IT outsourcing configuration: Research into defining and designing outsourcing arrangements

Abstract

In this paper, we introduce the concept of information technology outsourcing (ITO) 'configuration', defined as: a high-level description of the set of choices the organization makes in crafting its IT outsourcing portfolio. From research into 49 ITO arrangements studied over time, we identify seven attributes - Scope Grouping, Supplier Grouping, Financial Scale, Duration, Pricing, Resource Ownership, and Commercial Relationship - as key descriptors of an organization's ITO configuration. Seven further cases tested the relevance of the attributes. The contribution of this paper is its articulation of the concept of configuration as a taxonomy of ITO structural characteristics, the key attrib..