Part 1: Answer The Module Review Questions Listed Bel 648878

Part 1answer The Module Review Questions Listed Below These Question

Part 1: Answer the module review questions listed below. These questions were chosen to demonstrate your understanding and help you assess your progress. What is outsourcing? Why would a company choose to outsource? What are the advantages and disadvantages to outsourcing?

What are the key challenges in offshore outsourcing? List five best practices in outsourcing. What is SaaS and why is it considered as another outsourcing option? With ERP implementations, why would an auditor get involved? Why is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act important to investors?

What should a disaster recovery and business continuity plan include and who should be involved?

Paper For Above instruction

Outsourcing is a strategic practice where a company delegates certain business processes or functions to external service providers, often located in different geographic regions. This approach allows organizations to leverage specialized expertise, reduce operational costs, and focus on core competencies. Companies may choose to outsource for several reasons, including cost savings, access to advanced technologies, increased flexibility, and the ability to scale operations rapidly. However, outsourcing also presents challenges such as quality control issues, loss of direct oversight, cultural and communication barriers, and potential dependency on third-party providers.

One of the predominant complexities in offshore outsourcing lies in managing cross-cultural differences, time zone discrepancies, and compliance with different legal and regulatory frameworks. To mitigate these challenges, best practices include establishing clear communication channels, engaging in comprehensive vendor selection procedures, implementing performance metrics, maintaining transparency, and fostering collaborative relationships. These practices help ensure that outsourcing arrangements are successful and aligned with organizational goals.

Software as a Service (SaaS) represents a cloud-based outsourcing model where applications are hosted by a service provider and accessed via the internet. SaaS is considered an attractive outsourcing option because it reduces the need for organizations to invest in hardware, software maintenance, and updates, providing scalable solutions that can be quickly deployed and easily maintained. In the context of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementations, auditors become involved to assess the integrity of internal controls, data security, compliance with financial regulations, and overall system reliability. They verify that the ERP system accurately reflects organizational transactions and complies with standards such as those mandated by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) is critically important for investors because it improves the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures, enhances internal controls, and reduces the risk of financial fraud. It requires companies to establish robust internal controls over financial reporting, conduct regular audits, and disclose material information transparently. These measures aim to restore investor confidence, ensure fair markets, and protect stakeholders from deceptive practices.

A comprehensive disaster recovery and business continuity plan (DR/BCP) should include strategies to protect critical infrastructure, data backup and recovery procedures, communication protocols, and defined roles and responsibilities. It must also consider scenarios such as natural disasters, cyberattacks, and system failures. Typically, stakeholders involved include IT personnel, executive leadership, crisis management teams, vendors, and communication specialists. Effective planning, regular testing, and updates ensure the organization can quickly recover and maintain essential operations under adverse conditions.

In the context of ERP systems, security is paramount to safeguarding sensitive data, ensuring system availability, and maintaining organizational integrity. Top security questions to evaluate system security include inquiries about access controls, data encryption, user authentication methods, vulnerability management, and incident response protocols. Security must be thoroughly planned, continuously tested, and ready at ERP go-live to prevent breaches, ensure compliance, and support business continuity. As ERP systems are integral to enterprise operations, their security impacts every component from financial data to operational workflows, making proactive security planning essential for organizational resilience.

References

  • Apte, U. M., & Mason, R. (2006). Do offshoring of IT services and BPO lead to job loss or job creation? Management Research News, 29(2), 67-77.
  • Elmuti, D., & Jia, H. (2013). A longitudinal study of outsourcing and offshoring: Key issues and challenges. Global Journal of Business Research, 7(2), 1-13.
  • Gartner. (2022). SaaS Market Share Analysis. Gartner Research.
  • Kaplan, R. S., & Norton, D. P. (2008). The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy into Action. Harvard Business Review Press.
  • Lozano-Urrutia, I., & Glavas, C. (2015). Risk management in enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementations. International Journal of Information Management, 35(4), 412-417.
  • Martinsons, M., & Bals, L. (2012). Strategic outsourcing: A comprehensive review and research agenda. Journal of Management, 13(3), 363-390.
  • Sharma, R., & Kalia, A. (2018). ERP security and control issues: Challenges and solutions. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 31(3), 347-368.
  • Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, Pub.L. 107–204, 116 Stat. 745.
  • Zhang, W., & Lee, G. (2005). Managing risks in enterprise resource planning systems implementation. Communications of the ACM, 48(7), 72-78.
  • Zafar, M., Hafeez, S., & Ahmed, M. (2019). Cloud computing and SaaS for enterprise applications. Journal of Cloud Computing, 8, 10.

Related Assignments