1. © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 Part 4-1 Using MIS 2e Part 4 The International Dimension: International IT Development & Management David Kroenke

2. © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 Part 4-2 Study Questions Q1 – What characteristics make international IT management challenging? Q2 – Why is international information systems development difficult? Q3 – What are the challenges of international project management? Q4 – What are the challenges of international IT management? Q5 – How does the international dimension affect computer security risk management? Q6 – What challenges exist for investigating international computer crime?

3. © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 Part 4-3 Q1 – What characteristics make international IT management challenging? Q2 – Why is international information systems development difficult? Q3 – What are the challenges of international project management? Q4 – What are the challenges of international IT management? Q5 – How does the international dimension affect computer security risk management? Q6 – What challenges exist for investigating international computer crime?

4. © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 Part 4-4 Q1 – What characteristics make international IT management challenging? International IT management is more challenging than a domestic operation located in one country because of these characteristics:  The size and complexity of international IT systems is greater than domestic systems.  Development projects are larger and more complicated to manage.  IT departments are bigger and include people from many cultures with different languages.  Organizations have extensive IS and IT assets that are exposed to more risk and greater uncertainty.  Security incidents are more complicated to investigate.

5. © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 Part 4-5 Q1 – What characteristics make international IT management challenging? Q2 – Why is international information systems development difficult? Q3 – What are the challenges of international project management? Q4 – What are the challenges of international IT management? Q5 – How does the international dimension affect computer security risk management? Q6 – What challenges exist for investigating international computer crime?

6. © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 Part 4-6 Q2 – Why is international information systems development difficult? It’s more difficult to develop an international system than to simply localize software because of the size and complexity of a system with all five components. Here are some factors to consider when you develop an international system:  The most difficult components to develop in an international system are procedures and people. Both users and customers have different cultures that must be reflected in the system procedures.  In the systems definition phase of the SDLC process, you may have to develop underlying business processes that will differ according to local customs and laws.  The requirements phase of SDLC may be different for each country based on the systems definitions that were developed for each locale.

7. © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 Part 4-7 Q2 – Why is international information systems development difficult? There are two possible solutions to consider:  You can define a set of standard business processes that will encompass every geographic location. The disadvantages of this choice focus on people. Each geographic organization may have to convert to different work processes. If that’s true, you may face a great deal of resistance to change from employees. You may face even more resistance if the changes violate local cultural norms.  You can develop alternative versions that support different processes in different countries. The disadvantages of this choice focus on the system. You’ll have a lot of system design challenges. You may actually end up with not one system, but many different systems.

8. © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 Part 4-8 Q1 – What characteristics make international IT management challenging? Q2 – Why is international information systems development difficult? Q3 – What are the challenges of international project management? Q4 – What are the challenges of international IT management? Q5 – How does the international dimension affect computer security risk management? Q6 – What challenges exist for investigating international computer crime?

9. © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 Part 4-9 Q3 – What are the challenges of international project management? Here are some of the challenges of managing an international IS project:  Project integration—complex integration of results from distributed work groups, managing tasks dependencies from physically and culturally different workgroups.  Requirements—the need to support multiple versions of underlying business processes possibly resulting in substantial differences in requirements and procedures.  Time—development pace and workweek vary among cultures and countries.  Cost—varies widely among countries. Moving work among teams may dramatically change costs.

10. © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 Part 4-10 Q3 – What are the challenges of international project management?  Quality—standards vary among cultures. Different expectations of quality may result in an inconsistent system.  Human resources—worker expectations differ. Compensation, rewards, and work conditions vary widely.  Communications—geographic, language, and cultural distance among team members impedes effective communication.  Risk—development risk is higher and it’s easier to lose control.  Procurement—complications of international trade make it difficult to manage.

11. © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 Part 4-11 Q1 – What characteristics make international IT management challenging? Q2 – Why is international information systems development difficult? Q3 – What are the challenges of international project management? Q4 – What are the challenges of international IT management? Q5 – How does the international dimension affect computer security risk management? Q6 – What challenges exist for investigating international computer crime?

12. © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 Part 4-12 Q4 – What are the challenges of international IT management? The primary responsibilities of an IT department are more complicated for an international IT operation. Here are some of the challenges:  The IT planning function must still align IT and IS resources with the organization’s competitive strategy. That’s more complicated for multinational companies.  Conducting operations in different countries, cultures, and languages adds complexity. You must integrate similar, but different, systems. Outsourcing becomes more complicated when you have to integrate systems with third-party vendors all over the world.  Developing international systems is more complicated and complex as you’ve seen.  Protecting IT and IS resources is more difficult.

13. © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 Part 4-13 Q1 – What characteristics make international IT management challenging? Q2 – Why is international information systems development difficult? Q3 – What are the challenges of international project management? Q4 – What are the challenges of international IT management? Q5 – How does the international dimension affect computer security risk management? Q6 – What challenges exist for investigating international computer crime?

14. © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 Part 4-14 Q5 – How does the international dimension affect computer security risk management? Risk management is more difficult and complicated for these reasons:  IT assets are subject to more threats stemming from political factors in each country, civil unrest, terrorists, and natural disasters.  The likelihood of these threats affecting IT and IS resources is more difficult to estimate.  International systems are subject to far greater uncertainty because of the multitude of cultures, religions, nations, beliefs, political views, and crazy people.  More safeguards, or far more complex ones, may be needed because of the greater complexity of international systems.

15. © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 Part 4-15 Q1 – What characteristics make international IT management challenging? Q2 – Why is international information systems development difficult? Q3 – What are the challenges of international project management? Q4 – What are the challenges of international IT management? Q5 – How does the international dimension affect computer security risk management? Q6 – What challenges exist for investigating international computer crime?

16. © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 Part 4-16 Q6 – What challenges exist for investigating international computer crime? International computer crime is common. Here’s why it’s more complicated to investigate and resolve computer crime that’s committed in foreign countries.  Critical evidence may be stored in computers located on foreign soil.  Nations have sovereignty within their borders, so investigators need the consent of the country in which evidence lies before they can investigate crimes and criminals.  The formal process for obtaining permission to search for evidence is slow and cumbersome.  Some nations refuse to cooperate with investigators.  The laws for gathering evidence for computer crimes are complicated and complex and vary from country to country.

17. © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 Part 4-17 Q6 – What challenges exist for investigating international computer crime? To help combat international computer crime, the G8 group of nations developed a 24-hour point-of-contact system.  It’s used by more than 30 nations.  It speeds the processing of permission for evidence gathering.  It provides a single point-of-contact for investigators. Criminal investigators often use informal arrangements with their counterparts in foreign countries to gather evidence against criminals. It’s a tricky proposition as some countries may not allow the evidence to be used in a court of law. Sometimes it’s difficult to determine which law applies when you’re dealing with international crime.