Det blir allt vanligare att västerländska företag försöker finna utvecklingsmöjligheter för sin verksamhet med hjälp av andra företag utanför de nationella gränserna. Detta innebär att globalt samarbete blir allt vanligare för att införa ny kompetens och teknik till verksamheten. Den ökande efterfrågan på teknikutveckling gör Indien till ett attraktivt val. Landets ingenjörer har en bred kunskap och skapar möjligheter för företag att få större perspektiv och en god kunskapsöverföring. I ett outsourcing samarbete möter företaget skillnader i kultur, kommunikation och organisation. För att möjliggöra ett lyckat resultat med det internationella samarbetet, kommer det att medföra förändringar och utmaningar för företaget. Att lägga ut funktioner av sin verksamhet till ett avlägset land som skiljer sig i språk, kultur och synsätt kräver mycket engagemang samt en god kommunikation för en bra samverkan mellan de parter som ingår i outsourcingprocessen. Vi har undersökt de kulturella skillnadernas betydelse och vilka kommunikativa utmaningar företag kan komma att möta när de väljer att outsourca IT-funktioner till Indien. I den teoretiska delen har vi lyft fram vad tidigare forskning säger om outsourcing till Indien, samt de aspekter som är av betydelse i denna samarbetsform. I den empiriska delen har vi undersökt hur ett indiskt IT-leverantörsföretag samt externa personer med kunskap inom ämnesområdet ser på outsourcing till Indien samt vilken betydelse de anser att kultur, kommunikation, ledarskap och kunskapsöverföring har i dessa sammanhang. Analysen sammankopplar det empiriska materialet med teori för att se ett samband mellan de betydande faktorerna och dess för- och nackdelar. I ett tidigt stadie i utvecklingsprojektet bör kommunikation mellan parterna vara god och arbetsbeskrivning vara preciserad för att tjänsten skall utvecklas på önskat vis. Andra faktorer som anses avgörande i en outsourcingprocess är kunskap i ledarskap och kulturella skillnader, dessa faktorer möjliggör för företag som väljer att outsourca att resurser samt kompetens utnyttjas effektivt. Slutsatsen visar att IT-outsourcing till Indien kräver förberedelser och kunskap redan innan man går in i samarbetet. Genom att lägga vikt på kulturella skillnader kan företag åstadkomma en lönsamhet samt skapa en god och långsiktig relation mellan parterna. / It has become more common for western companies to try to find development opportunities for their business beyond national borders. This means that global collaboration is introducing new skills and integrating new technology to companies. The increasing demand for technology makes India an attractive choice. The country's engineers have a broad knowledge and create opportunities for companies to gain greater perspective and innovation. Outsourcing to India often entails new challenges, such as differences in culture, communication and organization.  Companies that choose to outsource functions of its business to a distant country that differ in language and culture, often require a lot of dedication and a good communication for a good collaboration between the parties involved in the process. We have investigated differences in culture and what influence it has on the outsourcing process and what challenges in communication companies may face when they choose to outsource IT functions to India.  In the theoretical part we describe what the past researchers says about outsourcing to India, and the subjects that are important in this form of cooperation. In the empirical part we have investigated how an Indian IT- company, as well as external people with knowledge in the subject area, looks at outsourcing to India and the importance of culture, communication, leadership and knowledge in these contexts. The analysis connects the empirical material and theory to see a correlation between the significant factors and its advantages and disadvantages. At an early stage the communication between the parties should be good and the job description should be precise to develop the outsourcing project in right direction. Other factors that are considered essential in an outsourcing process are knowledge in leadership and cultural differences. These factors are used to enable the companies who choose to outsource, to use the resources and expertise in an efficient way. The conclusion shows that IT outsourcing to India requires preparation and knowledge before you go into cooperation. By adding weight to cultural differences, companies can achieve profitability and a good and long term relationship between the parties.

