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Managing IT Outsourcing

Governance in Global Partnerships

Managing IT Outsourcing

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The business landscape is changing. Outsourcing is now a growing phenomenon in which specific functions are subcontracted to specialist companies, often elsewhere in the world. IT represents a particular case for outsourcing, both in terms of benefits and potential inter-organizational problems.

Deciding whether to keep IT in-house or to whether outsource it is a key management responsibility. Once a decision for outsourcing has been made, relationships with external provider(s) have to be established and managed. This book combines both research and practical examples to explore how this can be done successfully.

Uniquely, the book provides a governance model for such partnerships, exploring the risks and responsibilities involved for both parties. Drawing on the theories of interfirm networks and the boundaries of the firm, here, it provides an accessible and cutting-edge perspective.

Incorporating industry examples from a global network of companies (including four case specific chapters), this book investigates partnerships in industrial sectors and IT functions. An invaluable resource for those involved in IT and new technology management as well as strategic business management and planning, this book presents all the necessary theory with an indispensable practical perspective.

Table of Contents

Foreword 1. Changing Business Models 2. The IT Outsourcing Phenomenon 3. Structuring Responsibilities 4. Partnership Risk Management 5. Governance of IT Outsourcing 6. Governance Factors – The Recipient 7. Governance Factors – The Provider 8. Governance Factors – The Relation 9. Offshore Outsourcing 10. Contracts 11. Looking Forward. Appendix 1 – Overview of the Investigated Case Studies

Reviews

'This book by Beulen, Ribbers and Roos is rich with insights into the factors that contribute to a successful outsourcing relationship and characterizes these elements for both the client and the supplier.' - Suzanne Rivard, FRSC, Holder of the Chair in Strategic Management of Information Technology, HEC Montréal, Canada

'It is a pleasure to read a practical, balanced, and thorough coverage of the critically important subject of outsourcing. However, this book is much more than a complete discussion of outsourcing agreements. In short, this is a superior book, to be recommended to business and IT managers, not only as an outsourcing review, but also as a general description of sound business/IT management.' - Robert Benson, co-author of From Business Strategy to IT Action (Wiley, 2004) and Information Economics (Prentice Hall, 1988)

'This book is an important help for those involved in IT outsourcing decisions to develop a balanced view. Building up outsourcing relationships is not a trivial task and this book will be a great help for both customers and suppliers to deal with the complexities.' - Hans van der Horst, former Executive Vice President of Origin, former Director of Corporate IT Philips

'A comprehensive and interesting case-based study of IT outsourcing in a global context, covering important and topical issues about partnerships, governance and offshoring, and combines academic analysis with practitioner examples of best practice.' - Wendy L. Currie, University of Warwick, UK

Author Biography

Erik Beulen, PhD, is employed at Tilburg University in the Netherlands as an assistant professor, associated with TIAS Business School and is also employed as a senior manager with Accenture. Erik has track record in acquiring large global outsourcing contracts. He obtained his Ph.D. from Tilburg University. His research concentrates on outsourcing, offshore outsourcing, governance and the management of outsourcing relationships. His papers have been published in journals such as European Management Journal and Communications Association for Information Systems and the proceedings of the HICSS and ICIS. Erik has contributed chapters in editorial books of Wendy Currie, Wim van Grembergen and Erran Carmel. He is also the author and co-author of various Dutch language books on the subject of outsourcing and offshore outsourcing.

Pieter Ribbers is Professor of Information Management at Tilburg University, the Netherlands.

Jan Roos is Emeritus Professor of Information Systems at Tilburg University, the Netherlands.