Revisiting learning outcomes from market led ICT outsourcing

Purpose – Today’s global business is heavily dependent on information and communication technology (ICT). The reality for most organisations is that the rate of technology change has been extremely fast. To cope with these changes, some organisations are committing a large amount of resources. Such challenges make it difficult for some companies to invest in ICT, resulting in a need to re-think their business models. One such approach which has proved popular over the last few years is to outsource ICT. However, not all ICT outsourcing projects have been totally successful. The paper aims to explore various constructs in ICT outsourcing. Design/methodology/approach – The aim is achieved by conducting studies on 11 ICT outsourcing projects within the service sector. Findings – In future, customers will be looking for value-added services while focusing less on outsourcing as a cost-cutting exercise. There is also an added pressure on the customers and vendors to ensure that the original business case to justify outsourcing is robust. Research limitations/implications – The research is conducted with a limited sample of ICT outsourcing projects. For this reason, many of the conclusions in this paper are generalisations. Further research will need to be conducted in order for the lessons that emerge to be applicable across a wider business perspective. Originality/value – The paper takes a longer term perspective on the interface between customers and vendors in outsourcing projects. However, globally, this sector is very fluid and it is crucial that organisations understand the complexity of the relationships. This paper does not specifically seek to add to the existing body of knowledge on ICT outsourcing, but rather it serves as an opportunity to reflect on the full complexity of ICT outsourcing.