Strategic Sourcing of Information Systems

Increasingly large multinationals and public sector agencies, as well as small and medium organizations, have perceived value in transferring some or most of their IT assets, leases and staff to third party vendors. This trend has been maintained by high-profile "mega-deals" based ostensibly on the logic of core competence thinking and trends towards "alliance capitalism". However, many members of the IT community have signalled the dangers inherent in relinquishing management control of a "strategic asset". In some cases these warnings have proved valid, with several "strategic partnerships" experiencing severe problems. Conversely, some of the companies adamantly refusing to countenance outsourcing have struggled to demonstrate IT value. The key question therefore is not should IT be outsourced, but where and how can business leverage be achieved through utilising the rapidly developing market for IT services. Strategic Sourcing of Information Systems answers this question by-providing a forum of current thinking by prominent scholars and practitioners from around the globe. Edited and with a lengthy Introduction by Leslie Willcocks and Mary Lacity, two internationally recognised experts in this field, the books coverage includes: Selective Outsourcing Total Outsourcing Total Insourcing IT department as a trading agency Offshore Development This book has been designed for both academics and practitioners. Theoretical perspectives allow critical variables to be extracted in order to explain successful or unsuccessful decisions, while decision frameworks and case studies provide guidelines on which sourcing options to select, and how to manage outsourcing arrangements.