Offshoring Information Technology: Sourcing and Outsourcing to a Global Workforce

by Erran Carmel, Paul Tjia

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521843553
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	05/12/2005
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	306
Product dimensions:	7.09(w) x 10.04(h) x 0.91(d)

About the Author

ERRAN CARMEL is an Associate Professor at the Kogod School of Business at American University in Washington DC.

PAUL TJIA is a senior consultant and founder of GPI Consultancy in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Table of Contents

Preface; Part I. The Fundamentals: 1. The offshore landscape; 2. Offshore economics and offshore risks; 3. Beginning the offshore journey; 4. The offshore country menu; Part II. Managerial Competency: 5. Offshore strategy; 6. Offshore legal issues; 7. Managing the offshore transition; 8. Overcoming distance and time; 9. Dealing with cross-cultural issues; Part III. Other Stakeholders: 10. Building software industries in developing nations; 11. Marketing of offshore services - the provider perspective; 12. Offshore politics; Biographies; References; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"It looks and feels like a stodgy college textbook, but there are some fascinating insights here for IT executives who can get over that hump. The superb content isn't surprising once you realize that co-author Erran Carmel, an associate professor at American University in Washington, was a leading expert on globally dispersed software teams long before CNN's Lou Dobbs ever heard of offshore outsourcing...As you'd expect, the book has country sketches and thoroughly covers subjects such as managing contractors, risks and legal issues. But for me, the richest sections deal with 'soft' topics like cross-cultural issues and overcoming the problems of distance, time zones and language...Don't fly to Bangalore without reading this book."
Computerworld

"The decisions to sources software development to an overseas firm (offshoring) is looked at frequently in simple economic terms. The practice, however, is fraught with difficulties. This book tries to explain the process and to avoid the pitfalls."
Abstracts of Public Administration, Development, and the Environment

From the Publisher