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Offshoring
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Offshore IT sourcing, a.k.a Offshoring offers many advantages, but executing offshored IT projects is complicated. Since the number of books on this topic is limited, Mohan Babu K, a technologist at Infosys Technologies Ltd and an IT Strategy Thought Leader, has drawn his observations and research in the book "Offshoring IT Services: A framework for managing outsourced projects." (Publisher: Tata McGrawHill). This book will help you will learn how to avoid the pitfalls that come from managing global IT projects. You will also learn to manage across time-and-space boundaries and IT projects. This book explains the intricacies involved in the practice of offshoring and covers a comprehensive range of important offshoring issues: from cost advantages and strategy, to execution of projects and programs and aspects of cultural differences and communication. The book concludes with an analysis of some of the key aspects pertaining to external landscape and Offshoring Management including the Technology Landscape, Knowledge Management, Globalization and the Economic Environment. Management of Information Technology [IT] Projects executed from offshore destinations has brought a lot of attention on offshoring. There is an increasing focus on managing and executing IT projects with geographically and culturally disbursed teams. Best practices, theories and Body of Knowledge on managing IT projects are well established, but there is a distinct void when it comes to practices on managing offshored projects. The book describes a working model that can be used by organizations, managers and executives looking for inputs on outsourcing and offshoring. The ideas presented in the book can form inputs for developing offshoring strategies and implementing outsourced projects. The book also attempts to provide insights and 'how to' techniques that managers can implement. The book contains more than 270 pages and is one of the most informative and detailed publications available on the subject. The book includes practical insight, strategic guidelines, interviews with experts, and case studies. The book examines some of the emerging trends and practices of managing offshored projects and explores practical ideas. It also bridges the gap between offshoring strategies and execution of globally distributed IT projects by introducing an Offshoring Management Framework [OMF], a vendor-neutral way of approaching offshoring strategies for execution and management. The Framework is intended to be adopted by IT executives and managers at 'both ends' of the offshoring spectrum: at outsourcing organizations and at service delivery firms, onsite and offshore. The thrust is on enabling managers to be comfortable in managing global delivery projects. The book also addresses the challenges of managing onsite and offshore teams, the time and distance challenges of outsourced projects. The book is written for CTOs, CIOs, consultants, IT executives and managers. The book is also targeted at policy makers and analysts who may need inputs in articulating Offshore Outsourcing. It will also guide students of business and technology and others looking for insights into working models of Offshoring, Outsourcing and emerging trends. |
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Book
Reviews, Media Coverage and articles about the book
When
Infosys CEO Nandan M. Nilekani told Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
and The New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman that the playing
field is being leveled , he did not intend to inspire the title of a
path-breaking bestseller on globalization. He was making a statement
of fact founded on his experience as the leader of the world’s
most successful IT services company. Mohan Babu K. took the cue. Through his book OFFSHORING IT SERVICES: A Framework for Managing Outsourced Projects (Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi, 2006), he reveals the offshoring secrets that brought Nilekani, and Infosys, those credentials.
This is an emotional topic, yet offshoring has driven growth in the US and will continue to do so for many years to come. Babu has used an easy-to-read style to create a framework that will guide any manager or student through the critical issues related to offshoring. Many books on this topic can be rather dry and prone to economic analysis, but this is a practitioners guide - not a book on procurement theory. If you are thinking of offshoring and would like to create a good framework of questions to ask your potential suppliers then this will help you create your checklist at a very reasonable price. - Mark Kobayashi-Hillary (London)
This is a timely book that provides guidance on the various issues associated with offshoring or outsourcing IT projects. I found the chapters on communication and cultural differences to be of particular interest. - Dr. Nancy
R. Mead
Mohan Babu K has written a highly user-friendly book, illuminating many facets of global IT management from all points of the offshoring spectrum. This author understands offshore practices from the inside out, having IT experience both in North America as well as in India. One of the most attractive features of nearly every one of the book's chapters is the content related to culture, communication and virtual work -- along with insight about the management of technical and project issues. With the integration of both project and (what some may view as) "soft" issues, Mohan continually reminds the reader to consider the human and cross-cultural elements operating on global teams. This book will benefit anyone working across time, distance and culture. - Deena Levine
"Good book and good reserach" The book discusses the fine points of risks involved in outsourcing. It is important to have that debate to have a successful project. Good work on discussing cultural differences that affect communication which is very important for a multi-cultural work enviornment. The case points and examples are very ralevant to the chapters, and make an interesting read. The diagrams and illustrations also help understand concepts better. -
Bhumika Ghimire
Good to know that the book has finally hit the stands. With outsourcing being a hot topic for IT industry today, I am sure the book will bring lots of value to the IT community. Wishing you all the best. - Parthasarathy
M. A.
I liked the conversational style and it covers many topics of interest for someone not familiar with offshoring. Chapter 2 discusses Models of offshoring well. I enjoyed reading your experiences in it. -
Yogesh Naik
While reading the book, I tried keeping 2 separate “readers” in my mind, one as Project manger, more interested in execution level and norms of ground reality and the other up in the chain, a client executive planning on prospective offshoring strategy and want to know what it is all about and how to get it there “right”. My review is based on these two audiences. Project manager’s view: The book has very well articulated the nuances of project execution in typical offshore model. The book also provides with lot of terminology and lingo which most of us end up being part-of and execute but not know them by names, e.g. “BOT”, “BOOT” or “Captive Development Center” I liked the conversational style and it covers many topics of interest for someone not familiar with offshoring. Chapter 2 discusses Models of offshoring well. I enjoyed reading your experiences in it. Senior Executive’ view: The book is really a good starting point for to understand the offshoring strategies All the terminology, backdrop, explanation, case studies are well placed and explained to gain a fair understanding of what all is involved in offshore scenario and various outsourcing options Overall, the content & presentation in this book is very impressive and congratulate you on this remarkable accomplishment. , -
Nishant Parekh [Please click here to download the Table of Contents] The Key topics covered in the book include:
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