Managing software development information in global configuration management activities

Software Configuration Management (SCM) techniques have been considered the entry point to rigorous software engineering, where multiple organizations cooperate in a decentralized mode to save resources, ensure the quality of the diversity of software products, and manage corporate information to get a better return of investment. The incessant trend of Global Software Development (GSD) and the complexity of implementing a correct SCM solution grow not only because of the changing circumstances, but also because of the interactions and the forces related to GSD activities. This paper addresses the role SCM plays in the development of commercial products and systems, and introduces a SCM reference model to describe the relationships between the different technical, organizational, and product concerns any software development company should support in the global market

A study of outsourcing of premedia services to India by US companies

Offshore outsourcing continues to gain prominence as the printing industry strides into the future. With different segments of the industry looking at reducing costs and, in exchange providing value-added services, more companies turn towards outsourcing services offshore as a solution. Although it is still unclear whether companies stand to gain from outsourcing offshore in the long-term, at present it is believed that sending parts of labor offshore provides companies with the much-needed opportunity to focus on their core businesses in addition to realizing monetary gains. The Premedia segment of the printing industry comprises several different types of work that take place prior to specifying the media used for output. Certain Premedia services are more likely to be outsourced offshore than are others. The main aim of this study is to predict which Premedia tasks and services are more likely to be outsourced, based on an understanding of the nature of the work involved. In their book, The New Division of Labor: How Computers are Creating the Next Job Market, Frank Levy and Richard Murnane (2004) write about the division of labor in today\u27s industries and the kinds of jobs that are considered to be good candidates for offshore outsourcing. They state that rules-based work, which involves minimal complexities and misunderstandings, are the right choice for offshore outsourcing. The objectives of this research are: 1. To analyze the differences between the theory and the practice of outsourcing of Premedia tasks and services. 2. To present Premedia labor division models. These objectives are attained by considering the following research question: Are the types of Premedia work that lend themselves to offshore outsourcing rules based? This is exploratory research which identifies sixty-eight individual tasks in Premedia and categorizes them as fully automated, rules-based, or patterns-based. This is done through a study of relevant literature, observations, and personal judgments. The researcher concludes that, in Premedia, the types of rules-based work that are performed on digital material are theoretically more likely to be outsourced offshore. To support or refute this statement, the researcher conducted two interviews with Premedia services providers in India. The findings are that rules-based work is not the only type of work that is outsourced offshore. The varying levels of complexities associated with different types of work resulted in the researcher being able to predict that, even though rules-based Premedia work performed on digital material is most suited to be outsourced offshore, there is also patterns-based Premedia work that are moderately suited and least suited to be outsourced offshore

A box manufacturing cost analysis at B.R.H. (Pty.Ltd.)

The debate about choosing outsourcing over in-sourcing and vice versa has been going on for decades now, with no clear answer in sight. This decision forms part of a company’s business strategy. Many have developed their own frameworks to assist in deciding which sourcing strategy is best for their business. This is not a once- off decision, as it needs to be reviewed over time, especially as the business grows. This study investigates the feasibility of in-house manufacturing of packaging material at B.R.H. (PTY.LTD), a cleaning products manufacturing facility. The results will assist the owner to determine whether the manufacturing of his own packaging material would be cost reducing and profitable. This project is conducted in two phases; firstly to determine cost-effectiveness of the investment if B.R.H. only manufactured packaging material for their own use. Secondly, to determine if this could turn into a profitable new business venture. A cost analysis was performed using Monte Carlo simulation, to determine what the expected costs would be. This was plotted against the outsourcing costs to determine if and when the costs will break-even (meet). The initial findings showed that the cost to manufacture only what the company requires, on a monthly basis exceed the outsourcing costs. However if production is increased, the excess cardboard can be sold to reduce the manufacturing expense.Thesis (B Eng. (Industrial and Systems Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 201

Marco para la asignación de paquetes de trabajo en entornos de desarrollo global de software

En el ámbito de las tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones, la externalización por offshoring es una práctica consistente en la distribución de trabajo a centros de producción más allá de las fronteras de un determinado país. Esta práctica, unida al fenómeno de la globalización, ha transformado profundamente los procesos de la ingeniería del software y ha dado lugar a un paradigma denominado GSD (Global Software Development). En este paradigma los ingenieros y los equipos de desarrollo se encuentran geográficamente distribuidos por el planeta y utilizan tecnologías y herramientas colaborativas para la producción del software. Más allá de los aspectos beneficiosos y perjudiciales de este paradigma, del estudio de la literatura relacionada se puede concluir que, para mejorar el rendimiento en proyectos GSD, es necesario contar con herramientas de gestión maduras que tengan en consideración todas las fuerzas presentes en este tipo de proyectos. Una de las actividades iniciales de la gestión de proyectos GSD es la asignación de paquetes de trabajo. Esta actividad tiene un importante impacto en el desarrollo posterior del proyecto y conlleva la toma de decisiones complejas. Por ello, esta tesis doctoral está dirigida a proporcionar a los gestores de proyectos GSD un marco metodológico para la asignación de paquetes de trabajo. La resolución del problema se ha abordado a través de un enfoque multidisciplinar prestando especial atención a aspectos no directamente relacionados con la ingeniería del software, como son la gestión competencial y la gestión de la interculturalidad. La solución planteada proporciona un marco para la asignación de paquetes de trabajo en proyectos GSD, que es adaptable a las peculiaridades de cada organización o proyecto y que proporciona las métricas adecuadas para la evaluación de los factores implicados en dicha asignación. Para el desarrollo de esta tesis se ha definido una metodología de investigación sólida e integral, que ha incluido el análisis sistemático de la literatura relevante y la integración de metodología cuantitativa y cualitativa. La última fase del diseño de investigación consiste en una validación empírica del marco diseñado para verificar la utilidad del mismo. Los datos obtenidos de dicha validación indican que la utilización del marco para la asignación de paquetes de trabajo en entornos GSD contribuye a una mejora en dicho proceso. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------In the area of information technology services and development, offshoring outsourcing is the practice of distributing work to workers outside the national borders of the host country. This practice, together with the globalization phenomenon, has deeply transformed the software engineering processes and has led to a paradigm named GSD (Global Software Development). GSD teams are geographically distributed teams which make use of collaborative technologies and tools to produce software. In addition to the positive and negative aspects of this paradigm, the study of the literature indicates that the success of GSD projects requires mature management tools that take into consideration all the forces interacting within such environments. One of the activities in the initial phases of a GSD project is the allocation of work packages. This activity has a relevant impact in the subsequent development of the project and entails complex decisions. Therefore, this thesis is aimed at the definition of a methodological framework for the allocation of work packages. The resolution of the problem has been approached from a multidisciplinary point of view taking in consideration aspects not belonging to software engineering such as competence paradigm and cultural management. The proposed solution provides a framework to support the allocation of work packages in GSD projects that can be tailored to the concrete situation of each organization or project and that provides the most suitable metrics for the assessment of the different factors involved in the allocation. The development of this thesis has followed a sound and consistent research methodology that has included a systematic literature review and qualitative methods such as nominal group technique and Delphi. In the last phase of the research methodology an empirical validation has been performed to verify the applicability of the framework. The data obtained from the validation indicate that the application of the framework for the allocation of work packages in GSD environments introduces a relevant improvement of the aforementioned process