Outsourcing Books

Offshoring Information Technology: Sourcing and Outsourcing to a Global Workforce

Erran Carmel, Paul Tjia

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Useful reference for IT Professionals 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.

"All things being equal, any manager would prefer to manage a co-located team rather than a distributed team," how true. Authors Erran Carmel and Paul Tija believe that IT managers need to feel as comfortable with managing distributed teams as they are with co-located teams. They intend their book, Offshoring Information Technology, to act as a primer for IT professionals, students and teachers in business and technology programs as well as policy makers and analysts in and around governments. That is a lot of end parties to satisfy, so does this book hit the mark.

Erran Carmel had previously authored, "Global Software Development Teams", in 1999, and has deeply focused on the topic of developing software with global teams for years. It is obvious that a researcher was one of the co-authors, as very accurate listing of references are made, more than you usually see in many of these books on offshoring. These references provide another list of papers and publications that the reader can use for further research. The book makes excellent use of cross-referencing between topics, which also adds to its usage as a good reference tool.

Right off I like the preface in which the authors define the terms offshoring and outsourcing. Since I agree there are many strange definitions leading everyone to think outsourcing means offshoring, this needed to be included. The offshore stage model, previously defined by one of the authors in a research paper, puts the offshoring numbers in to perspective by dividing it in to stages and the number of Fortune 1000 companies currently using the offshoring model. These numbers may be surprising to some, as the actual usage is much smaller than is played up in the media.

The book is full of case studies, most of them fairly interesting. The case study in chapter 9 is meant to show the difference between working in a low-content country versus a high-context country like India. I, along with I believe many practitioners, will look on this case study and say that Christina (not her real name) was not a good manager, no matter where she was working, if they thought dumping a bunch of new work on a team was not going to impact the schedule. Low-content or high-content country aside, the project manager made too many assumptions and may not be the experienced project manager that she thought she was. I think others will see the same when they read it. Another real life case study gives an example of one company trying to do a comparison between countries; what do we learn from it, price wins out over quality in the end, which in reality is often the case.

The emphasis on knowledge transfer is exceptional. This area is often glossed over in many offshoring books. Chapter 7 which is dedicated to managing the offshore transition defines different ways of undertaking knowledge transfer. One of the ways that they describe is to have the developers work in different positions, i.e. put them in to the user's position, so they understand why the user works the way they do. They state that this is new. I started out in banking twenty years ago and this is how I started out, working the user positions of the applications which I was then to develop and maintain, so I do not think this concept is new. But perhaps the authors mean this is new for offshore outsourcing. In all though this section on knowledge transfer is valuable and looks at all of the different types of transfer: skills, process, domain and work and cultural norms. Good emphasis on the fact that the easiest one to achieve is skills transfer, but the other ones are more difficult to achieve. For example it is more difficult to have someone work on dispute resolutions app for credit card processing, when they do not understand how credit card processing works.

Chapter 8 on overcoming distance and time emphasizes and outlines virtual team management. Much of the information presented is included in many books on virtual team management, but as this book is a primer for IT managers, it has a place in this book. Readers will find the suggestions on iteration development; formalizing the iterations and frequency of iterations particularly helpful in a real situation. I whole heartedly agree that this is what builds trust. If you have frequent deliverables, and the remote team meets those frequent deliverables, i.e. they do what they say they are going to do, trust is built. The authors also define the range of deliverables and that it can be anything: plans, outlines, prototypes, simulations, design reviews, test results, software code reviews, module integration and documents. Again I wholeheartedly agree. This will be an area that many IT managers may have to get used to because at first to some it seems like "make work", when in fact all of what is delivered from the offshore is and should be useful for fulfilling the project.

There are a few situations where puzzling statements are used such as the quote on pg. 28, just before a section on IT-enabled services. The quote refers to E-loan and its well-documented offering to its clients of a couple of years ago. At the time E-loan offered the users of their loan service to Press 1 if they wanted their loan processed in 1 day in an Indian center, or to press 2 if they wanted their loan processed in the US which included the statement that the processing may then take longer. In March of 2004, this was written up by many Indian firms as admittance by a US company that Indians are faster. It seems strange that the authors use this statement with no no explanation; for example was it really an admittance that Indians are faster or did it really mean E-loan had 4 times as many processors in India versus the number in the US, thus accounting for how loans could be processed faster there. Or were they working round the clock in India versus only one shift in the US, another reason for the difference. In other areas the authors go to great lengths to explain issues which are reported in the press, such as how offshore labor rates are reported in detail and what they really mean versus the actual total cost of ownership.

