IT Outsourcing Risk Research Articles

Перспективы создания универсального IT-аутсорсера на рынке банковских услуг и проблемы минимизации рисков в корпоративной сфере

In the article, the author refers to the analysis of foreign and Russian regulatory, policy documents, legislative initiatives in order to identify the risks of IT outsourcing in the banking services market. Based on the identification of relevant risks, the concept of a legal model of a universal IT outsourcer in the relevant market is proposed with a detailed analysis of ways to minimize risks in the corporate sphere for such an integrated company.

Differences Between Client’s and Supplier’s receptions of IT Outsourcing Risks

Differences Between Client’s and Supplier’s receptions of IT Outsourcing Risks

Conceptualizing Relational Resources as Critical Factor for IT Outsourcing Success

The relational resources represent key assets for outsourcing success. Achieving full potential in the development and exploitation of relational resources in outsourcing can be understood as occurring in two closely intertwined phases: i. during the choice of the provider; ii. through the governance of the relation that develops over the execution of the contract. The current paper aims to provide conceptual insights into these two phases, as they apply to the particular area of companies’ IT outsourcing. A first objective is to illustrate the role of relational resources in determining the ultimate degree of success in IT outsourcing and to discuss its potential as an “instrument to address risk”. A second objective is to outline managerial criteria for correct choice of the IT provider and for appropriate direction of client-vendor relations over the course of the resulting contract execution. The main findings of this study show that the paradigmatic shift from a transaction-based outsourcing to a partnership-based outsourcing gives centrality to the contract management and on-going management. On this point, relational resources have become a critical factor for IT outsourcing success, and they have to be considered as a tool to address the risks of IT outsourcing. Concerning the managerial implications the main finding is the need to use the “relational requisites” rather than “subjective requisites” in the evaluation and choice of potential IT provider.

A Novel Dynamic Algorithm for IT Outsourcing Risk Assessment Based on Transaction Cost Theory

With the great risk exposed in IT outsourcing, how to assess IT outsourcing risk becomes a critical issue. However, most of approaches to date need to further adapt to the particular complexity of IT outsourcing risk for either falling short in subjective bias, inaccuracy, or efficiency. This paper proposes a dynamic algorithm of risk assessment. It initially forwards extended three layers (risk factors, risks, and risk consequences) of transferring mechanism based on transaction cost theory (TCT) as the framework of risk analysis, which bridges the interconnection of components in three layers with preset transferring probability and impact. Then, it establishes an equation group between risk factors and risk consequences, which assures the “attribution” more precisely to track the specific sources that lead to certain loss. Namely, in each phase of the outsourcing lifecycle, both the likelihood and the loss of each risk factor and those of each risk are acquired through solving equation group with real data of risk consequences collected. In this “reverse” way, risk assessment becomes a responsive and interactive process with real data instead of subjective estimation, which improves the accuracy and alleviates bias in risk assessment. The numerical case proves the effectiveness of the algorithm compared with the approach forwarded by other references.

Identifying risk factors of IT outsourcing using interdependent information: An extended DEMATEL method

Risk factor identification of IT outsourcing is significant to capture the source of IT outsourcing risk. Risk factors of IT outsourcing are often interdependent, and consequently the interrelationships among factors affect risk factor identification, whereas this fact is neglected in the existing studies. The purpose of this paper is to investigate a method for identifying risk factors of IT outsourcing, in which the interrelationships among risk factors are considered. Firstly, the risk factors of IT outsourcing are figured out through literature review and expert interview. Then, the interrelationships among risk factors and relative analysis are given. Furthermore, based on the 2-tuple fuzzy linguistic representation model and the classical Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method, an extended DEMATEL method is developed to identify the importance together with the classification of risk factors. Finally, the potential of the proposed method is shown through an illustrative example of a Chinese resource company.

A review of the IT outsourcing literature: Insights for practice

This paper reviews research studies of information technology outsourcing (ITO) practice and provides substantial evidence that researchers have meaningfully and significantly addressed the call for academics to produce knowledge relevant to practitioners. Based on a review of 191 IT outsourcing articles, we extract the insights for practice on six key ITO topics relevant to practitioners. The first three topics relate to the early 1990s focus on determinants of IT outsourcing, IT outsourcing strategy, and mitigating IT outsourcing risks. A focus on best practices and client and supplier capabilities developed from the mid-1990s and is traced through to the late 2000s, while relationship management is shown to be a perennial and challenging issue throughout the nearly 20 years under study. More recently studies have developed around offshore outsourcing, business process outsourcing and the rise, decline and resurrection of application service provision. The paper concludes by pointing to future challenges and developments.

Managing the risks of IT outsourcing

AbstractThere have been many debates about whether to outsource a company's IT services—and if so, how to do it. But now that the first generation of IT outsourcing is behind us, the author argues that we should embrace a strategic approach that aligns sourcing with business goals. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.