VVZ API is not affiliated with ETH Zurich. Data might be outdated or incorrect. Please view the official ETHZ Vorlesungsverzeichnis for binding information.
Software Engineering for outsourced and offshore development
Last Updated: 2026-02-05 15:14:31
Abstract
The massive transfer of developments to countries such as India and Russia is affecting the software development scene. This course explores the offshoring phenomenon from a technical software engineering perspective, providing a set of guidelines for making outsourced projects succeed, through both management approaches (in particular theCMMI) and technical solutions.
Objective
This course provides students with a clear view of the offshore software development phenomenon, enabling them to participate successfully in projects outsourced partially or totally, and also helping them dine their own career strategies in the context of outsourcing's continued growth.
Content
A remarkable phenomenon is affecting the software development scene: the massive transfer of developments to countries such as India and Russia offering highly qualified manpower at rockbottom salaries. The outsourcing business is already in the hundreds of billions of dollars, causes employment fears among Western programmers, and has consequences on just about every aspect of software development (including education). Offshoring also serves as a magnifier of most of the issues of software engineering, including for example requirements analysis and quality control. This course explores the offshoring phenomenon from a technical software engineering perspective, providing a set of guidelines for making outsourced projects succeed, through both management approaches (in particular the CMMI) and technical solutions in areas of requirements, specification, design, documentation and quality control. The presentation is based on experience of outsourcing at ABB and other companies. The participants will take part in a case study exploring techniques for making an offshored project succeed (or recover from problems).
Resources
Literature
There is an ample literature on the topic of outsourcing but no book specifically devoted to the technical issues of offshore software development. Students will work from articles and from course notes by the instructors.
General Information
- Language
- English
- Levels
- BSC , DS , MSC
- Frequency
- Yearly recurring
Examination
- Type
- end-of-semester examination
Course Components
| Type | Title | Time & Place | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| lecture | Software Engineering for outsourced and offshore development |
|
2 h weekly |
| exercise | Software Engineering for outsourced and offshore development |
|
1 h weekly |