Chapter: Outsourcing

From Computing Project Repository

Decision and Control factors for IT-sourcing

Dr. Guus Delen

ABSTRACT In my ten years of experience as outsourcing consultant I have grown interested by the paradox that still many IT-outsourcings fail, whilst in that period ample experience has been built up. This chapter gives a summary of my work on that subject, in which two research questions are addressed: 1. the scientific quest for finding which factors influence success or failure of a sourcing. 2. the consultants question on how to apply the understanding gained on those factors in order to raise the success of actual sourcing trajects This chapter starts with an introduction and definitions of the various types of sourcing. The second section gives an elaboration on the development, and economic relevance of IT-sourcing. Thereafter I threat the set of 10 Sourcing factors which was my start-hypothesis for the research. This set has been validated in a field survey. Section 4 summarises the result if this validation, which shows that 9 of the 10 factors are relevant for sourcing success, that this set is rather complete. The validation also resulted in an indication of the relative strength of each specific factor. In the last section the Sourcing-factors monitor is introduced which makes use of the apparent strength of the 9 relevant factors in order to predict and monitor sourcing success in actual cases.