What is it about?
Offshore software development outsourcing (OSDO) is a modern business strategy for producing high-quality software at a low cost. The OSDO refers to the practice of contracting to an offshore (extrinsic) organization to perform some or all software development work of a product. For the benefit of the OSDO vendors, this paper aims to develop a “communication and coordination challenges mitigation model” (CCCMM) that provides solutions for unambiguously defined communication and coordination processes in global software development (GSD) environment. Our proposed model is based on the fuzzy multi-attribute decision-making (FMADM) approach incorporating the capability of group decision-making. The FMADM approach is used both in the ranking of survey and assessment of case studies. First, the authors undertook a systematic literature review (SLR) that identified all cited challenges from a set of 101 articles. We identified 18 problem areas faced by the GSD vendors in OSDO relationships. Of these, six were ranked as critical. For the purpose of identifying corrective interventions, a second SLR was conducted that revealed 75 remedial measures extracted from 63 chosen articles. To validate our SLR findings, we surveyed 42 outsourcing experts from six countries. We also categorized six critical challenges and 75 corrective practices into four mitigation levels based on CMMI, SOVRM, and SOPM. In addition, two case studies were conducted to evaluate CCCMM outcomes in OSDO companies. The assessment results of the first case study do not recommend Company-A for the successful implementation of level-2 of the CCCMM, so Company-A stands at level-1. We have observed from the second case study that Company-B has implemented all the critical challenges of the level-2 only; therefore, Company-B is at level-2 “success” of the proposed assessment model.
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Why is it important?
Reduce and control operating costs; These specific functions are difficult to manage or out of control; Acceleration of re-engineering activities; The exploitation of offshore capabilities; Improve a company’s focus; To free-up resources for other purposes; Reduce time to market; Gain access to world-class talent; Risk sharing; Resources not available internally.
Perspectives
What communication and coordination challenges, as identified by a qualified literature search and empirical study, are confronted by OSDO vendors? From the vendor’s perspective and as identified by a qualified literature search and empirical study, what solutions/practices have been employed to address communication and project coordination challenges in OSDO relationships? How can the CCCMM be developed based on input from RQ1 and RQ2? Is the CCCMM practically robust in terms of measuring and mitigating communication and coordination challenges faced by vendor organizations in OSDO relationships?
Mr Saeed Ullah Jan
University of Malakand
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: An Evaluation Framework for Communication and Coordination Processes in Offshore Software Development Outsourcing Relationship: Using Fuzzy Methods, IEEE Access, January 2019, Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE),
DOI: 10.1109/access.2019.2924404.
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