A Transition Framework for Geographically Distributed Software Projects

For the purposes of analysis the outsourcing process can be divided into three specific phases: Decision, Transition and Operation. Transition involves changing the outsourcing environment and in this case we consider it to be related to ‘Changing Software Vendors’ and ‘Changing Software Systems’. The proposed research aims to specifically address gaps associated with limited research into the transition phase of outsourced projects, by conducting an in-depth longitudinal case study of a large scale project having multiple stakeholders. Given the limitations of factor-based studies, an understanding of how the transition of distributed projects is enacted needs to be constructed. This study will generate such an understanding of the complexity and nature of this key project phase. In the first instance a case of transition from an external onshore vendor to its nearshore competitor has been analyzed. Our initial results show that outsourcing is indeed a complex endeavor even when carried out in a nearshore setting. Keywords—global software engineering; nearshore; transition; switching vendors;