Varadharajan Sridhar

Analysis of Software Requirements Engineering Exercises in a Global Virtual Team Setup

Businesses that are involved in offshore software development often operate in a virtual project environment in which peer teams located at customer premise exchange project specifications with the offshore software development facility. To understand the complex issues in such a virtual project environment during the requirements definition phase of the software development cycle, we conducted an exploratory research study, involving 24 virtual teams based in Canada and India, working on defining business requirements for software projects, over a period of five weeks. The study indicates that trust between the teams and well-defined task structure positively influence the efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction level of global virtual teams.

A Comparison of American and Indian Consumers' Perceptions of Electronic Commerce

Electronic commerce is often touted as a global phenomenon. However, most studies of e-commerce have focused on more developed countries. While it is important to understand e-commerce in the context of richer, more developed countries, it also impacts developing countries. Using diffusion of innovation theory, and literature on trustworthiness in e-commerce and dimensions of national culture as theoretical bases, this research investigates how consumers perceive e-commerce differently in India and the United States. Results indicate that Indian and American consumers perceive the relative advantage, ease of use, compatibility, and the demonstrability of results of e-commerce differently. Post hoc analyses reveal there is an association between perceptions of e-commerce and use intentions. This result holds across nationalities, although the pattern of influence differs according to country.

Flexible Global Software Development (GSD): Antecedents of Success in Requirements Analysis

Globalization of software development has resulted in a rapid shift away from the traditional collocated, on-site development model, to the offshoring model. Emerging trends indicate an increasing interest in offshoring even in early phases like requirements analysis. Additionally, the flexibility offered by the agile development approach makes it attractive for adaptation in globally distributed software work. A question of significance then is what impacts the success of offshoring earlier phases, like requirements analysis, in a flexible and globally distributed environment? This article incorporates the stance of control theory to posit a research model that examines antecedent factors such as requirements change, facilitation by vendor and client site-coordinators, control, and computer-mediated communication. The impact of these factors on success of requirements analysis projects in a “flexible†global setting is tested using two quasi-experiments involving students from Management Development Institute, India and Marquette University, USA. Results indicate that formal modes of control significantly influence project success during requirements analysis. Further, facilitation by both client and vendor site coordinators positively impacts requirements analysis success.

Project Quality of Off-Shore Virtual Teams Engaged in Software Requirements Analysis: An Exploratory Comparative Study

The off-shore software development companies in countries such as India use a global delivery model in which initial requirement analysis phase of software projects get executed at client locations to leverage frequent and deep interaction between user and developer teams. Subsequent phases such as design, coding and testing are completed at off-shore locations. Emerging trends indicate an increasing interest in off-shoring even requirements analysis phase using computer mediated communication. We conducted an exploratory research study involving students from Management Development Institute (MDI), India and Marquette University (MU), U.S.A. to determine quality of such off-shored requirements analysis projects. Our findings suggest that project quality of teams engaged in pure off-shore mode is comparable to that of teams engaged in collocated mode. However, the effect of controls such as user project monitoring on the quality of off-shored projects needs to be studied further.

Bringing global sourcing into the classroom: experiential learning via software development project

The growing trend in offshore software development has imposed new skills requirements on collaborating global partners. In the U.S. this has translated into skill sets that include communications, project management, business analysis, and team management. In a virtual setting, these skills take on a complex proportion. This paper describes an educational initiative in offshore software development between undergraduate students enrolled in a project management course at Marquette University, USA and graduate business students enrolled in an Information Systems Analysis and Design course at Management Development Institute, India. The course replicated an offshore client/vendor relationship in a virtual setting. For faculty considering such initiatives, this paper describes the setting and factors critical to success of this initiative and cautions against others that can be detrimental to such an effort.

Optimal Number of Mobile Service Providers in India: Trade-Off between Efficiency and Competition

With 225 million subscribers, India has the world’s third largest mobile subscriber base in the world. The Indian mobile industry is also one of the most competitive in the world with 4-7 operators in each service area. A large number of operators bring competition and its associated benefits such as decrease in price and hence corresponding growth of the market. On the other hand in the presence of economies of scale, too many operators may result in inefficient scales and high unit costs. This article analyses the trade-off between competition and economies of scale by estimating the production function for mobile subscribers and traffic carried. Analysis of panel data reveals the existence of economies of scale in the Indian mobile sector. We then derive an upper bound on the optimal number of operators in each license area and discuss policy implications.

Analysis of User Involvement and Participation on the Quality of IS Planning Projects: An Exploratory Study

The process of information systems planning is critically dependent on the users of the system. The involvement and participation of these users and its impact on the effectiveness of IS planning has not been studied in the literature. In this article we address the effect of user involvement and participation on the quality of IS planning projects. This was done through an exploratory quasi-experiment study conducted in an academic setting. We studied the effects of user involvement using two sets of teams doing IS planning exercises, one in which the user was involved as part of the project team and the other where the user was outside the project team, but was involved in interviews and reviews of project artifacts. We also measured the extent of user participation through a survey of participants engaged in the IS planning projects. Results indicate that user involvement has significant positive effect on user participation, as well as on the quality of IS planning projects. However the effect of user participation on the quality of projects is mixed and needs further research.

Systems Dynamics Approach to Analyzing Spectrum Management Policies for Mobile Broadband Services in India

Demand for wireless data and Internet services are expected to grow exponentially, both in advanced and emerging markets in the near future. While advanced countries have often used centralized planning and coordination methodology to forecast and allocate the associated spectrum blocks to wireless operators for meeting the demand, it is often ad-hoc in emerging markets dictated by market forces. In this paper, we construct a casual model to represent the different variables that affect spectrum management practices and highlight possible paths forward. Using the causal model structure, we hypothesize that emerging countries with their unique market structure and legacy of spectrum management are better suited to create active secondary markets. We cite early market indicators in India such as the adoption of national roaming by the wireless broadband operators and the use of multi-SIM handsets by subscribers that tend to support our hypothesis. Specific sections of the draft National Telecom Policy 2011 are also highlighted for policy inclusion.

Next Generation Data Communication Technologies: Emerging Trends

Data sharing is central to the existence of any computer network. Research on the types of networks used to transmit data, as well as the nature of the data itself, is essential for computer engineers and information technology professionals.Next Generation Data Communications Technologies: Emerging Trends contains case studies, theories, and empirical research aimed to assist individuals and organizations in understanding the critical concepts of data networking and communications. The transmission of different types of media, along with resulting business implications, is studied in depth and applications for service providers are policymakers are offered in this rigorously researched collection.

An Approach to Solving the Survivable Capacitated Network Design Problem

Survivability refers to keeping a system partially or fully operational when one or more of its components fail. Survivability in telecommunication networks is crucial, as failure of a network component can potentially bring down the whole communication network, as happened in some real-world cases. Adding redundant network components increases the survivability of a network, but cost of the network also increases. In this paper, we consider the design of survivable telecommunications network architecture that uses high-capacity transport facilities. The model considers selection of capacitated links and routing of multicommodity traffic flow in the network that minimizes overall network cost. Two node disjoint paths are selected for each commodity. In case of failure of the primary path, a portion of the traffic for each commodity will be rerouted through the secondary path. The methodology presented in this paper can be used by the network designer to construct cost-effective survivable networks.