Discovering Strategies to Improve Business Value in Outsourcing Projects

This paper deals with the problem of leveraging client business value in a software development outsourcing relationship. We have observed software development projects from two different Dutch IT outsourcing companies and studied the approach they apply in their (successful) projects. The results show that they create a role dedicated to facilitate communication. This arrangement has the potential to put team members in a better position to communicate, facilitating the transfer of information supporting the rationale behind design decisions. Teams are thus better equipped to anticipate change and to react faster in solving everyday problems. This paper describes our observations and the practical implications we expect, such as the improvement of re-buy intention on the client's side

Governance of Offshore IT Outsourcing at Shell Global Functions IT-BAM Development and Application of a Governance Framework to Improve Outsourcing Relationships

The lack of effective IT governance is widely recognized as a key inhibitor to successful global IT outsourcing relationships. In this study we present the development and application of a governance framework to improve outsourcing relationships. The approach used to developing an IT governance framework includes a meta model and a customization process to fit the framework to the target organization. The IT governance framework consists of four different elements (1) organisational structures, (2) joint processes between in- and outsourcer, (3) responsibilities that link roles to processes and (4) a diverse set of control indicators to measure the success of the relationship. The IT governance framework is put in practice in Shell GFIT BAM, a part of Shell that concluded to have a lack of management control over at least one of their outsourcing relationships. In a workshop the governance framework was used to perform a gap analysis between the current and desired governance. Several gaps were identified in the way roles and responsibilities are assigned and joint processes are set-up. Moreover, this workshop also showed the usefulness and usability of the IT governance framework in structuring, providing input and managing stakeholders in the discussions around IT governance

Process Models and Distribution of Work in Offshoring Application Software Development

Common process models for the development of application software (AS) are examined as to how well they are suited for offshoring projects. The need for communication and interaction among onsite and offshore project stakeholders is identified as a critical success factor. Process models used by organizations providing offshoring services are discussed, and a generalized offshoring life cycle model is developed. A specific focus is set on the distribution of work between the organization that outsources AS development and the offshore organization that carries out the major share of the development work. Problems and challenges that have to be faced, making offshoring a difficult task, are discussed. --

A framework and tool to manage Cloud Computing service quality

Cloud Computing has generated considerable interest in both companies specialized in Information and Communication Technology and business context in general. The Sourcing Capability Maturity Model for service (e-SCM) is a capability model for offshore outsourcing services between clients and providers that offers appropriate strategies to enhance Cloud Computing implementation. It intends to achieve the required quality of service and develop an effective working relationship between clients and providers. Moreover, quality evaluation framework is a framework to control the quality of any product and/or process. It offers a tool support that can generate software artifacts to manage any type of product and service efficiently and effectively. Thus, the aim of this paper was to make this framework and tool support available to manage Cloud Computing service quality between clients and providers by means of e-SCM.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación TIN2013-46928-C3-3-RJunta de Andalucía TIC-578

Supply Chains and Porous Boundaries: The Disaggregation of Legal Services

The economic downturn has had significant effects on law firms, and is causing many of them to rethink some basic assumptions about how they operate. In important respects, however, the downturn has simply intensified the effects of some deeper trends that preceded it, which are likely to continue after any recovery that may occur. This paper explores one of these trends, which is corporate client insistence that law firms “disaggregate” their services into discrete tasks that can be delegated to the least costly providers who can perform them. With advances in communications technology, there is increasing likelihood that some of these persons may be located outside the formal boundaries of the firm. This means that law firms may need increasingly to confront the make or buy decision that their corporate clients have regularly confronted for some time. The potential for vertical disintegration is a relatively recent development for legal services, but is well-established in other sectors of the global economy. Empirical work in several disciplines has identified a number of issues that arise for organizations as the make or buy decision becomes a potentially more salient feature of their operations. Much of this work has focused in particular on the implications of relying on outsourcing as an integral part of the production process. This paper discusses research on: (1) the challenges of ensuring that work performed outside the firm is fully integrated into the production process; (2) coordinating projects for which networks of organizations are responsible; (3) managing the transfer of knowledge inside and outside of firms that are participants in a supply chain; and (4) addressing the impact of using contingent workers on an organization’s workforce, structure, and culture. A review of this research suggests considerations that law firms will need to assess if they begin significantly to extend the process of providing services beyond their formal boundaries. Discussing the research also is intended to introduce concepts that may become increasingly relevant to law firms, but which currently are not commonly used to analyze their operations. Considering how these concepts are applicable to law firms may prompt us to rethink how to conceptualize these firms and what they do. This paper therefore is a preliminary attempt to explore: (1) the extent to which law firms may come to resemble the vertically disintegrated organizations that populate many other economic sectors and (2) the potential implications of this trend for the provision of legal services,the trajectory of legal careers, and lawyers’ sense of themselves as members of a distinct profession

EAD - enabling armchair delivery : approaches to encoding finding aids at the University of Liverpool

EAD is increasingly being selected as the primary data format for constructing archival finding aids in the British Archive Community as the new technologies and know-how required to encode lists are being embraced in many repositories. One major problem facing archivists, though, is how to convert finding aids held in a variety of formats (including databases, word processed documents and paper lists with no machine readable form) into EAD. This article will discuss the methods used in Special Collections and Archives at the University of Liverpool Library in converting finding aids into EAD. Two main examples will be discussed: firstly, designing database output styles which automatically generate EAD tags to wrap around database fields using the ProCite bibliographic database and secondly, offshore keying of paper lists with the addition of basic EAD tags following a rigorous template designed by Special Collections and Archives staff. Both methods have proved effective and have facilitated the generation of EAD encoded lists for a number of our largest collections. Finally, there will be a brief discussion of our use of native EAD generation using AdeptEdit software and our continuing use of conversion methods

Transition During Offshore Outsourcing: A Process Model

In recent years, outsourcing has become a ubiquitous phenomenon. Despite extensive research, several examples of outsourcing failure are prevalent. In this paper, complimenting the strategic and economic studies on outsourcing, we focus on the operational execution challenges by examining transition phase, which starts immediately after contract signing and involves the critical transfer of outsourced activities from client to vendor firm. We conceptualize and illustrate transition as interplay of three connected organizational processes: transfer, learning and adaptation. Using an in-depth, longitudinal case study of an offshore outsourcing engagement, we develop and explain a transition process model, consisting of three phases – familiarize, adapt and accelerate. For each phase, the model identifies dominant organizational processes, key factors and triggering condition for progression to the next phase

Offshore education : offshore education in the wider context of internationalisation and ICT: experiences and examples from Dutch higher education

This report presents a study on offshore education conducted by a consortium of Dutch higher education researchers and commissioned by the Digital University (DU). The study explored the extent to which Dutch higher education institutions are involved in offering their educational services abroad (offshore education). After thoroughly embedding offshore education in the wider contexts of internationalisation and ICT policies, the study particularly explores the practical experiences with a number of real-life offshore activities of Dutch higher education. As a warm-up to this report, a few interesting cases are briefly touched upon below