Technology in Investment - Chapter 10

Question 1

What are five possible reasons to build a system rather then buy?

Answer 1

Costs
Expertise
Competitive advantage
Resource availability
There is no suitable package on the market

Question 2

What are four possible reasons to build a system rather then buy?

Answer 2

Business strategy
Costs
Time
Generic Solution

Question 3

What is the first stage of the development process of a new system?

Answer 3

To buy or build`

Question 4

What is Open-Source Software?

Answer 4

OSS is software source code, with a supporting license, which allows organizations to use the code in their own software

Question 5

What are two drawbacks to Open-Source Software?

Answer 5

The firm will need to ‘learn’ the source code and also there is no guarantee/warranty if something goes wrong

Question 6

What is Innovation Outsourcing concerned with?

Answer 6

The development of new applications

Question 6

What is Insourcing?

Answer 6

Outsourcing a project/setup to a different or centralized function within he firm but external to the current team

Question 7

What is NASSCOM ?

Answer 7

National Association of Software and Service Companies in India that created the National Skills Registry

Question 8

What is Production Outsourcing concerned with?

Answer 8

Maintenance and support of software products that are already developed

Question 8

What is Near-Shoring

Answer 8

The relocation of business processes to lower-cost foreign locations but in close geo-graphical location

Question 9

What is the National Skills Registry

Answer 9

A database that contains personal and work related information. Employees that have access to this are track-able by the police

Question 10

Advantages of insourcing over outsourcing

Answer 10

Economies of scale
A center of excellence for the activity being insourced
Retention of ‘Institutional memory’
Goals and vision shared with business units
Continued employee loyalty

Question 11

What are three reasons a firm may choose to Near-Shore as opposed to ‘Off-Shore’

Answer 11

Shortage of resources in possible Off-shoring locations
The work requires frequent in-person visits, the flight costs would erode the money being saved
The work has a strong customer focus

Question 12

What is Best-Shoring

Answer 12

Customer offshoring is close proximity and Tech offshoring is Asia based.

Question 13

What is Friend-Shoring

Answer 13

Outsourcing activities to countries that are friendly with the firms home country

Question 14

What are the Seven Stages of Vendor Assessment

Answer 14

1. Form the Project team
2. Specify requirements
3. Determine the evaluation criteria
4. Identify companies and packages
5. Send requirements to potential vendors
6. Evaluate Vendors
7. Negotiate and place orders

Question 15

What document is sent out to possible vendors with the specifications of requirements for a service?

Answer 15

RFP

Question 16

What is Proof of Concept

Answer 16

A sample process to ensure a product or service works and functions as expected-

Question 16

What are the six post-implementation activities?

Answer 16

• Hand-holding customer staff through the initial ‘live’ period.
• General help desk support.
• Delivery of new releases of the vendor’s system.
• Specific client-related enhancements.
• Post-implementation review.
• Implementing an ongoing oversight function.

Question 16

What is an abbreviated version of the RFP that would be sent out to many many providers

Answer 16

RFI

Question 17

What two scenarios should a firms exit plan cover?

Answer 17

Emergency exit & Controlled exit

Question 18

What alongside an RFP is sually sent our to potential vendors?

Answer 18

A list of questions covering all the How/What/When/Who/Why statements that the firm may have.