Question

There are various methods which organizations can use to acquire a new system. Some of these include: outsourcing, off-the-shelf software and in-house development. Select two of these three methods to acquire software and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each. Which do you believe is the preferred method of systems acquisition

Answer 1

There are various methods by which organizations can use and acquire new system:

Let us discuss the three methods:

1]Outsourcing 2]Off-the-shelf software 3]In-house development

Explanation of these three(3) methods:

1]Outsourcing:

• If another organization develops or runs a computer application for your organization, that practice is called outsourcing.
• Outsourcing includes a spectrum of working arrangements. At one extreme is having a firm develop and run your application on its computer.you only supply input and take output.
• Service providers will likely sum up the total cost of the project and split it into monthly bills. This gives you greater control over costs and no hidden surprises.
• Outsourcing is a common business practice that allows companies of all sizes to grow as and when they need it, without major risk or investment.

There are several examples of companies that have outsourced their software development,some of them are listed below:

1. Google: Google outsource parts of their projects in order to reduce costs.
2. Slack:The development of Slack was outsourced to the software development company that created both web and mobile application

Advantages of Outsourcing:

1. Price-wise expertise:Outsourcing price is more reasonable than in-house software development You get to enjoy significant cost savings when you outsource to a country with lower production costs: a lower cost of living for employees, meaning lower salaries, as well as lower infrastructure and operational costs

2. Access to Global Talent Pool:Outsourcing allows you to reach professionals that may be in short supply or unavailable locally.

3. Significant Time Savings:When you partner with an outsourcing vendor, you don’t have to advertise for, interview, select, and train new in-house employees, all of which can be very time-consuming.

Disadvantages of Outsourcing:

1. Transparency and security risks:The lack of direct in-person control and communications can cause a lack of trust to have a place while project development.
2. Communication gap:The language barriers can result in miscommunication and wasted effort unless you and the vendor you partner with have at least one language in common.

3. Long Distances:Extremely long distances between you and the outsourcing vendor can turn business trips into an expensive and tiresome experience.

2]Off-the-shelf software:

• Off the Shelf Software, also called commercial software, is any kind of software solution that has been developed for the mass market.
• which means it is expected to respond to the needs of as many users offering many more features
• It is a ready-made product that you can purchase.

Advantages of the off-the-shelf software:

1. initially it is Cheaper: Initially off-the-shelf software is cheaper than bespoke development.An off the shelf product is usually the cheapest way to purchase a new software solution.This is because it is a pre-made product created for the mass-market. As it has already been developed and is purchased multiple times, the cost is therefore reduced as it is spread over many users.
2. Quick implementation:Quick to implement, As most systems are ready to use straight away.this advantage comes from the fact the solution has already been developed. Because it is a pre-existing product, all you have to do is buy it and install it.
3. Updates are included:the product is owned by a vendor, it’s their job to manage and carry out these updates

Disadvantages of off-the-shelf software:

1. No control over the software:Because you have not developed the software yourself, you do not own the product. This means that you have no input or control into any changes made to the product, for better or worse.
2. It may not have all the features which you want:This means that you could find that a commercial software solution does not offer the features and functionality that you require.
3. integration issues:The fact is, the software is made for the mass market so it can’t be perfect for every user.

3]In-house development:

• It is a software development process that is run by a corporate entity for organizational usage.
• A company, which may have a relation to the IT sector, decides to develop its own digital product.
• The app development company should use their own software developers which means their own in-house developers to develop the system and needs to conduct a hiring procedure to pick up the development team the project requires

Advantages of the In-house development:

1. communication with developers:Having the same working hours and being in the one office allows making the communication process much more comfortable and clear.
2. changes can be done easily and faster: When you have an in-house team of software developers, it’s always faster to change project's features, add new ones, and discuss their technical background.
3. Culture boundaries:Developers that work as permanent members of the team tend to pay much more attention to the specific needs of company.

Disadvantages of the In-house development:

1. More Cost:It requires many funds to be invested in the initial stages, especially in small and large-scale projects.The final price makes up of many expenses like rent, taxes, software, hardware, and more.
2. Lack of technical talent:It's already tough to hire the right person in some regions. Apart from meeting soft and hard skills, the developer should fit into the planned budget.

There are several examples of companies that are using in-house software development,some of them are listed below:

1]Amazon 2]Salesforce 3]PayPal

The preferred method from above methods(Outsourcing,off-the-shelf software and in-house software development) is given below:

• In-House software development is the best method from the Outsourcing anf off-the-shelf software.Because In In-house software development there wont be any security issue as of the Outsourcing and the off-the-shelf.As security is the primary objective of any organization to keep their information safe and secure.
• In In-house software development,we can specify our required features for the project which are faster to change and implement.
• Moreover,communication plays an important role to get the required output in which in-house software development is the best of Outsourcing and off-the-shelf software.
• Even though the cost of in-house software development is higher.It has may advantages like Security,communication and to add/change the features.