To compete in the global market, organisations have to ensure that their production is synchronised with their other business activities. To achieve this, companies deploy a variety of solutions known as Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES). These systems provide the bridge between control and business systems and are used by a variety of people across many business functions. Typical users range from production and maintenance personnel to engineers, finance and management. Sectors within the manufacturing industry have their own definitions of MES and these are based on their functional requirements and by the offerings of vendors in that sector. Thus, people differ in their understanding and definition of MES. To ensure common understanding of what functionalities or modules constitute MES, the Manufacturing Execution Systems Association (MESA) has defined MES to cover the following eleven areas: Resource Allocation and Status Operations/Detail Scheduling Dispatching Production Units Document Control Data Collection/Acquisition Labour Management Quality Management Process Management Maintenance Management Product Tracking and Genealogy Performance Analysis On examining the Manufacturing Execution Systems literature, it was realised that functionalities and definitions exist but a standard approach and implementation methodology is lacking. Thus, a framework was developed based on a literature study as well as from experience within the MES environment. To ensure that the framework meets the needs of organisations, two questionnaires were developed and sent to people from various functions within large South African companies (and across divisions). The results of the empirical study showed that for large organisations, i.e. organisations with over 200 employees and an annual turnover in excess of R 40 million, some form of manufacturing execution systems were used in all the companies surveyed. The most common functionality deployed was Data Collection1Acquisition and the payback on these systems was greater than two years. The respondents highlighted that MES governance and an overall company wide strategy for MES implementation was non-existent or not enforced across the group of companies. The respondents also indicated that the implementation was time consuming and that the projects usually exceeded the allocated budget and/or were late. The respondents were not unanimous on who was accountable for MES within the organisation and a quarter felt that this was unclear within the organisation. When asked about the process that was followed in the selection of a vendor and solution, the majority felt that the process was not well defined. However, respondents noted that change management is used on all major projects and the outcome is generally successful. All the companies outsource either some or all of their IT services and the relationship with the vendor seems successful, as the rating received for MES support was very good. The benefits of implementing Manufacturing Execution Systems are also being realised by those companies that responded to the questionnaires. The overall impression is that over 75% of the respondents feel positive about the benefits and state that the benefits are realised. The only major shortcoming is that information is not being shared across business units and sites as half of the respondents felt that this was not happening in their companies. The proposed MES Engagement and Implementation Framework that was tested with the empirical study was subsequently updated. The framework suggests that all MES implementations should begin with a review of the business and ICT strategy as these would assist when defining the business requirements and the criteria for the selection of the technology, vendor, and solution The business requirements should be ascertained and a realistic business case should be developed. The project team should re-confirm the requirements once a vendor is selected, and, with the necessary change management, implement a portion of the solution as a pilot project. Once successful, then only should the entire solution be rolled out. Another parallel process should consider the outsourcing for the support phase. The entire process of implementing MES is cyclical as new requirements, additional functionality, and benefits tracking results in new projects. In conclusion adopting this framework would result in better implementation and ensure that the benefits are realised for all MES projects and that the solution is adequately supported after implementation. A model for the implementation has also been proposed and it should be developed and tested further to guide MES implementation. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

IT-outsourcing innebär att en kund skriver kontrakt med en IT-leverantör som ska utföra aktiviteter till kunden under en viss tid och till ett visst pris, oavsett var IT-leverantören befinner sig. IT-outsourcing ökar dramatiskt men det innebär inte att alla outsourcingprojekt alltid lyckas. Faktum är att det ständigt rapporteras om misslyckade outsourcingprojekt. Olika undersöknings- och forskningsrapporter visar att den gemensamma faktorn för misslyckande med IT-outsourcing är kund och outsourcingleverantörs relationen, det vill säga den mänskliga faktorn. Detta har väckt intresse hos forskare att undersöka vilka faktorer som bidrar till en framgångsrik relation mellan kund och IT-outsourcingleverantör samt att studera vilka effekter och påverkan faktorerna har på en outsourcingrelation. Huvudsyftet med denna kandidatuppsats i ämnet informatik är att identifiera och beskriva faktorer som påverkar en IT-outsourcingrelation ur ett kund-outsourcingleverantörs perspektiv. Bisyftet är att undersöka hur viktiga faktorerna upplevs vara för en IT-outsourcingrelation. Fallstudiemetoden har tillämpats i denna uppsats i syfte att få ett kvalitativt angreppssätt. Intervjuer genomfördes med fyra olika rollinnehavare i syfte att undersöka en outsourcingrelation ur kund- och outsourcingleverantörs perspektiv. Två intervjuer hos kunden och två hos outsourcingleverantör. Metoden för innehållsanalys har tillämpats i syfte att analysera hur viktiga faktorerna upplevs vara för en IT-outsourcingrelation. Arton faktorer låg till grund för undersökningen i denna uppsats: konfidentialitet, förtroende, kvalitativ kommunikation, samarbete, ömsesidig affärsförståelse, delaktighet, kunskaps- och informationsdelning, engagemang, gemensamma värderingar och mål, flexibilitet och anpassning, individer, tillfredsställelse, konflikthantering, stöd från högsta ledning, transparens, gemensamma risker och fördelar, kulturell kompatibilitet och ömsesidigt beroende. Resultatet från undersökningen visade att den viktigaste faktorn är konfidentialitet och minst viktigast är kulturell kompatibilitet och ömsesidigt beroende. Undersökningen bidrog även till att identifiera en ny möjlig faktor nämligen jämlikhet.

