Measuring the risks of outsourcing: Experiences from industry

Abstract

In this paper we present the findings of 50 cases regarding the application of the Rightshore Assessment Study (RAS), a tool and approach for determining the sourcing scenario based on the measurement of the risks of outsourcing. RAS is aimed at assessing both the organizational capability and the complexity of the IT domain, yielding the potential qualitative and quantitative benefits and risks for outsourcing information systems portfolios or part thereof. After a description of RAS, we present an overview of the findings of the studies of the past few years. These studies have been conducted at 10 different organizations in various industry sectors. We have related aspects such as process maturity, people, knowledge management, IT platforms and support to the benefits and risks of outsourcing. In this paper, we compare these findings, analyze them and draw conclusions on both the outsourcing risk factors and ways how to improve them. We conclude with a chapter with an analysis of the approach and ideas for further research. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.