A multi-level investigation of information technology outsourcing

Aubert, Benoît A.; Houde, Jean-François; Patry, Michel; Rivard, Suzanne

doi:10.1016/j.jsis.2012.04.004

Cited by 48 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…IaaS and PaaS enable organizations to outsource technically complex tasks (e.g., managing infrastructures of assets with extensive availability and security requirements and uncertain load surges) to an external vendor while ensuring that tasks requiring integrative knowledge of the business, processes, and environment of an organization remain in-house (e.g., highly customized software that supports core business processes and that yields a competitive advantage). This argument is supported by the findings of Aubert et al (2012), who report that organizations are more likely to outsource if the degree of technical skills required is high (high technical complexity) and are less likely to outsource if the degree of business-related skills is high (high human asset specificity). In this vein, assets with high technical complexity and low human asset specificity may be more suitable for SaaS solutions because with decreasing human asset specificity, the tasks to execute can be served by standardized software services with open APIs to connect to more specific business functions or assets within an organization.…”

Section: Asset Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 87%

Determinant Factors of Cloud-Sourcing Decisions: Reflecting on the IT Outsourcing Literature in the Era of Cloud Computing

Schneider

Sunyaev

2016

Journal of Information Technology

212

151

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Cloud computing (CC) is an emerging form of IT outsourcing (ITO) that requires organizations to adjust their sourcing processes. Although ITO researchers have established an extensive knowledge base on the determinant factors that drive sourcing decisions from various theoretical perspectives, the majority of research on cloud-sourcing decisions focuses on technological aspects. We reviewed the CC and ITO literature and systematically coded the determinant factors that influence sourcing decisions. We show that most determinant factors of sourcing decisions in the ITO context remain valid for the CC context. However, the findings for some factors (i.e., asset specificity, client firm IT capabilities, client firm size, institutional influences, and uncertainty) are inconclusive for the CC and ITO contexts. We discuss how the peculiarities of CC can explain these inconclusive findings. Our results indicate that CC researchers should draw from research on ITO decision making but re-examine ITO concepts in the light of the peculiarities of CC, such as the differences between software and infrastructure services, the self-service procurement of cloud services, or the evolving role of IT departments. By summarizing determinant factors of cloud-sourcing decisions for consideration in future research, we contribute to the development of endogenous theories in the IS domain.

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Section: Asset Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 87%

Determinant Factors of Cloud-Sourcing Decisions: Reflecting on the IT Outsourcing Literature in the Era of Cloud Computing

Schneider

Sunyaev

2016

Journal of Information Technology

212

151

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“…For example, in the presence of specific assets, Barthelemy and Geyer (2005) observed that firms used subsidiaries instead of relying on ITO. Loebbecke and Huyskens (2006) and Aubert et al (2012) could not find support for the role of asset specificity in the ITO decision. On the contrary, Aubert et al (2004) and Hanafizadeh and Zare Ravasan (2018a) found asset specificity to be positively linked to ITO.…”

Section: Technology Factorsmentioning

confidence: 88%

A Systematic Literature Review on IT Outsourcing Decision and Future Research Directions

Hanafizadeh

Zareravasan

2020

Journal of Global Information Management

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During the recent decades, some academic research on the subject of information technology outsourcing (ITO) decision has appeared in different outlets, which may impede the use of such resources and as a result, repetition of research by various researchers is very likely. The purpose of this paper is then to conduct a systematic literature review (SLR) pertaining to research on ITO decision. Then, this review intends to 1) classify ITO decision literature, 2) provide a list of factors affecting ITO decision, and 3) identify ITO strategies. To this end, 91 ITO articles published between 2000 and 2018 in 51 unique journals were reviewed. The results yielded three kinds of descriptive, relational, and comparative ITO decision studies. The determinants of ITO decisions are classified into technological, organizational, environmental and user adoption factors. Furthermore, the trend of studied ITO strategies in the reviewed literature is analyzed, and future sourcing varietals are proposed. Finally, some insights and future research directions are proposed based on the review results.

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“…However, reviewing the studies that use the TCE framework, one can find contradicting conclusions on seemingly similar issues. For example, Thouin et al [28] find empirical support for the original claims of Williamson's theory in the context of IT outsourcing, while Aubert et al [29] claim a bigger role of uncertainty compared to asset specificity, which is completely opposite to the original TCE theory.…”

Section: Transaction-cost Economicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Outsourcing of Disaggregated Services in Cloud-Based Enterprise Information Systems

Asatiani

Apte

Penttinen

et al. 2014

2014 47th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences

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In this paper, we examine outsourcing of disaggregated information-intensive services. Drawing on the theoretical streams of Global Information-Intensive Service Disaggregation and Transaction-Cost Economics, we formulate our research model to understand the phenomenon of disaggregation in the context of cloud computing. The model encompasses frequency, asset specificity, uncertainty, information intensity, and need for customer contact as characteristics of tasks that we use to explain the outsourcing of disaggregated services.We are especially interested in understanding the interplay between these characteristics and the increasingly popular cloud-based systems. Our results partially support previous research on the effects of characteristics on outsourcing. The main finding of the paper is impact of the cloud-based information systems on the interaction of these characteristics.

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A multi-level investigation of information technology outsourcing

Cited by 48 publications

References 43 publications

Determinant Factors of Cloud-Sourcing Decisions: Reflecting on the IT Outsourcing Literature in the Era of Cloud Computing

Determinant Factors of Cloud-Sourcing Decisions: Reflecting on the IT Outsourcing Literature in the Era of Cloud Computing

A Systematic Literature Review on IT Outsourcing Decision and Future Research Directions

Outsourcing of Disaggregated Services in Cloud-Based Enterprise Information Systems

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