A Case Study

Abstract

We describe and discuss an outsourcing decision project, in which a large public organisation decided to outsource its ICT and IS. Different phases and critical steps in the project are highlighted, and some critical issues are identified. First, it is clear that there were different definitions of “hosting” and these different definitions made it unclear what the project was about. The desired project outcome thus became unclear, which affected commitment during the project as well as commitment to the outcome of the project. It also led to the project plan having to be rescheduled and the project costs increased. Second, our analysis also shows that there were unclear descriptions of how hosting was currently made in the organisation. This resulted in several problems in the project, in particular, in making proposals from potential providers hard to evaluate. But, also some positive results, such as a clearer picture of what resources existed, was gained. The study suggests that, had there been, at the outset of the project, a clear understanding of (1) what the project was really about, (2) the project’s role in increasing control and decreasing costs, and (3) how the hosting was to be implemented, a lot of the difficulties could have been avoided.

Cet article décrit et discute un projet d’externalisation dans une grande entreprise publique qui a décidé d’externaliser ses systèmes d’information. Les étapes critiques du projet sont décrites et les éléments clefs sont identifiés. Premièrement, l’existence de plusieurs définitions du concept d’hébergement a rendu les objectifs du projet peu clairs. Cela a entraîné des problèmes d’engagement des acteurs et rendu le projet difficile à gérer. Des changements dans la planification du projet et des coûts supplémentaires en ont aussi résulté. Deuxièmement, notre analyse montre qu’une certaine ambiguïté a persisté dans les descriptions des services requis et proposés et les offres des fournisseurs potentielles étaient donc difficiles à évaluer et comparer. Notre étude suggère que la clarté la plus totale doit être recherchée dans la formulation des objectifs des projets d’externalisation et la description des services qui sont requis.

Keywords:

• Outsourcing
• Sourcing Project
• Outsourcing Decision
• Case Study

Mots clés:

• externalisation
• projets d’approvisionnement
• décision d’externalisation
• étude de cas