Week#7-IT Outsourcing

Week 7 – IT Outsourcing (Ch.7&14) The issue related to how companies select and form agreements with external partners is important. Particularly, along with emerging trends (i.e., open source software and cloud computing) in software industry, managers’ technology decision process is more complicated. Therefore, it is required to understand which options of IT service models are available, what benefits and risks are, and how to decide appropriate models for companies. Learning Objectives After completing the activities in this week, you should be able to: • understand processes for gaining control of “runaway projects” • identify principles and priorities to guide decision-making related forming partnership with vendors • understand how to compare vendors and consider the relative merits of different IT service models (e.g., open source software and cloud computing) Readings and Resources Required Readings: • Textbook: Chapter 7 and 14 • Coursepack: Strategic outsourcing at Bharti Airtel Limited • Oracle (2016) The CIO’s guide to cloud computing Recommended Readings: • Outsourcing declines, are IT jobs coming back? • CIOs forge vendor collectives to extract business benefits • 7 Hot IT outsourcing trends – and 7 going cold • What is an SLA? Definitions, best practices, and FAQs Reading Brief #7 Guideline Read textbook chapter 14 and answer the following questions: • What are Netifects’ problems in IR project? • Briefly compare three vendors: ServoLith, HiOSoft, and VerxaWeb • Which vendor should IVK choose for the IR project? Why? Instructions • Up to 200 words. .(Please I want exactly 200 words without write a question) • Use your own words. Plagiarized work will be graded at 0.- Team Discussion #7 Read the “Bharti Airtel Limited” case and share your ideas with your team members about the following questions: • What are Bharti’s core competencies? • If you were Bharti, what major concerns would you have about entering an outsourcing agreement with IBM? With Ericsson, Nokia, or Siemens? Team Discussion #8 Watch this TED Talk (https://www.ted.com/talks/erik_brynjolfsson_the_key_to_growth_race_em_with_em_the_machines) that addresses why some feel the U.S. is in a period of growth stagnation. While you are watching, consider these important topics in the presentation: • Understand the speaker’s definition of growth • Understand the transformative technologies (1) of steam power, (2) of electrical power, and of (3) computing power Then, with regard to the below questions, share your ideas with your team members. • What lesson did you learn when the speaker stated that the first generation of managers simply used electricity as an alternative power source to steam but the following generation of managers looked at the characteristics of electrical power that could transform the systems/processes? • What does the speaker mean to “race with the machines”? The below readings would be helpful to understand the “Big Data” issue.