Outsourcing as an Economic Development Tool in Transition Economies: Scattered Global Software Development

Abstract

In transition economies, information and communication technology (ICT) is vital for successful companies and may compensate for an underdeveloped infrastructure and lack of resources. The development of complex ICT systems requires skilled ICT professionals who are often difficult to acquire. In this paper, we address this specific issue of transition economies and propose a novel global software development approach that aims to compensate for the lack of skilled ICT professionals by outsourcing independent development tasks globally to remote developers. The proposed approach was empirically tested in a pilot study at three different locations at University of Ljubljana in Slovenia. The test demonstrated the feasibility of the approach and indicated that task specification quality and developer skills are important success factors. The findings of the pilot study are primarily relevant for software development companies in transition economies even though the approach may also be applicable in other settings where lack of locally accessible skilled ICT professionals is present.