Question 1 Select an industry in which you are involved or h

Question #1: Select an industry in which you are involved or have an interest (airline, financial, telecommunication, etc). The industry may or may not currently outsourcing its IT function extensively. Write a short essay (500-600 words)that, from this industry\'s point of view, assesses and makes the case for or against outsourcing some or all of its IT activities. Use APA style to format your findings. Be sure to appropriately cite your sources, even your text. Question #2: Why are policy statements necessary for a robust production acceptance process? In addition, describe 2-3 advantages and 2-3 disadvantages of consolidating help desks. Cite all sources used.

Solution

Outsourcing
Outsourcing is a practice in which an individual or company performs tasks, provides services or manufactures products for another company -- functions that could have been or is usually done in-house.
For Example-Let us suppose example of an it sector company suppose xyz now xyz company is basically a new player in the market .So,in this case xyz wants to maximize its ouput and also minimize its inputs.Now suppose any client of xyz provides it a new project to be devloped in ten days.As it is a new startup and funds are limited with the company also the whole staff of xyz company is busy in providing support to other projects of xyz ,Now, In this case xyz plays a smart move and decided to outsouce the project on contact basis to some other company in this way xyz saves its time and money
Reasons for outsourcing
In addition to saving on overhead and labor costs, the reasons companies employ outsourcing include improved efficiency, greater productivity and the opportunity to focus on core products and functions of the business. Furthermore, more companies are looking to outsourcing providers as innovation centers.

Insourcing vs. outsourcing
The term outsourcing often refers to offshore outsourcing, or the practice of exporting work outside of the United States to companies in less-developed countries, where there tends to be lower labour cost. However, outsourcing is not always the most effective way for companies to save costs. Insourcing, or assigning tasks to people or departments in-house, is sometimes more cost-effective for businesses than hiring outside staff or companies. The term insourcing is sometimes used to refer to employing the U.S.-based subsidiaries of foreign global corporations a practice also referred to as onshore outsourcing or domestic outsourcing.

Advantages of outsourcing
Literature on the evolution of outsourcing has suggested that the nature of the relationship between the service receiver and the service provider has changed from being relatively independent to become increasingly interdependent. The concept of partnership has replaced the prevalent concept of buyers and vendors.
1 Strategic Restructuring
Companies are revisiting their modus operandi (operational model) and evaluating business operations to look at ways to restructure and make business units more efficient. Outsourcing should be considered as one alternative which, if implemented effectively, will play a key role in helping businesses attain higher cost efficiencies.
2 Budget Cuts
There is growing pressure on companies to trim costs and reduce budget allocations for the year. Budgetary cuts directly impact discretionary spending which can be enforced without significantly affecting day to day operations. On the other hand, non-discretionary spending, which is also coming under the knife, may lead to outsourcing as a very viable option, as these involve significant changes to how work or a particular process is done.
3 Risk Mitigation
Assessing and mitigating risk is key in any successful outsourcing relationship – both from the customer and provider perspectives. Being aware of the potential risks involved and having an ability to monitor, evaluate and manage these risks are critical. Naturally this means also having the formal metrics or processes for doing so.

Disadvantages
As you evaluate your outsourcing choices, keep in mind that there are advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing. Look at each one of the outsourcing disadvantages listed below and decide what impact that item would have on your business. If the outsourcing disadvantages outweigh the advantages of outsourcing, then you should avoid outsourcing those operations.
1 Loss of Managerial Control
When you sign a contract to have another company perform the function of an entire department or single task, you are turning the management and control of that function over to another company. You will have a contract, but the managerial control will belong to another company. Your outsourcing company will not be driven by the same standards and mission that drives your company. They will be driven to make a profit from the services that they are providing to you and other businesses like yours.
2 Hidden Costs
Cropped view of businessman signing contract. Credit: Credit: Sofie Delauw / Getty Images.You will sign a contract with the outsourcing company that will cover the details of the service that they will be providing. Anything not covered in the contract will be the basis for you to pay additional charges. Additionally, you will experience legal fees to retain a lawyer to review the contacts you will sign. Remember, this is outsourcing company business. They have done this before and they are the ones that write the contract. Therefore, you will be at a disadvantage when negotiations start.
3 Threat to Security and Confidentiality
The life-blood of any business is the information that keeps it running. If you have payroll, medical records or any other confidential information that will be transmitted to the outsourcing company, there is a risk that the confidentiality may be compromised. If the outsourced function involves sharing proprietary company data or knowledge (e.g. product drawings, formulas, etc.), this must be taken into account. Evaluate the outsourcing company carefully to make sure your data is protected and the contract has a penalty clause if an incident occurs.
4 Quality Problems
The outsourcing company will be motivated by profit. Since the contract will fix the price, the only way for them to increase profit will be to decrease expenses. As long as they meet the conditions of the contract, you will pay. In addition, you will lose the ability to rapidly respond to changes in the business environment. The contract will be very specific and you will pay extra for changes.
5 Tied to the Financial Well-Being of Another Company
Since you will be turning over part of the operations of your business to another company, you will now be tied to the financial well-being of that company. It wouldn\'t be the first time that an outsourcing company could go bankrupt and leave you holding-the-bag.