Outsourcing plan

Scenario: You are the IT director for a company that creates antivirus software. The company's only office is in" rel="nofollow">in North Carolin" rel="nofollow">ina. The company of just over 120 employees has grown quickly due to its new antivirus product for mobile phones. Because of this growth, more software developers are needed. After researchin" rel="nofollow">ing possibilities, executive management has decided to outsource the majority of the smartphone antivirus product development for a particular operatin" rel="nofollow">ing system to a team of developers in" rel="nofollow">in India, while main" rel="nofollow">intain" rel="nofollow">inin" rel="nofollow">ing the development for a second operatin" rel="nofollow">ing system in" rel="nofollow">in North Carolin" rel="nofollow">ina. The team in" rel="nofollow">in India will work closely with the development team in" rel="nofollow">in North Carolin" rel="nofollow">ina. Project managers for both teams will reside in" rel="nofollow">in North Carolin" rel="nofollow">ina. You have been asked to evaluate a plan for workin" rel="nofollow">ing with the new team in" rel="nofollow">in India, which in" rel="nofollow">includes the followin" rel="nofollow">ing elements: Infrastructure and Connection Requirements: The India office will have a dedicated E1 lin" rel="nofollow">ine that regularly provides 2 Mbps of connectivity. Security Requirements: The IT department will create a firewall-to-firewall virtual private network (VPN) between the North Carolin" rel="nofollow">ina and India offices. All additional traffic will be encrypted usin" rel="nofollow">ing public key encryption and 128-bit Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). Backup Needs: The India office relies on power from the city, but also has dedicated diesel generators available in" rel="nofollow">in case of outages lastin" rel="nofollow">ing more than two hours. Data from both offices will be backed up and stored usin" rel="nofollow">ing a third-party archivin" rel="nofollow">ing service. Research Responsibilities: Both the North Carolin" rel="nofollow">ina and India offices will have research and development departments. Language and Cultural Concerns: The India team will communicate in" rel="nofollow">in English. Culturally, the developers in" rel="nofollow">in India are used to a 6-day work week. They will not contin" rel="nofollow">inue this pattern, but will begin" rel="nofollow">in to work 5-day weeks. Generally, a 40-hour work week is expected, but additional hours are certain" rel="nofollow">inly a possibility. These will be salaried positions. Personnel Changes and Considerations: The 15-member development team in" rel="nofollow">in North Carolin" rel="nofollow">ina has never been particularly cohesive. However, they are very good programmers. Company management hopes that askin" rel="nofollow">ing the team to work in" rel="nofollow">in a liaison and project management role with the India office will resolve this issue. Task: A. Analyze issues the company would encounter by outsourcin" rel="nofollow">ing research and development to India in" rel="nofollow">in the followin" rel="nofollow">ing areas: 1. Technology standards 2. Infrastructure B. Discuss needed revisions to the company’s outsourcin" rel="nofollow">ing plan based on your analysis of technology standards and in" rel="nofollow">infrastructure. 1. Recommend additional technologies to help the company outsource to India. a. Explain" rel="nofollow">in the technology standards and best practices that will aid in" rel="nofollow">in the company’s outsourcin" rel="nofollow">ing efforts. C. Discuss how to address two cultural issues as the company begin" rel="nofollow">ins to do busin" rel="nofollow">iness between India and North Carolin" rel="nofollow">ina.