The book contains an excellent discussion on the different types of risk, very detailed, to a level not usually defined. Only one area, contractual risk, seemed to be lacking. The authors state that a buyer can mitigate contractual risk by signing a contract with a US company, if you are a US buyer, or with a UK company if you are a UK buyer, i.e. with a company which is also domiciled in your location versus in the offshore location only. The authors also refer to the chapter on Legal issues of offshoring where contractual risk will be further defined. In that chapter, however, only mention to reduce contractual risk is to work with providers who can provide a combination of onshore/offshore resources, thus enabling a buyer to access the provider's onshore resources if necessary. They seem to fail to mention one of the bigger issues; if the contract does go awry, even if you are dealing with the big Indian players, most of the assets that of that vendor are located in the offshore location. If any case, you will have to bring suit against that vendor in their home country. Large buyers already seem to be aware of this based on both outsourcing and vertical conferences I have attended over the last couple of years.

There were two areas where I thought more emphasis could have been made, if this is a book is really meant to assist IT professionals. One of these areas is helping the IT manager assess their own offshore readiness; how do they feel about the process, are they ready to change how they work, are they ready to manage by not walking around? The second area of missed opportunity is assisting IT professionals in defining what could be a new role for them in the global environment, for example by working in and/or managing the offshore office which is responsible for managing the onshore and offshore outsourcing for a client.

Offshoring Information Technology is an informative and educational book for IT managers looking to define their place in the offshoring world. The details provided on the offshoring process and through the case studies will make it easy for an IT professional to determine where they may need to gain additional knowledge to move their career forward. The book will be most useful and most familiar to those IT professionals currently working in or with large scale enterprises as most case studies and examples such as in total cost of ownership and the governance areas, use examples from large enterprises. This book is highly recommended for IT professionals who are looking at career development as well as those persons who are in a position to help their countries promote their outsourcing capabilities.

Editorial Review:

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.

Information Technology Outsourcing Transactions: Process, Strategies, and Contracts

John K. Halvey, Barbara Murphy Melby

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Random collection of materials 3 out of 5 stars.
7 of 10 people found this review helpful.

This book seems to have been thrown together in no time at all by taking a few things about outsourcing out of the authors' files. Some of the stuff is good, but it's all very uneven.

Excellent and comprehensive resource for the IT professional 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

Invaluable resource if your company is interested in outsourcing. I particularly valued the forms which I found to be cutting edge. I am a customer of outsourcing and I would recommend this book to any IT professional thinking about outsourcing. This book would also help vendors by providing insight to issues that are critical to customers.

The best book on IT Outsourcing available. 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

I was looking for a single and concise resource that would provide provide me with a solid foundation for working in the IT Outsourcing field - especially legal aspects. I found it in this book. No other resource was as helpful. As I've gained experience, the book continues to be extremely useful. It is written in easy to understand language and, importantly, in a practical manner. The disk and forms included provide the practitioner with a significant portion of what is needed to "do the deal"

Editorial Review:

A completely revised update of the First Edition, this book focuses exclusively on outsourcing information technology such as data processing, computer systems, and specialized software programs essentially an intellectual property transaction. It covers, among other topics, licensing and software development agreements, sales of tangible assets, human resources management, and more.

Practical Software Estimation: Function Point Methods for Insourced and Outsourced Projects (Infosys Press)

M. A. Parthasarathy

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

"A clearly written book that is a useful primer for a very complicated set of topics."

--Capers Jones, Chief Scientist Emeritus, Software Productivity Research LLC

Practical Software Estimation brings together today's most valuable tips, techniques, and best practices for accurately estimating software project efforts, costs, and schedules. Written by a leading expert in the field, it addresses the full spectrum of real-world challenges faced by those who must develop reliable estimates.

M. A. Parthasarathy draws on the immense experience of Infosys, one of the world's largest and most respected providers of IT-enabled business solutions, to bring you the only book with detailed guidance on estimating insourced and outsourced software projects, as well as projects that blend both approaches. He demonstrates how to successfully utilize Function Point (FP) methods, the industry's leading estimation model. Then, using real case studies, he systematically identifies pitfalls that can lead to inaccurate estimates--and offers proven solutions.

