AbstractsComputer Science

Offshore outsourcing of software has become a common reality for companies, not only in the US, but lately also in Norway. The number of Norwegian companies considering and entering the offshoring practice has increased significantly, especially within IT. This trend provides emergent opportunities and challenges. To benefit from the advantages and meet the challenges it is a need for a better understanding in addition to more and extensive research on offshore outsourcing of software development in Norway. This short master thesis tries to get a better understanding of how offshore outsourcing of software development activities are carried out, and how they function for the Norwegian software industry, especially in comparison with documented experience, mostly from the US. To get a better understanding, the study has identified and analyzed practiced benefits, challenges and preferred system development approaches. A qualitative research method was followed, and based on three interviews, one observation and an extensive analysis of existing literature, mostly from the US.