Intelligent IT Outsourcing: Eight Building Blocks to Success (Computer Weekly Professional)

by Sara Cullen, Leslie Willcocks

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Editorial Reviews
Product Description
Intelligent IT Outsourcing enables practitioners to focus in on the essential issues that need to be addressed so that the fundamental structure of their sourcing strategy and its implementation is sound. The authors provide insight into the challenges likely to be faced and give detailed advice on how to pre-empt and manage these.

IT and outsourcing continue to be problematic, not least because fundamental learning about this subject fails to be applied systematically, and because IT is inherently difficult to manage. The economics are not obvious and emerging technologies have to be addressed, therefore IT goes to the heart of many enterprises and interfaces with multiple business units and processes, and there are continuous skills shortages.

Unfortunately complexities are not removed in outsourced situations where additional problems come into play, for example the supplier's capabilities, whether the IT is right for an outsourcing solution, and whether the contract is robust but flexible enough to allow for outsourcing to take place. Objectives need to be realistic, and factors such as whether the internal management is mature and capable enough in this field, and the impact of prohibitive switching costs on behaviour once an outsourcing deal has been signed all have to be taken into account.

The authors have built up over two decades of research, advisory and practitioner experience that enables them to distil the fundamental challenges in IT and outsourcing and demonstrate how these can be addressed.

* Focuses on the fundamentals of what should be done and what should be avoided, based on actual experience applied in major IT outsourcing deals
* Research findings and case examples included throughout to support recommended practices
* Written by highly experienced, internationally acknowledged experts in the field

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All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review: 5 out of 5 stars

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5 out of 5 stars

Getting it right, 2003-06-19
In the area of outsourcing there are many texts, but few that make it simple to achieve the outsourcing goals an organisation requires. This text is comprehensive, but lays out the process to achieve a successful outcome in a logical and clear manner. It will allow you to undertake IT outsourcing activities inside your organisation while minimising the use of expensive external consultants.

It also focuses on the successful running of the contract once the outsourcing has been completed as this is an area many other texts fall down in. The most impressive part of this book is its focus on the end of contract transition out of the outsourcing deal you create. Regardless of whether it is sucessful or not, at some stage the contract will be re-market tested. It is here that many errors occur resulting in costly delays and degredation of service performance.

If you want a text that relates to the delivery of real world outsourcing outcomes - this is the one for you.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5 out of 5 stars Outsourcing Delight, 2003-06-18
As an Outsourcing Professional a book of this nature is long overdue. It is an insightful presentation, clearly written by an expert in the field. It provides a clear and concise framework on which to build methodologies and arms the reader with the knowledge to go forth and conquer.

This book is a must have for anyone in the IT Outsourcing game no matter what level of the food chain.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5 out of 5 stars Very insightful book!, 2003-06-17
Ms Cullen really knows her stuff when it comes to Outsourcing! I found this book a very comprehensive and useful reference. I think the fact that it is already "dog-eared" and littered with "post-it-notes" is a testament to that!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5 out of 5 stars Great practical book, 2003-06-16
I found this book to be very useful. It allowed me to stay one step ahead of the suppliers. It provided a flexible, but thorough framework that I could easily adapt to different current situations. I had led a few outsourcing projects previously and wish I had it back then!

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