Outsourcing It

With cloud computing quickly becoming a standard in today's IT environments, many security experts are raising concerns regarding security and privacy in outsourced cloud environments-requiring a change in how we evaluate risk and protect information, processes, and people.Managing Risk and Security in Outsourcing IT Services: Onshore, Offshore and

Outsourcing has increased and developed immensely in scope, sophistication and ambition over the last twenty years - and continues to evolve. Information technology outsourcing is potentially highly complex and risk-laden, especially for the fast growing areas of business process and transformational outsourcing, and where whole departments or business areas are outsourced. Decisions taken by the customer at the outset have long term ramifications: they need to ensure that the processes are flexible enough to deal with change, maintain necessary levels of security, avoid abandoning management of key resources and prevent costs spiralling out of control. It is essential to have a good contract to meet such challenges. All these issues and others, such as intellectual property arrangements, the complexities of transferring staff, property and other assets, tendering procedures and performance monitoring, must not be ignored and are addressed in the second edition of Rachel Burnett's successful Outsourcing IT. Whether you are a supplier or a customer, it is vital to have a properly negotiated formal contract if you are entering into an outsourcing arrangement. A good contract needs careful planning and this book provides a comprehensive guide to the whole process. Well-planned and well-structured outsourcing arrangements, by well-informed and well-advised customers, are far more likely to work for both customer and supplier alike and Outsourcing IT - The Legal Aspects: Planning, Contracting, Managing and the Law is the perfect place to start.

Production networks in many sectors have become increasingly fragmented. Cutting labour costs by lowering pay, increasing work intensity and/or shifting flexibility costs to workers are just some of the motivations for outsourcing. But it can also be used to circumvent employee representation and collective bargaining systems within companies, and labour market regulations in general. Though such intentions may not drive the bulk of outsourcing decisions, any change in company boundaries is likely to impact employment, working conditions and industrial relations in the value chain. This book focuses on the dynamics of outsourcing in Europe from the perspective of employees. In particular, it considers one insufficiently studied aspect: the impact of outsourcing on working conditions and employment relations in companies. The book also collects lessons learned from the efforts of employees and trade unions to shape outsourcing decisions, processes and their impact on employment and working conditions.

Guide book to analysing the major issues that arise in outsourcing agreements. Helps one deal with the basic question of when outsourcing is an appropriate solution to a situation, and what issues must be addressed when contracting with a supplier.

In 2003 IT outsourcing already represents almost 33 per cent of the average IT budget and IT outsourcing has enabled organizations to survive the pace of change in the new economy at a time when business activities need to be focused on the right activities and resources need to be kept lean and aligned with the core business.

The business landscape is changing. Outsourcing is now a growing phenomenon in which specific functions are subcontracted to specialist companies, often elsewhere in the world. IT represents a particular case for outsourcing, both in terms of benefits and potential inter-organizational problems. Deciding whether to keep IT in-house or to whether outsource it is a key management responsibility. Once a decision for outsourcing has been made, relationships with external provider(s) have to be established and managed. This book combines both research and practical examples to explore how this can be done successfully. Uniquely, the book provides a governance model for such partnerships, exploring the risks and responsibilities involved for both parties. Drawing on the theories of interfirm networks and the boundaries of the firm, here, it provides an accessible and cutting-edge perspective. Incorporating industry examples from a global network of companies (including four case specific chapters), this book investigates partnerships in industrial sectors and IT functions. An invaluable resource for those involved in IT and new technology management as well as strategic business management and planning, this book presents all the necessary theory with an indispensable practical perspective.

Three years have passed since the second edition of this book was published. The field of IT outsourcing continues to grow in practice as well as in academia and draws further attention in both domains. Aspects of traditional outsourcing (Part II) have remained pronounced but are becoming more mature. While o- sourcing determinants are still important, they are now of less interest to researchers. Relationship management (Chap. 1) and capability management (Chap. 2) continue to be of interest; so too are outsourcing outcomes (Chap. 3) and, as a new focus, innovation aspects (Chap. 4). These are motivating more and more research activities, complementing the lifecycle of traditional o- sourcing. We note significant growth in the field of IT offshoring (Part II). In our third edition, we offer research results on offshoring patterns and trends (Chap. 5), the crucial aspect of knowledge sharing (Chap. 6), vibrant examples for offshoring dynamics (Chap. 7), and some new contributions on the deter- nants of offshoring success (Chap. 8). The last part of our book investigates the field of business process outsourcing (Part III). In this section, issues such as standardization, process outsourcing to India and deinstitutionalization patterns in the health-care sector are presented. Given these new subjects, we believe that Enduring Themes, Global Challenges, and Process Opportunities is an appropriate subtitle for this third edition of the monograph. Again, we have thoughtfully compiled contem- rary outsourcing research as a primer and a platform for scientific discourse.

This book shows IT managers how to identify, mitigate and manage risks in an IT outsourcing exercise. The book explores current trends and highlights key issues and changes that are taking place within outsourcing. Attention is given to identifying the drivers and related risks of outsourcing by examining recently published and existing concepts of IT outsourcing. Founded on academic theory and empirical and quantitative information, this book: * Incorporates the complete risk identification and mitigation life cycle * Highlights the concept of core competency * Looks at motivating factors and working relationships of the buyer and supplier * Provides background to understand the risks as a result of ‘human factors’ as defined by the agency theory * Reviews the areas of risk that influence the decision to outsource the IT function * Examines the forces that determine the equilibrium in the risk profiles for the buyer and supplier