Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Information Systems Outsourcing pp 115–138Cite as

Software Outsourcing Decision Aid (SODA): A Requirements Based Decision Support Method and Tool

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

  • 1781 Accesses

Part of the book series: Progress in IS ((PROIS))

Abstract

This paper seeks to address the decision making problem in IS development outsourcing scenarios in which a project manager is in charge of deciding about which software components shall be outsourced and which ones shall be developed internally. Therefore, we propose a method and tool which leverage the classification of a project’s software components by means of a graph-based model of the components’ requirements and their corresponding clustering. In the course of our design oriented approach, a prototypical implementation of the method has been conducted and evaluated. It illustrates the practical utility of the proposed method. We thereby contribute to the decision making problem in distributed software projects and provide guidance for in-house or external software production. The contribution consists of revealing an improved processing method for assessing software requirements and increasing the outsourcing success of a software project. Our contribution for practice is an implemented prototype for project leaders of distributed teams. In this research, we have emphasized deriving design requirements from underlying theories as well as the evaluation of the outcomes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Al-Otaiby, T. N., & AlSharif, M. (2007). Software requirements modularization using partitioning clustering technique: Proceedings of the 45th annual Southeast Regional Conference, (pp. 65–69).

    Google Scholar 

  • Al-Otaiby, T. N., AlSharif, M., & Bond, W. P. (2005). Toward software requirements modularization using hierarchical clustering techniques: Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Southeast Regional Conference, Kennesaw, GA, USA, (Vol. 2, pp. 223–228): ACM-SE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Al-Otaiby, T. N., Bond, W. P., & AlSharif, M. (2004). Software modularization using requirements attributes: Proceedings of the 42nd Annual Southeast Regional Conference, Huntsville, AL, USA, 2004 (pp. 104–109): ACM-SE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Al-Qirim, N. A. Y. (2003). The strategic outsourcing decision of IT and eCommerce: The case of small businesses in New Zealand. Journal of Information Technology Cases and Applications, 5(3), 32–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baldwin, C. Y., & Clark, K. B. (2000). Design rules: the power of modularity. Cambridge, USA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borowiecki, M. (2011). Partitions of graphs. In M. Dehmer (Ed.), Structural analysis of complex networks (pp. 27–47). Boston, MA, USA: Birkhäuser Boston.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Briand, L., Morasca, S., & Basili, V. (1996). Property-based software engineering measurement. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 22(1), 68–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carmel, E., & Nicholson, B. (2005). Small firms and offshore software outsourcing: High transaction costs and their mitigation. Journal of Global Information Management, 13(3), 33–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dahlstedt, S. G., & Persson, A. (2005). Requirements interdependencies: State of the art and future challenges. In A. Aurum, & C. Wohlin (Eds.), Engineering and Managing Software Requirements (pp. 95–116). Berlin: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Damian, D., Kwan, I., & Marczak, S. (2010). Requirements-driven collaboration: Leveraging the invisible relationships between requirements and people. In I. Mistrík, A. van der Hoek, J. Grundy, & J. Whitehead (Eds.), Collaborative software engineering (pp. 57–76). Berlin, Germany: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • de Souza, C., Hildenbrand, T., & Redmiles, D. (2007). Toward visualization and analysis of traceability relationships in distributed and offshore software development projects. In B. Meyer & M. Joseph (Eds.), Software engineering approaches for offshore and outsourced development (pp. 182–199). Berlin: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Dedrick, J., Carmel, E., & Kraemer, K. L. (2011). A dynamic model of offshore software development. Journal of Information Technology, 26, 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dibbern, J., Goles, T., Hirschheim, R., & Jayatilaka, B. (2004). Information systems outsourcing: A survey and analysis of the literature. Communications of the ACM, 35(4), 6–102.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dibbern, J., & Heinzl, A. (2001). Outsourcing of information systems functions in small and medium sized enterprises: A test of a multi-theoretical model. WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, 43, 339–350.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dibbern, J., Heinzl, A., & Leibbrandt, S. (2003). Interpretation des sourcings der informationsverarbeitung: Hintergründe und Grenzen ökonomischer Einflussgrößen. WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, 45(5), 533–540.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dibbern, J., Winkler, J., & Heinzl, A. (2008). Explaining variations in client extra costs between software projects offshored to India. MIS Quarterly, 32(2), 1–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fitsilis, P., Gerogiannis, V., Anthopoulos, L., & Savvas, I. (2010). Supporting the requirements prioritization process using social network analysis techniques: Proceedings of the 45th Annual Southeast Regional Conference (pp. 110–115).

