to solving ethical problems in information technology use within organizations"--Provided by publisher.