Abstract
M.Comm. (Computer Auditing)
It is undeniable that over the last couple of years information technology outsourcing
has witnessed considerable success and growth in South Africa and the world at large.
However, there have been a number of IT outsourcing failures as evidenced by the
substantial number of organizations that outsourced their IT systems and then moved
them back in-house, or outsourced to another service provider. This is proof that some
of the practices inherent in IT outsourcing are flawed.
In order to find out why IT outsourcing was failing in South Africa, the study investigated
the current practices in IT outsourcing against the best practices. A comprehensive
literature study on IT outsourcing best practices and an empirical study on outsourcing
organizations employing the services of top IT outsourcing service providers in South
Africa was done.
The research study revealed strong evidence that organizations are experimenting with
different types of IT outsourcing that consequently have different benefits and risks. The
empirical findings also proved that there was no ‘one size fits all’ when it came to the
reasons for justifying outsourcing IT by organizations. It was also clear that no
organization would openly admit to having hidden agendas that informed why and how
they outsourced their IT. The study also found strong evidence of critical success
factors that are significant and are embraced by IT outsourcing organizations. Also
revealed, there were control considerations in IT outsourcing that showed strong
evidence of applicable risks and the governance mechanisms employed.