Coverage includes

• How to estimate all types of software projects, including "fresh" development, reengineering, and maintenance
• How to incorporate the impact of core project elements on estimates: scope, environment, experience, and tools
• FP analysis from start to finish: data and transaction functions, general system characteristics, and more
• FP methods for any platform or business function
• Innovative re-estimation methods to track progress
• How to quote RFPs and prepare contracts: fixed price, time/material, and project execution lifecycle models
• Alternatives to FP: Delphi, COCOMO II, and COSMIC-FFP
• How to choose the right estimation tools

Practical Software Estimation is the definitive reference for anyone who must estimate software projects accurately: project and IT managers, individual developers, system designers, architects, executives, consultants, and outsourcers alike.

List of Figures
List of Tables
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Role of Estimation in Software Projects
Chapter 3: A Study of Function Point Analysis
Chapter 4: Data Functions
Chapter 5: Transactional Functions
Chapter 6: General System Characteristics
Chapter 7: Size, Effort, and Scheduling of Projects
Chapter 8: Estimation Flavors
Chapter 9: A Sense of Where You Are
Chapter 10: Tips, Tricks, and Traps
Chapter 11: Insourcing versus Outsourcing
Chapter 12: Key Factors in Software Contracts
Chapter 13: Project Estimation and Costing
Chapter 14: Other Estimation Methods
Chapter 15: Estimation Tools
Chapter 16: Estimation Case Study
Appendix A: Reference Tables: Transaction Function Counts
Appendix B: Reference Tables: Data Function Points
Bibliography
Index

My Job Went to India: 52 Ways to Save Your Job (Pragmatic Programmers)

Chad Fowler

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 31 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

You've already lost your job. You may still be drawing a paycheck, but the job you were hired to do no longer exists. Your company has changed, the technology has changed, the economy has changed, and the ways you can add value have changed. Have you adapted to these changes? Or are you at risk?

Architect your career

Economic downturn. Job cuts. Outsourcing. The ever-changing tech landscape. The threats abound. Chad Fowler is here to offer 52 ways to keep your job, despite the vagaries of the market.

• It's all about making the right choices. Choosing which technologies to focus on and which business domains to master have at least as much impact on your success as your technical knowledge--don't let those choices be accidental. Chad shows you all aspects of the decision-making process so you can ensure that you're investing your time and energy in the right areas.
• It's all about skills. You'll develop a structured plan for keeping your skills up-to-date so that you can compete with both the growing stable of developers in so-called low-cost countries as well as your higher-priced local peers. You'll learn how to shift your skillset up the value chain, from an offshore-ready commodity to one in high demand.
• It's all about marketing. As with any product or service, if nobody knows what you're selling, nobody will buy. Chad shows you how to create a plan for marketing yourself both inside your company and to the industry in general.

Like it or not, the IT career landscape has changed. This handbook will teach you what you need to do to avoid being left behind.

About the author Chad Fowler has been a software developer and manager for some of the world's largest corporations. He recently lived and worked in India, setting up and leading an offshore software development center for a large multinational company.

Effective IT Service Management: To ITIL and Beyond!

Rob Addy

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

IT service management (ITSM) is the group of processes and functions that oil the wheels of the IT machine. Without ITSM, every IT project and system would deteriorate over time until failure. ITIL is the recognized best-practice standard for ITSM, and has been around since the late 1980s, with ITIL version 3 published just recently. However, many of today’s IT problems have been around for just as long - so in order to manage IT effectively, organizations must go beyond the ITIL framework.

Rob Addy provides IT service managers and professionals with practical guidance on delivering and managing IT services in an effective and efficient manner by extending the ITIL approach to deliver proactive and pragmatic IT service management. His book is a candid look at the relative merits of currently accepted wisdom regarding the provision of IT services, using the principles of the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) guidance series. It describes IT service management processes related to service delivery and service support (as well as other non-ITIL areas), their objectives, shortcomings, and how these issues can be addressed in real-life situations. In addition, it delivers a workable definition of what exactly an ‘IT service’ is and how it can be defined and used in practice. Overall, he gives an unbiased view of the discipline, its objectives, major processes, and their benefits and shortcomings.

Managing and mitigating IT risk is critical to the survival of every business. Success is an optional extra! Proactive IT service management can be thought of as risk management for IT: Can you afford to ignore it?

