IT Outsourcing: Maximizing Flexibility and Control

IT Outsourcing – Reaction Paper

A reaction paper on the article “IT Outsourcing: Maximizing Flexibility and Control” by Mary C. Lacity, Leslie P. Willcocks and David F. Feeney

Information Technology outsourcing is a strategy that if used wisely, will provide you the advantages in staying in the competitive edge of the business field, but could prove fatal in not. While I agree that management should first identify clearly which IT areas are strategic and which is a commodity, it doesn’t end there, it’s not that simple. The company must also have a well established IT system architecture and defined IT policies and business rules.

Outsourcing exposes your system to the outside world - which likely does not mind on your business objectives on why you have your IT systems on the first place. The industry offers a lot of technologies, practices and standards that are very attractive to use which some does not provide any advantages to your business.

Having a well established IT system architecture and defined IT Policies gives you the extra maneuverability in using outsourcing and ensures that you are supporting you business objectives. This will also give you a clear path and the view of the boundaries that must be maintained when applying outsourcing.

An example of a good IT system architecture is a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), in which you can use outsourcing while maximizing and maintaining your flexibility and control of your system.

Engaging into outsourcing without properly knowing the IT roles in your business and without a well established IT system architecture would likely fail.