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<p>Good business relations can contribute to the success of IT-outsourcing, and create new business opportunities. Despite a sharply increasing trend to outsource IT-operations there is a high degree of failures related. The cause may be that some important factors have not been taken into account. The purpose is to investigate elationships within IT-outsourcing and test if specific factors identified by previous research are being concerned in IT-outsourcing relationships and also to investigate the view IT-outsourcing customers and suppliers have on business.<p> </p></p><p>Research shows that business relationships are widespread throughout companies. It demonstrated that a small number of business relationships can have a major impact on a company's financial performance and may create stability. Business relationships can be divided into an arm's length relationships and strategic alliances depending on the degree of involvement. IT is now the most common activity companies choose to outsource and the objectives are mainly related to costs but IT-outsourcing projects can also create strategic opportunities. IToutsourcing consists mainly of three components, supplier, customer and project. For an IT-outsourcing relationship to be successful there is some factors that should be carefully treated. These may include communication, commitment, choice of supplier and cultural similarities.</p><p><p>Implementation of the study consists of previous research which is compared with a total of five interviewed companies. All the respondents have been informed about the study's purpose and which role their organization will have. Earlier theoretical sources have been carefully considered and critically examined by contemporary standards, tend criticism, depending criticism and authenticity.</p></p><p>The study shows that the perception that respondents have been of business relationships is that they think it has a major role in IT-outsourcing projects. They also have a good knowledge of the factors that previous research claims has a strong influence on IT-outsourcing projects. These factors are: equal cultures / values, the choice of supplier, trust, commitment, contract / SLA management, communication, reciprocity / joint targets and responsible individual’s role. An additional factor was identified: proactivity, innovation and development.</p>

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<p>The concept of outsourcing is a hot topic even today. The area of IT has received more attention when compared to other areas of outsourcing. Many organizations started outsourcing IT functions to other countries to access international markets. There lie many risks that are overlooked by these organizations. These risks need to be properly assessed and managed. This research investigates the potential risks perceived to be most relevant in the process of IT outsourcing from the customers point of view and how organizations can eliminate these risks by providing measures to assess risks. Literature analysis is the methodology used for conducting this research as it is assumed to cover all aspects of risks that lie in global IT outsourcing process.</p>

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<p><strong>Introduction</strong></p><p>Cloud Computing, that is providing computer resources as a service, is a technology revolution offering flexible IT usage in a cost efficient and pay-per-use way. As for the evaluation of companies to whether which technology solution to use, it would be necessary to decide whether or not the evaluation of cloud computing would actually differ to the traditional way of IT outsourcing.</p><p><strong></strong><strong>Problem Discussion</strong></p><p>Outsourcing IT capabilities are a crucial and inevitable step for enterprises that want to survive in the currently high competitive climate. Until now most of the researches, that has been done so far, only consider the XaaS model only from a traditional IT outsourcing point of view rather than in the cloud computing context. This research will now include the evaluation of cloud solutions giving companies another possibility to outsource their IT resources.</p><p><strong></strong><strong>Purpose</strong></p><p><strong></strong>The purpose is now to see how the evaluation of cloud computing possibilities as an outsourcing option actually differs to traditional IT outsourcing. One aspect that needs to be covered with this purpose, is whether it is possible to evaluate the source through a cloud computing solution with the same concepts and theories used to evaluate traditional IT outsourcing. It will also be the purpose to see, which aspects need to be added or removed when considering a cloud computing opportunity compared to the traditional IT outsourcing.</p><p><strong></strong><strong>Method </strong></p><p>With help of the theoretical framework, interviews have been launched with three companies to see what their general opinion and knowledge is on the evaluation of cloud computing and its maturity. Questions have been asked openly so that answers could not be directed or manipulated by the authors of the research.</p><p><strong></strong><strong>Conclusion</strong></p><p>After challenging the theoretical framework against the data collected, the traditional IT outsourcing theories appeared to be valid also for the evaluation of cloud computing solutions. Some important concepts are added to the evaluation of cloud computing solutions in consequence of particularities present in the model.</p>