All good things come to an end...

The semester is coming to an end and it is time to look back at the ground that we have covered. We have discussed everything about IT, including governance, change management, outsourcing, strategy, hardware and software, and countless other topics. Through it all, we have seen companies go (Blockbuster) and come back from the dead (GM) and highlighted the pervasive nature of IT in our corporate and personal lives. Looking back, what stands out for you from the semester? Was it a blog, a podcast, a case, a video, or a panel? Is there a thought or moment that captures the essence of the semester? I look forward hearing your reflections!

Vendor Selection, Planning, and Serendipity

In class today, we had a contrast between the vendor selection process of Cisco versus that of Harley Davidson.  what do you think should drive your vendor selection process - alignment with your organization, cost, or functionality?  And what were your thoughts on the success and failure of the two cases?

We also approached the subject of serependity versus planning.  It is clear that serepndity does play a huge role in your personal success as well as the success of your firm.  What are your thoughts on planning versus pure dumb luck?

Outsourcing - Final thoughts and reflections

With today's panel and Lecture 13 (next week), we are wrapping up our course discussion on IT outsourcing.  As you look back over the past three weeks, we have covered a lot of territory, from vendor selection to motivations to expectations to measuring ROI.   We, of course, could not get to everyone's questions in class today, so here are a few that I thought we should debate and talk about (some of these are from you!) - what do you think about these issues?

• At some point, will outsourcing be more expensive than insourcing?
• If expectations are so important, how do you mediate them?  Is governance the "silver bullet" (it was no accident that we talked about decision/input rights the same week as the panel!)
• How do you handle the "culture class" when deadline with offshoring partners (and sometimes nearshore ones)
• What stops firms from outsourcing core and strategic functions?
• What about rural sourcing, crowdsourcing, and the other emerging complexities of outsourcing governance?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on outsourcing and your reflections!