A descriptive analysis of IT outsourcing configuration

Abstract

Information Systems outsourcing is a growing phenomenon in present-day firms that has generally been characterised with an insufficient level of detail and analysis. This is mainly due to the fact that outsourcing has been studied as a set of homogeneous services, failing to distinguish that there is a variety of contracts and ways to implement the outsourcing relationship. That is why this paper seeks to focus on a large number of essential aspects which define outsourcing contracts and relationships through the results of a survey carried out among the largest Spanish firms, suggesting the foreseeable future with respect to outsourcing in those companies.

Information systems outsourcing satisfaction: some explanatory factors

“…As for 'Relationship with Providers,' it was equally measured through a scale adapted from Gonzalez, Gasco & Llopis (2008), where interviewees had to assess between 1 and 7 whether certain proximity and agreement relationships with providers never occur (1) or such relationships are established in all cases (7).…”

“…The variable measurement carried out was based on a review of previous questionnaires and works about IS outsourcing. More specifically, the degree of outsourcing was measured using a scale proposed by Gonzalez et al (2008) with interviewees being asked to determine the approximate percentage in which an extensive list of activities referring to IS are outsourced on a 1-5 Likert scale -1 meaning below 20 per cent and 5, above 80 per cent. The 1-7 Likert scale, the most commonly preferred one in the context of social sciences, is better than the 1-5 scale because measuring sensibility increases and one can have more guarantees that a continuous variableinstead of a categorical oneis being used; hence our decision to utilise it in the survey.…”

Information Systems Outsourcing in Large Companies

“…Second, it represents significant changes in internal processes of organizations, the redistribution of responsibilities in design, development, maintenance and operation of IT infrastructures and new mechanisms of decision making, allocation of resources and criteria for assessing the performance. Third, it involves a significant change in the procedures used to deal with the external environment, from a relationship with suppliers more aggressive, to agreements based on mutual trust and joint decision-making (IBM Corporation, 2007;Loh & Venkatraman, 1992), which can lead to a partnership-type link in which the services hired acquire more added value (Gonzalez et al, 2008). Since the studied Irish companies in overall reveal a high level of outsourcing, it would be important to study deepen in further works the particular changes in project management.…”

IS outsourcing satisfaction and the IS managers’ job

“…The degree of outsourcing was measured using a scale proposed by González et al (2008) with interviewees being asked to determine the approximate percentage in which an extensive series of IS-related activities are outsourced on a 1--5 Likert scale –1 meaning below 20 per cent and 5 meaning above 80 per cent. The 1-7 Likert scale, the most commonly preferred one in the context of social sciences, is better than the 1-5 scale because measuring sensibility increases and one can have more guarantees that a continuous variable – instead of a categorical one – is being used; hence, our decision to use it in the survey.…”

“…The Satisfaction obtained with outsourcing was measured with a single item from the paper by González, Gascó and Llopis (2010b), which in turn was based on the studies carried out by Grover, Cheon and Teng (1994), Gupta and Gupta (1992), and Saunders, Gebelt and Hu (1997) The Degree of Outsourcing was measured using a scale proposed by González, Gascó and Llopis (2008) with interviewees being asked to determine the approximate percentage in which an extensive series of IS-related activities are outsourced on a 1-to-5 Likert scale -1 meaning below 20% and 5, above 80%.…”