IT Offshoring

67-325: Global Systems Delivery Models

Spring semester

Course Information:

Course: 67-325 Global Systems Delivery Models

COURSE OVERVIEW

Outsourcing and/or Offshoring of software services is now a mainstay of business practice. The decision to outsource software services to providers in distant places has many risks and careful management of critical success factors is essential. Increasingly, students majoring in information systems, business and computer science will be involved as managers or technologists in projects engaging multiple providers and development teams in diverse locations. Management of outsourcing relationships will be an increasingly important skill for students expecting to fully participate in the emerging IT marketplace of the 21st century.
This course introduces the business context and mechanics of outsourcing including offshore outsourcing. You will learn how outsourcing works in practice and will study the economic, social, political and practical aspects of outsourcing.

Classes will typically consist of lectures, guest speakers, class discussions, and presentations of case studies. A combination of weekly readings, short writing assignments and a team "business case" project will be required.

Your active participation in class and thorough reading of the case studies and assigned readings prior to the class is crucial to your own learning as well as to the successful implementation of this course. The course adopts a problem-based learning approach through which you will gain a practical insight into how outsourcing and challenges to outsourcing are tackled in the real world.



COURSE OBJECTIVES

Upon successful completion of the course, you will have gained an understanding of the dimensions of global systems delivery models. Specific learning objectives are:

  • Describe the emerging global business environment

  • Discuss the benefits, disadvantages, opportunities and challenges of outsourcing from multiple stakeholder perspectives

  • Identify issues associated with working in outsourcing teams from a socio-cultural perspective

  • Evaluate project feasibility and managerial approaches to outsourcing engagements

COURSE APPROACH

Understanding the global business context and mechanics of outsourcing can be challenging given issues are frequently unclear and/or identified, there are competing interests, and often there is no single, best answer to the problems. In order to help you develop the skills necessary for coping with this situation, the learning approach taken in this course mimics this real world. In order to accomplish this, the course employs a problem based learning approach comprised of a variety of lectures, guest speakers, class discussions, case studies, and other classroom experiences.

You (Students) are critical element in class sessions as this course will be very interactive and you are encouraged to ask questions and participate in discussions. Each class will have important information, and it is your responsibility to get this information.

It is very important that you come well prepared to the class session.
A key emphasis of the course is project management and working in teams (in particular, diverse teams of people with different skills, experience, and backgrounds).

Within this framework, there is also an emphasis on critical thinking and analysis through the analysis of case studies. The case method brings reality into the classroom. The case method can help you develop your analytical and judgment skills. Case analysis also helps you learn how to ask the right questions. You can improve your ability to identify underlying problems, rather than focusing on superficial symptoms. This approach broadens your experience base and provides insights into many types of situations, tasks, and responsibilities. Finally, experience in analyzing cases definitely enhances your problem-solving skills. Furthermore, the in-class discussion of cases will help you improve your communication skills. Of course, these added skills depend on your preparation. The primary responsibility for learning is yours. The quality of case discussion is generally acknowledged to require, at a minimum, a thorough mastery of case facts and some independent analysis of them. The case method therefore first requires that you read and think carefully about each case.

REQUIRED READINGS

Articles and Cases will be provided to you in class in our first session.

RECOMMENDED READINGS

  • The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century by Thomas L. Friedman

  • Offshoring Information Technology : Sourcing and Outsourcing to a Global Workforce by Erran Carmel and Paul Tjia

There are many good sources on the internet. Check the CMU libraries online for ACM, IEEE and other journal sources. Check ComputerWorld, Information Week, CIO.com, Computer Weekly for news, reports, cases, links. See the section ‘List of web-based information resources and references’ for organisations or institutions involved in Outsourcing/Offshoring.

List of web-based information resources and references

The following URL will be useful to better understand the world of outsourcing/offshoring:

  • The Outsourcing Institute http://www.outsourcing.com/
  • CIO.com: Globalization http://www.cio.com/topic/1516/Globalization
  • CIO.com: Offshoring http://www.cio.com/topic/1521/Offshoring
  • The outsourcing center http://www.outsourcing-news.com/
  • European center for offshore Development News http://www.ecode.org.uk/news/
  • Offshore Experts http://www.offshorexperts.com/
  • Offshore Outsourcing Center www.oocenter.com
  • Offshore Outsourcing World Blog http://www.enterblog.com/index.html
  • The Outsourcing Weblog http://www.outsourcing-weblog.com/

List of related books:

Information technology outsourcing transactions: process, strategies, and contracts / Halvey, John K, Wiley, 2005.

  • IT, Software and Services: Outsourcing and Offshoring by Robin Sood, ISBN-10: 0976067439, 2005.

  • Outsourcing--Insourcing: can vendors make money from the new relationship opportunities? / Jenster, Per V, John Wiley, 2005

  • Outsourcing Software Development Offshore: Making It Work / Tandy Gold, ISBN 0849319439, 2004.

  • The black book of outsourcing: how to manage the changes, challenges, and opportunities / Brown, Douglas, John Wiley & Sons, 2005.

  • Outsourcing training and development: factors for success / Hale, Judith A., Jossey-Bass, John Wiley, 2006.

  • Essentials of business process outsourcing / Duening, Thomas N, John Wiley & Sons, 2005.

  • Business process outsourcing: the competitive advantage Click / Rick L, John Wiley & Sons, 2005.

  • Outsourcing. A Guide to…selecting the correct business unit..negociating the contract…maintaining control of the process / Steven M. Bragg, 2nd Edition, Wiley, 2006.

  • The offshore nation: Strategies for success in global outsourcing and offshoring / Vashistha, Atul, Avinash Vashistha, McGraw-Hill, 2006.