    Google Scholar 

  • Fjällström, P.-O. (1998). Algorithms for graph partitioning: A survey. Linköping Electronic Articles in Computer and Information Science, 3(10), 1–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grant, R. M. (1991). The resource-based theory of competitive advantage: Implications for strategy formulation. California Management Review, 33(3), 114–135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gross, J. L., & Yellen, J. (2004). Fundamentals of graph theory. In J. L. Gross & J. Yellen (Eds.), Handbook of graph theory (pp. 2–19). Boca Raton, FL, USA: CRC Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heim, P., Lohmann, S., Lauenroth, K., & Ziegler, J. (2008). Graph-based visualization of requirements relationships: Proceedings of the 3rd International Workshop on Requirements Engineering Visualization (pp. 51–55).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hildenbrand, T. (2008). Improving traceability in distributed collaborative software development. Frankfurt: Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hubert, L., & Arabie, P. (1985). Comparing partitions. Journal of Classification, 2(1), 193–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirsch, L. J., Sambamurthy, V., Ko, D.-G., & Purvis, R. L. (2002). Controlling information systems development projects: The view from the client. Management Science, 48(4), 484–498.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klimpke, L., Kramer, T., Betz, S., & Nordheimer, K. (2011). Globally distributed software development in small and medium-sized enterprises in Germany: Reasons, locations, and obstacles: Proceedings of the 19th European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS2011), Helsinki, Finland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kramer, T., & Eschweiler, M. (2013). Outsourcing location selection with SODA: A requirements based decision support methodology and tool. In C. Salinesi, M. C. Norrie, & O. Pastor (Eds.), Advanced information systems engineering: 25th international conference, CAiSE Valencia, Spain, 2013 (pp. 530–545). Heidelberg: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kramer, T., Heinzl, A., & Spohrer, K. (2011). Should this software component be developed inside or outside our firm?—a design science perspective on the sourcing of application systems. In J. Kotlarsky, L. P. Willcocks, & O. Ilan (Eds.), New studies in global it and business service outsourcing: 5th global scourcing workshop 2011, Courchevel, France, March 14–17, 2011, revised selected papers (pp. 115–132). Heidelberg, Dordrecht, London, New York: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Langlois, R. N. (1995). Capabilities and coherence in firms and markets. In C. A. Montgomery (Ed.), Resource-based and evolutionary theories of the firm: Towards a synthesis (pp. 71–100). USA: Boston.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Larman, C. (2002). Applying UML and patterns (2ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, Z., Rahman, Q., Ferrari, R., & Madhavji, N. (2009). Does requirements clustering lead to modular design? In M. Glinz, & P. Heymans (Eds.), Requirements engineering: Foundation for software quality (pp. 233–239). Berlin: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luxburg, U. (2007). A tutorial on spectral clustering. Statistics and Computing, 17(4), 395–416.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manning, C. D., Raghavan, P., & Schütze, H. (2008). Introduction to information retrieval (1ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moreira, A., & Araújo, J. (2011). The need for early aspects. In J. Fernandes, L. R., J. Visser, & J. Saraiva (Eds.), Generative and transformational techniques in software engineering III (pp. 386–407).

    Google Scholar 

  • Moreira, A., Araújo, J., & Brito, I. (2002). Crosscutting quality attributes for requirements engineering: Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering, SEKE ’02, Ischia, Italy, (pp. 167–174).

