This book offers key insights into how to manage software development across international boundaries. It is based on a series of case studies looking at the relationships between firms from North America, the UK, Japan and Korea with Indian software houses. In these case studies, which have typically been compiled over a 3-4-year timespan, the authors analyze the multi-faceted challenges encountered in managing these Global Software Alliances (GSAs). These challenges range from the conflict that managers face when dealing with distance, to the tensions of transferring knowledge across time and space, to issues in trying to establish universal standards in a context of constant change, and the problems of identity that developers and clients experience in having to deal with different organizations and countries. Throughout the book, the authors draw on their extensive research and experience to offer constructive advice on how to manage GSAs more effectively.

About the Authors

Sundeep Sahay is a Professor of Informatics at the University of Oslo, Norway. After completing his doctoral studies at Florida International University, he has held research and teaching positions at the Universities of Cambridge and Salford in the UK, and at the University of Alberta in Canada.

Brian Nicholson is a lecturer in information systems at the University of Manchester. His research interests focus on the complexities of software development and software outsourcing between UK and Indian companies.

S. Krishna is a Professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. His research interests concern global software work arrangements. He holds a Ph.D. in software engineering and chairs IIM’s software enterprise management programme, focusing on research and management education in partnership with the local software industry.