The eLearning Series:
Systems Engineering for Software Intensive Systems

Managing Software Outsourcing

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:
    - Understanding the business logic for outsourcing
    - Using the outsourcing life-cycle phases presented in this course
    - Planning an outsourcing project by creating a "work package" (description of work to be preformed by supplier)
    - Defining the supplier selection process and criteria
    - 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:
    - Defining tasks associated with an outsourcing project
    - Defining key steps for outsourcing that can be used in planning and executing future outsourcing projects
    - Preparing the checklist for a final presentation in a concise and convincing manner

Prerequisites: None

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