Global Information Technology Outsourcing: In Search of Business Advantage

Mary C. Lacity, Leslie P. Willcocks, Mary Cecelia Lacity, Leslie Willcocks

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Global Information Technology Outsourcing In Search of Business Advantage Mary C. Lacity & Leslie P. Willcocks 'Lacity, and Willcocks have shown us again why they are the world's leading IT outsourcing gurus... the most comprehensive work on IT outsourcing to date.' Sara Cullen, National Partner, Australia Business Process Management, Deloitte Touche, Tohmatsu 'a valuable collection... readers will find here advice that premier consultants would deliver for a very large multiple of the price of this book.' Paul A. Strassmann, former CIO of General Foods, Kraft, Xerox and the US Department of Defense '(a). "must read" for anyone in search of a clear understanding of what information technology outsourcing is all about... absolutely no one should jump into outsourcing prior to taking advantage of the outstanding case studies outlined in this book.' Emmett Paige, President, OAO Corporation 'an excellent guide to successful outsourcing, the best I have read on the topic. It should be mandatory reading for any senior executive.' Gail Burke, Executive Director & CIO, Macquarie Bank, Australia 'crisp and concise. The studies selected for detailed presentation are excellent and the analysis... rings with credibility.' Rob Westcott, Vice President and CIO, General Motors Acceptance Corporation International Operations, UK 'Lacity and Willcocks have... unrivalled access to outsourcing deals across the globe... their new book... is a powerful synthesis of their learning (and) their chapter on risk management is a groundbreaking contribution. A vitally important business guide.' Richard Sykes, Chairman Morgan Chambers plc. - Europe's largest independent consultancy in IT services & business process sourcing 'Lacity and Willcocks tell it like it is and pull no punches... A must read for any organization contemplating outsourcing or trying to fix a broken outsourcing relationship... Planning for outsourcing, negotiating the deal, making the relationship work - it's all here.' Bob Young, Executive Director, South Australian Government Account, EDS (Electronic Data Systems) 'For those of us with a deep knowledge and experience of outsourcing, this book is required reading. For those who are just starting out on the journey, it is essential reading.' Robert White, CEO, Lucidus Management Technologies

Source Code China: The New Global Hub of IT (Information Technology) Outsourcing

Cyrill Eltschinger

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

"The next five years will be [...] a period of opportunity for China to speed up the growth of software and information services outsourcing. China will continue to generate strong market demand for the global software industry."

-H.E. Bo Xi Lai
Minister, China Central Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM)

Praise for Source Code China The New Global Hub of IT Outsourcing

"Cyrill Eltschinger's Source Code China examines the depths of?a remarkable?shift towards a value-added economy.? After reading this book, you'll?see once again how?China is positioning?itself for leadership in this growing area."

-William G. Parrett
Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte, May 2007

"In his book, Cyrill Eltschinger addresses?an important?perspective: China is not only 'the factory of the world,' it is?also becoming a major technology services hub. For all of us, it is a fascinating experience to participate in this impressive evolution."

-Josef M. Mueller
Chairman & CEO, Nestle (China) Ltd

"Source Code China provides an insightful touch with the reality of how China is reshaping the global market for offshore IT services."

-Prof. Dr. Dr. Klaus Wucherer
Executive Vice President, SIEMENS

"This is a must-read to understand IT outsourcing in China and its impact on the rest of the world."

-Dr. Andrew Lai
VP/GM, Global Delivery China Center, Hewlett-Packard Company;
International Economic Advisor to City Mayor of Chongqing, China;
IT Strategy Advisor, City Mayor of Chengdu, China

"In his book Source Code China, Mr. Eltschinger provides compelling reasons why any company can benefit from IT outsourcing to China, a country that is rapidly becoming the destination of choice for most enterprises."

-Charles Pau
Director, Globalization Architecture and Technology, IBM

"This book demonstrates China's credentials as the new hub of offshore IT services."

-Steve Little
Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, D.S.I., Schneider Electric

"Organizations not sourcing IT services from China are literally missing the boat. Mr. Eltschinger's book takes readers on an intellectual journey explaining how and why China is becoming the premier offshore destination for businesses all over the world. This is a must read for any business executive and I highly recommend you knock this one off your reading list immediately."

