Over the last few years, software has become a vital component of almost every business.
Success increasingly depends on using software as a competitive weapon.
More than a decade ago, seeking lower costs and access to skilled resources, many organizations began to experiment with remotely located software development facilities and with outsourcing. As a result, software development is increasingly a multisite, multicultural, globally distributed undertaking. Engineers, managers, and executives face numerous, formidable challenges on many levels, from the technical to the social and cultural. Nearly everyone with GSD experience, it seems, has anecdotes illustrating difficulties and misunderstandings. While these stories are compelling, they do not give us a clear picture of its cumulative effects.