This course examines the role of standards and best practices as keys to competitiveness for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) involved in information technology (IT) and IT-enabled services (ITES) outsourcing. In addition to introducing the various ways in which enterprises can demonstrate compliance with specific organizational and individual standards or best practices, it gives SMEs the tools to evaluate whether or not certification is necessary for them and, if so, the best way of successfully achieving it.

NOTE:

Participants to this course should already have a basic understanding of IT and ITES outsourcing, as well as of the various business activities which involvement in the IT and ITES fields entails. This material is covered in the SME Trade Academy course: "Cross-Border IT and ITES Outsourcing", which is available here: Cross-Border IT and ITES Outsourcing

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After completing this course, participants will be able to:

Assess the elements of standards and best practices that are valued by clients;
Identify and research standards that may potentially be useful for their IT/ITES outsourcing activities;
Grasp the various issues related to certification; and
Formulate an appropriate roadmap to implement/become certified to a standard.