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Friday Mar 06, 2009
See you @MySQL Conference, 2009
I will be speaking at this conference. Don't miss out this exciting session on GlassFish/MySQL/NetBeans.
Further info: http://en.oreilly.com/mysql2009/public/schedule/speaker/46352
Posted at 03:33PM Mar 06, 2009 by sathyan in Management | Comments[0]
Wednesday Oct 08, 2008
Top 20 Risks in Outsourcing(Offshoring) and mitigation tips.
I hope you find this table useful as a measuring tool to begin your Risk Management of such projects.Please leave your comments/suggestions.
| Risk# |
Description |
Mitigation Plan Synopsis. |
| 1 |
Poor Selection of Vendor |
Consider a detailed Study about vendors including current processes, customer references etc., rather than blindly believing the track record. |
| 2 |
Scope Creep- Scope of the project getting wider with new requirements to be addressed. |
Phased approach with milestones and trade offs at various stages. |
| 3 |
Process and Quality standards incompatible with vendor. |
Agreed upon standards and processes must be part of the binding contract. |
| 4 |
Security breach including Confidentiality, IP and trade secrets. |
Require vendors to meet security standards and monitor with effective auditing. |
| 5 |
Infrastructure breakdown, could be a software/hardware/network failure that may or may not be directly in vendor's control. |
Review and approve Business Continuity and disaster recovery plans of the vendor. Audit data from simulated disaster drills. |
| 6 |
Poorly designed disaster recovery systems/processes. |
Review and approve Business Continuity and disaster recovery plans of the vendor. Audit data from simulated disaster drills. |
| 7 |
Reduced Employee motivation as outsourcing is perceived as loss of job. |
Establish Employee retention strategies such as retention bonus, performance map etc., |
| 8 |
Political/Cultural unrest. |
Be sensitive to cultural issues. |
| 9 |
Process non-alignment and differing governance model. |
Establish compatible and agreeable processes and include them as part of the contract. |
| 10 |
Increased labor rate as the project progresses. Vendor might try to justify the increase with reasons such as Inflation, currency conversion fluctuations. |
Binding document should contain appropriate forecasts and waivers wherever applicable. |
| 11 |
Legal and Regulatory risks. |
Increase awareness about region specific laws and regulations to better plan for incompatibilities and allowable trade offs. |
| 12 |
Non-alignment of Management and Reporting Structure with vendor. |
Expect Governance model to be included in RFPs. |
| 13 |
Lack of control or insight into vendor progress. |
Well planned milestones, immediate deliverables along with appropriate documentation plan. |
| 14 |
Country specific issues such as differing laws, educational systems. |
Increase awareness of all stakeholders. |
| 15 |
Higher Project Transition cost. |
Factor in a detailed transition cost to overall project cost. |
| 16 |
Response time not within the acceptable/required limits as the vendor is spread across time-zone. |
Flexible shits to respect time-zones and increased frequency of meetings. |
| 17 |
Project members of vendor lack project knowledge or technology know-how. |
Review vendor team selection process. |
| 18 |
Knowledge transfer issues such as inability to capture tacit knowledge. |
Recorded videos, tutorials, web casts to transfer knowledge. |
| 19 |
Dependence on a single vendor for all outsourcing needs. |
Core processes, deliverables designed to be loosely coupled with vendor's technologies, processes. |
| 20 |
Cultural differences. |
Increased cultural awareness through specialized trainings. |
Posted at 05:02PM Oct 08, 2008 by sathyan in Management | Comments[0]