Managing Software Outsourcing

Instructor	CEU Units	# of Lectures	Hours per Week	Tuition
John Vu	5.2	13	10-15	$2,750

Course Objectives

This course prepares students to plan and manage outsourcing activities, set up an infrastructure to solicit and select suppliers, negotiate contracts, and manage outsourcing suppliers according to a business strategy.

By the end of the course students will:

• Evaluate the opportunity to outsource and its business reasons
• Define outsourcing activities based on the outsourcing life cycle
• Identify roles, responsibilities and authority of all parties involved in outsourcing activities
• Plan for outsourcing activities and calculate the true cost of outsourcing
• Understand legal aspects, type of contracts, and negotiate effectively with suppliers
• Analyze the different types of contracts based on their relationship to project risks, and justify the selection of a contract type
• Define outsourcing supplier selection criteria and apply due diligence to supplier selection
• Identify and manage the risks associated with the outsourced project
• Define measurements & metrics for outsourced projects
• Take corrective action when the supplier is not performing according to contract terms
• Understand issues with offshore suppliers
• Close out the outsourced project and provide feedback to supplier
• Establish and maintain relationship with suppliers
• Complete team assignments where students will work in groups on the following:
  
  • Team Assignment #1: Learn concepts to plan for outsourcing activities in order to make viable outsourcing decisions such as:
    1. Understanding the business logic for outsourcing
    2. Using the outsourcing life-cycle phases presented in this course
    3. Planning an outsourcing project by creating a "work package" (description of work to be preformed by supplier)
    4. Defining the supplier selection process and criteria
    5. Defining the project's outsourcing risks
  • Team Assigment #2: Document lessons learned to improve how an organization plans and executes future outsourcing projects in a checklist such as:
    1. Defining tasks associated with an outsourcing project
    2. Defining key steps for outsourcing that can be used in planning and executing future outsourcing projects
    3. Preparing the checklist for a final presentation in a concise and convincing manner

Prerequisites

None

Required Textbook

None

Topics

Lecture 1:      Overview & Trends in Software Outsourcing
Lecture 2:      Business Strategy & Outsourcing Lifecycle
Lecture 3:      Organization Readiness
Lecture 4:      Planning for Outsourcing
Lecture 5:      Solicitation and Negotiation
Lecture 6:      Outsourcing Contract
Lecture 7:      Service Level AgreementS (SLAs)
Lecture 8:      Managing Outsourcing Suppliers
Lecture 9:      Managing Outsourcing Risks
Lecture 10:    Games Suppliers Play & Contract Close Out
Lecture 11:    Manage Suppliers Relationship
Lecture 12:    Business Process Outsourcing
Lecture 13:    Review & Reflections on Outsourcing