-David Etzler
Chief Executive Officer, OutsourceWorld

If you are not in China, you are really not in the game

Working with India: The Softer Aspects of a Successful Collaboration with the Indian IT & BPO Industry

Wolfgang Messner

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Editorial Review:

Globalization requires effective international and cross-cultural collaboration. When project teams from Western cultures first come into contact with colleagues from the Indian IT and BPO industry, prejudices against the new and unknown are typically amplified. This book is a start on the journey of cultural appreciation for managers, project leaders, and offshore coordinators working together with Indians. It is also a resource for business managers and company strategists seeking to understand the softer aspects behind the headlines that the Indian IT and BPO industry so frequently creates. Being both academically well researched and an account of the author’s many years of personal experience in India, the book opens with a description of cultural dimensions that help to break down culturally driven matters. It provides background information about India as a country and a social system. Examining the development and current status of India’s IT and BPO industry, it moves on to describe the dynamics of its workforce. The book then provides practical information on how to communicate, negotiate, and interact with Indian colleagues, and intelligently utilize expatriates. It closes by formulating recommendations for a more effective collaboration.

Rightshore!: Successfully Industrialize SAP® Projects Offshore

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Editorial Review:

At a time when business demands urge companies to innovate and CIOs face increasing cost pressures, offshore delivery offers the opportunity to industrialize the implementation processes for system harmonization, consolidation, and enhancement, thereby realizing substantial cost savings and quality improvements. Rightshore^® - a registered trademark of Capgemini - is about organizing the distributed delivery process that embraces on-site, nearshore and offshore services.

This book describes successful global delivery models utilizing industrialized methods to deliver SAP^® projects from India. While the first part is devoted to management concepts, service offerings and the peculiarities of working together with India, the second part features eight case studies from different industries and from around the world describing how India delivery centers have been successfully deployed in SAP^® development projects.

System Engineering Management

Benjamin S. Blanchard

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Key to successful integration projects & CMMI 5 out of 5 stars.
31 of 31 people found this review helpful.

This book is aimed at the system engineer who is involved in product design and engineering or involved in government contracting and must produce system engineering management plans (SEMPs). It is also applicable to organizations who have or are planning to use the capability maturity model (CMM) to improve their effectiveness. For the intended audience this book is both comprehensive and complete. There are eight chapters, each followed by case studies, questions and problems, and six appendices.

It starts with a foundation of the basics, such as definitions, system engineering life cycle, analysis and concurrent engineering. It then builds upon this foundation by addressing all of the elements of a well-managed system engineering program: integrated product and process development, TQM, configuration management, support and logistics. Each element is discussed in detail and placed into the context of a total system engineering environment.

The chapter on system design requirements is particularly complete and covers every facet of this discipline, including reliability, maintainability, safety, software, etc. There is a lot of good material here, which is reinforced by the next chapter that covers design tools and methods. The design process is concluded by a chapter on design review and evaluation, which is a foundation of good quality practices as well as a well-written SEMP.

The real heart of the book starts in chapter 6, which covers SE program planing. It covers program requirements, the SEMP itself and provides a statement of work. It then provides a complete work breakdown structure for implementing system engineering functions and tasks. This chapter provides a risk management plan that is well thought out and serves as an excellent template. It also addresses the CMM for systems engineering. Much of this material has been superseded by the Software Engineering Institute's CMMI that now covers system engineering, software engineering and integrated product and process development. This is not a problem because the book's coverage of the CMM-SE is consistent with the material in the CMMI.

The final two chapters, addressing system engineering organization and supplier/sub contractor management are to the point and contains a lot of valuable information.

Had the author provided this book in soft copy on an accompanying diskette or CD ROM it would be a best seller on the Beltway because of the time it would save in developing a company-wide system engineering procedure manual.

Consulting companies and IT departments would also greatly benefit from this book because of the structured approach it provides for planning and managing system integration. Unlike their cousins in the government contracting and CMM domains, they generally approach system engineering and integration in a loose fashion that too often results in cost and schedule overruns, or project cancellation. By following the approach outlined in this book consulting companies and IT departments would find that technical, cost and schedule risks would be identified early and controlled, and that the design, integration and implementation of complex systems would enjoy a higher rate of success. This is especially true when multiple vendors are involved in an integration project - the material in chapters 1 (integrated process teams) and 8 (subcontractor management) provides a foundation for managing cross-functional teams. Therefore, I strongly recommend this book for engagement and project managers, and program management offices run by consulting companies and/or IT departments.

Editorial Review:

Comprehensive revision of more than 300f the content of the previous 2nd Edition
Increased coverage in the areas of system engineering processes, outsourcing, risk-analysis, globalization, and the application of new technologies in system development
Additional case studies have been added reflecting real-world successes