Offshoring Information Technology : Sourcing and Outsourcing to a Global Workforce

This book explains everything you need to know to put IT offshoring (outsourcing overseas) into practice, avoid cultural and political pitfalls and develop effective working relationships. Written for CTOs, CIOs, consultants and other IT executives, this book is also an excellent introduction to outsourcing for business and MIS students.

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.