The Insider's Guide to Outsourcing Risks and Rewards

Published:
May 03, 2006 by Auerbach Publications - 312 Pages
Author(s):
Johann Rost, Profiware, Bucharest, Romania

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Hardback
$99.95
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ISBN 9780849370175
Cat# AU7017
 

Features

  • Provides an authoritative look at the reasons why an organization should or should not enter into sourcing
  • Explains the hidden costs of sourcing and provides proven methods for accurately estimating sourcing costs
  • Explores ways to secure information assets in developing countries and to protect against commercial espionage
  • Shows how to collect the most reliable data for deciding which country to use for outsourcing
  • Demonstrates how to craft a carefully structured process of vendor selection to greatly diminish cost
  • Examines the interests of the different stakeholders in a sourcing relationship and discusses how to overcome conflicts

    • Summary

    It is essential for a corporation to not only survive but thrive in today's global outsourcing environment. The Insider's Guide to Outsourcing Risks and Rewards is a comprehensive and accessible resource that assists an organization in deciding whether it will benefit from pursuing-or not pursuing-such an endeavor.

    The author, an 18-year veteran of the IT industry, is an experienced consultant, software developer, manager, and entrepreneur. Providing an authoritative and unbiased view, he helps the reader navigate through a number of offshore outsourcing issues related to software management and international business. He examines the potential benefits derived from offshore outsourcing, as well as the possible pitfalls and how to avoid them as they apply to an organization's particular situation.

    Offering a unique combination of technical and political insight, The Insider's Guide to Outsourcing Risks and Rewards is the one resource to have when trying to figure out your organization's next step.

    Table of Contents

    INTRODUCTION
    Myths about offshore outsourcing
    Best Practices
    Risks and Hazards
    Checklist for strategic successful offshore outsourcing
    Opinions and Hard Numbers about Global Sourcing
    Annotated Glossary and Synonyms

    DRIVERS
    Technological drivers
    Commercial and Strategic Drivers
    Allotting driver priority

    COSTS
    Realistic Estimation of Costs
    Costs Dynamics
    Communication Cost
    Overall Business Subsistence in Case of War and Disasters

    COUNTRIES
    Importance of Background Information About the Contributing
    Countries
    Investment Climate
    Economic Facts in the Offshore Country
    Legal systems

    PARTNERS
    Vendor Selection and Contract Negotiation
    Diligence Due - Eliciting Information About Vendors
    Vendor's Need to Garner Information Regarding the Customer
    Governance
    Dispute Resolution
    Benchmark Audits

    STAKEHOLDERS
    Conflicting Viewpoints: An Introductory Case Study
    Customers and Vendors
    Staff in Developing Countries
    Management of Human Resources in Emerging Software Industries
    The Customer's In-house Team
    Offshore Manager
    Envoys from Western Companies
    Offshore Staff Working in Industrialized Countries
    Offshore Advisors
    Shady Business Agents
    The Public Opinion in Industrialized Countries: Globalism

    BUSINESS ARCHITECTURES
    Options for Business Models
    Constraints for Business Models
    Communication and Cultural Distance
    Multi-sourcing

    SELECTING SUITABLE PROJECTS
    Less Challenging Projects
    Projects Requiring Very Specific Technological Know-how
    Virtual Teams
    Highly Iterative Development Processes
    Unsuitable Projects

    CONTRACTS
    Requirements
    Fixed Price Contracts
    Unit-Price Contracts
    Guarantee Period
    Transferring Responsibility for Source Code
    Service Agreements - Outsourcing the IT for a Certain Time

    ESPIONAGE
    Espionage: An Introductory Case Study
    Targets of Espionage
    Potential Security Vulnerabilities in Offshore Scenarios
    Defense Against Espionage
    Termination of the Outsourcing Relation
    Contractual Stipulations
    Vendors Forestall the Departure of a Customer
    Issues of the Post-termination Transition
    Hard Numbers

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