    Google Scholar 

  • Newman, M. E. J. (2006). Modularity and community structure in networks: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (pp. 8577–8582).

    Google Scholar 

  • Peffers, K., Tuunanen, T., Rothenberger, M. A., & Chatterjee, S. (2007). A design science research methodology for information systems research. Journal of Management Information Systems, 24(3), 45–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Picot, A., & Baumann, O. (2007). Modularität in der verteilten Entwicklung komplexer Systeme: Chancen, Grenzen. Implikationen. Journal für Betriebswirtschaft, 57(3–4), 221–246.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rand, W. M. (1971). Objective criteria for the evaluation of clustering methods. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 66(336), 846–850.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rasch, B., Friese, M., Hofmann, W., & Naumann, E. (2010). Quantitative Methoden 1 (3ed.). Berlin: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schilling, M. A., & Steensma, H. K. (2001). The use of modular organizational forms: An industry-level analysis. The Academy of Management Journal, 44(6), 1149–1168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simon, H. A. (1955). A behavioral model of rational choice. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 69(1), 99–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simon, H. A. (1962). The architecture of complexity: Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society (Vol. 106, pp. 467–482).

    Google Scholar 

  • Stratman, J. K. (2008). Facilitating offshoring with enterprise technologies: reducing operational friction in the governance and production of services. Journal of Operations Management, 26(2), 275–287.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tarr, P., Ossher, H., Harrison, W., & Sutton, S. M., J. (1999). N degrees of separation: multi-dimensional separation of concerns: International Conference on Software Engineering, Los Angeles, CA, USA, (pp. 107–119).

    Google Scholar 

  • Teng, J. T. C., Cheon, M. J., & Grover, V. (1995). Decisions to outsource information systems functions: testing a strategy-theoretic discrepancy model. Decision Sciences, 26(1), 75–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tiwana, A. (2008). Does technological modularity substitute for control? A study of alliance performance in software outsourcing. Strategic Management Journal, 29(7), 769–780.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van den Honert, R. (1999). Intermediate statistical methods for business and economics (2ed.). Rondebosch, South Africa: Juta and Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williamson, O. E. (1990). Transaction cost economics. In R. Schmalensee & R. D. Willig (Eds.), Handbook of industrial organization (pp. 135–182). Netherlands: Amsterdam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yalaho, A. (2006). A conceptual model of ICT-supported unified process of international outsourcing of software production: 10th IEEE International Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Conference Workshops EDOCW (pp. 47–58).

    Google Scholar 

  • Yaung, A. T. (1992). Design and implementation of a requirements clustering analyzer for software system decomposition: Proceedings of the 1992 ACM/SIGAPP Symposium on Applied Computing: Technological Challenges of the 1990s, 1992 (pp. 1048–1054).

    Google Scholar 

  • Yong, L., Gencheng, G., & Jingjing, Q. (2008). An algorithm of system decomposition based on laplace spectral graph partitioning technology: International Conference on Computer Science and Software Engineering, Wuhan, China (Vol. 2, pp. 85–89).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Mannheim, Business School, Mannheim, Germany

    Tommi Kramer & Armin Heinzl

  2. Senacor Technologies AG, Schwaig, Germany

    Michael Eschweiler

Authors
  1. Tommi Kramer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Armin Heinzl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Michael Eschweiler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tommi Kramer .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Business Administration, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

    Rudy Hirschheim

  2. LS ABWL und Wirtschaftsinformatik I, Universität Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany

    Armin Heinzl

  3. Institute for Information Systems Dept of Information Engineering, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Jens Dibbern

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Kramer, T., Heinzl, A., Eschweiler, M. (2014). Software Outsourcing Decision Aid (SODA): A Requirements Based Decision Support Method and Tool. In: Hirschheim, R., Heinzl, A., Dibbern, J. (eds) Information Systems Outsourcing. Progress in IS. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-43820-6_6

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation