The Outsourcing of IT Functions in Irish Based Companies

Mangan, Dermot (2017) The Outsourcing of IT Functions in Irish Based Companies. Masters thesis, Dublin, National College of Ireland.

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Abstract

Companies are continually striving to improve performance and reduce costs within their business. Outsourcing of different functions of a company, such as manufacturing, marketing, etc, is a growing trend and the outsourcing of Information Technology (I.T.) functions has now become more prevalent as outsourcing is seen as a cost effective approach to managing an organisation (Quinn, 2013; Windrum, et al. 2009; Javalgi, et al, 2009). The objective of this paper was to understand what frameworks or models are currently in use and develop a model based on available literature and test its suitability. By taking a qualitative research approach by conducting semi structured interviews with managers in Irish based companies, a number of key learnings have been identified which will help managers evaluate which functions are suitable for outsourcing.

The conducted research delivered three key findings. Firstly, of the companies interviewed, none of them currently use any form of framework or model however each one confirmed that this was an issue and that they should be using a framework or model to make this decision. This leads to the second key finding. Each of the participants were presented with a proposed outsourcing decision framework based on existing literature. Each element of the framework was discussed and each of the participants agreed that this was a valid model which they would use for future evaluation of IT functions if it were available to them.

During the discussions of the elements it became clear that the participants felt a scoring mechanism should be in place for each elements especially the risks and benefits. By including this it removes an element of subjectivity from the evaluation and gives a clearer view which would be the correct decision. This covers the third key finding in the research, elements of the proposed framework which can be changed.

From the reach conducted it is clear that the proposed framework is valid, however further research is recommended as the number of participants in the research was low compared to the number of companies in Ireland and to validate that the participants views correlate with all companies in the different industries.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Subjects:	T Technology > T Technology (General) > Information Technology H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management > Human Resource Management > Outsourcing
Divisions:	School of Business > Master of Science in Management
Depositing User:	Caoimhe Ní Mhaicín
Date Deposited:	22 Nov 2017 14:04
Last Modified:	22 Nov 2017 14:05
URI:	https://norma.ncirl.ie/id/eprint/2896

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