Abstract
Ph.D. (Information Technology Management)
Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO) is a business practice through which companies delegate the
total or partial operational responsibilities of certain IT-related processes. The main stakeholders in
outsourcing projects include the client company taking out the outsourced work, and the vendor company
taking over the outsourced work.
Through outsourcing, clients seek to survive or thrive by narrowing their focus on processes considered
essential or strategically important to their core business. Consequently, responsibilities over all other
business processes are transferred to a competent vendor. Besides the competence in terms of higher
skills, clients involving outsourcing vendors also aim to achieve business benefits related to better
effectiveness and efficiency. Saving cost is one such benefit which is particularly valued and sought after
by clients.
The delivery of outsourcing services is typically done in one or more of five models, including; traditional
outsourcing, multi-sourcing, cloud outsourcing, build-operate-transfer, and shared services. Regardless of
the outsourcing delivery model, outsourcing projects fail globally at an alarmingly high rate, resulting in
enormous financial losses for companies. The dynamic nature of the modern business environment
compels companies to find ways to be more effective and efficient; that is, to do more with less.
Companies can simply no longer afford wasteful losses such as those resulting from outsourcing failures.
There is, therefore, an inevitable business imperative for a mechanism providing the stakeholders to the
outsourcing contract with a simple, intuitive, and repeatable mechanism to guide the navigation
throughout the rather complex outsourcing waters. This research addresses the above-mentioned
business imperative by proposing a model for successful IT outsourcing. The model is specifically
designed for outsourcing clients, but the equally important role of vendors in outsourcing is
acknowledged.
Juxtaposing a similar model for vendors to the current model for clients is certain to result in a more
comprehensive model. The outsourcing body of knowledge both in industry and academia would greatly
benefit from such a model, as highlighted in the suggestions for further research at the conclusion of this
thesis.