A Knowledge Based Decision Making Tool to Support Cloud Migration Decision Making

way that IT services are delivered within enterprises. Cloud computing promises to reduce the cost of computing services, provide on-demand computing resources and a pay per use model. However, there are numerous challenges for enterprises planning to migrate to a cloud computing environment as cloud computing impacts multiple aspects of enterprises and the implications of migration to the cloud vary between enterprises. This paper discusses the development of an holistic model to support strategic decision making for cloud computing migration. The proposed model uses a hybrid approach to support decision making, combining the analytical hierarchical approach (AHP) with Case Based Reasoning (CBR) to provide a knowledge based decision support model and takes into account five factors identified from the secondary research as covering all aspects of cloud migration decision making. The paper discusses the different phases of the model and describes the next stage of the research which will include the development of a prototype tool and use of the tool to evaluate the model in a real life contex

The Optimization of Information Systems Outsourcing Strategies: A Constraint-Based Evolutionary Approach

Information systems (IS) outsourcing is an important issue of IS practices in organizations. To achieve better IS outsourcing performance, it is critical for organizations to develop appropriate outsourcing strategies. A prediction model is useful to forecast the possibility of a failure or to point out unforeseen problems. Based on a prediction model of IS outsourcing success, this study applied an constraint-based evolutionary approach for backward tracking the optimal values of organizational IS attributes that best approximate the target success level of IS outsourcing. One hundred forty-six real IS outsourcing cases, each with 22 features and 8 outcome features, are collected. The proposed system demonstrated that valuable suggestions can be made regarding the increase or decrease levels of adjustable IS attributes for organizations outsourcing their IS functions

Carrying out contract successfully ends up with an IT Outsourcing failure:Relationship Management Cases of IT Outsourcing in a Cross-Cultural Context

IT outsourcing is a serious option available to modern managers today. An emerging trend is the focus on relationship management. In a global economy cross-cultural differences may add to the complexity of fostering a relationship. This study examines cross-cultural relationship management in IT outsourcing. Due to the exploratory nature of this study, the researcher investigates two IT outsourcing cases within one Chinese organization. One vendor has a western cultural background and the other a Chinese cultural background. The result shows that cultural differences influence the fostering of a relationship. Some practical implications could be generated to manage offshore IT outsourcing

Análise de riscos do outsourcing de sistemas de informação

Dissertação de mestrado em Serviços de InformaçãoAs organizações para obterem resultados positivos necessitam de estratégias bem definidas relativamente à gestão das tecnologias de informação, visto que diariamente enfrentam inúmeros desafios. O outsourcing de sistemas de informação apresenta-se como uma opção estratégica a ter em conta pelas organizações no exercício da gestão das tecnologias de informação. O outsourcing de sistemas de informação consiste na contratação de entidades externas para prestar serviços no âmbito das tecnologias de informação. Um projeto de outsourcing necessita de ser gerido desde o momento da sua conceção até à sua conclusão. Nessa gestão, uma das preocupações fulcrais consiste na identificação dos riscos e na sua mensuração para que os mesmos possam ser analisados antes do início do projeto e durante a sua vigência. Para além dos benefícios que o outsourcing de sistemas de informação pode trazer, também se podem incorrer em riscos que não são considerados no imediato no âmbito de parcerias estabelecidas entre o cliente do outsourcing e o prestador dos serviços. Assim, este trabalho teve como objetivo identificar e caracterizar os riscos existentes num projeto de outsourcing de sistemas de informação, com vista a potenciar o sucesso dessa parceria. Para o efeito, foi elaborado um estudo de campo onde os dados da investigação foram obtidos através da realização de entrevistas a vários profissionais de sistemas de informação/tecnologias de informação.Organizations to achieve positive outcomes require clear strategies for the management of information technologies, since they face many challenges every day. The outsourcing of information systems is, nowadays, a strategic choice for the organizations to take into account as they embrace the management of information technologies. The outsourcing of information systems is based on hiring outside agencies to provide services in information technology. An outsourcing project must be handled from the moment of conception until is conclusion. One of the key concerns of the outsourcing management is to identify and assess risks and be able to review them prior to the start data of the project and throughout its life. In addition to the benefits that the outsourcing of information systems can bring, some risks can be taken without being immediately considered by the partnerships established between the outsourcing customer and the service provider. Therefore, this work aimed to identify and characterize the risks involved in an outsourcing project, in order to enhance the success of the partnership. Thus, a field study was developed and the research data were collected through interviews conducted with several professionals in information systems/information technology

An investigation of decision support knowledge production, transfer and adoption for it outsourcing

Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO) is a widely-adopted strategy for IT governance. ITO decisions are very complicated and challenging for many organisations. During the past three decades of ITO research, numerous decision support artefacts (e.g. frameworks, models, tools) to support organisational ITO decisions have been described in academic publications. However, the scope, rigour, relevance and adoption of this research by industry practitioners had not been assessed. This study investigates the production, transfer and adoption of academic research-generated knowledge for ITO decision support through multiple perspectives of ITO researchers and practitioners (e.g. IT managers, IT consultants) to provide insights into the research problem. A mixed-methods research approach underpinned by the critical realism paradigm is employed in this study. The study comprised three phases. In Phase A, the scope of extant research for supporting ITO decisions is identified through a systematic literature review and critical assessment of the rigour and relevance of this body of research is conducted using a highly regarded research framework. One hundred and thirty three articles on IT outsourcing (including cloud sourcing) were identified as ITO decision support academic literature. These articles suggested a range of Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM), optimisation and simulation methods to support different IT outsourcing decisions. The assessment of these articles raised concerns about the limited use of reference design theories, validation and naturalistic evaluation in ITO decision support academic literature. Recommendations to enhance the rigour and relevance of ITO decision support research are made in this thesis. Phase B involved interviewing and surveying academic researchers who published academic literature on ITO decision support artefacts. This phase reports researchers’ reflections on their ITO research experience and knowledge transfer activities undertaken by them. The findings indicate researchers’ motivations, knowledge transfer mechanisms, and communication/ interaction channels with industry may explain effective knowledge transfer. Impact-minded researchers were significantly more effective than publication-minded researchers in knowledge transfer. In Phase C, interviews and a survey of practitioners engaged in IT outsourcing shed light on use of academic-generated knowledge. Academic research was the least used source of decision-making knowledge among ITO practitioners. Practitioners preferred to seek advice from their peers, IT vendors and consultants to inform their ITO decision making. Two communities of users and non-users of academic research were identified in our sample of ITO practitioners, with non-users forming the majority. Six factors that may influence the use of academic research by practitioners were identified. Non-users of academic research held perceptions that academic research was not timely, required too much time to read, was far from the real world and that it was not a commonly-used knowledge source for practitioners. Also, non-users of academic research read academic research less frequently and did not perceive themselves as an audience for academic research. This study engaged two fields of research: ITO decision support and academic knowledge transfer/utilisation (including research-practice gap). ITO decision support research provide the specific context for a critical assessment of academic knowledge production, transfer and adoption. For ITO DSS, this study identified the scope, rigour and relevance of the field, and improvement opportunities. This study confirms that a research-practice gap exists in the ITO decision support field as previously suggested by some scholars. Also, this study made a significant contribution to the highly complex and contested field of research utilisation and the research-practice gap. The relationship between research and practice in terms of knowledge production, transfer and utilisation is modelled using social system theory. Multiple theories are applied through a retroductive (abductive) analysis to shed light on the root causes of the research-practice gap. This study suggests that the lack of adequate appreciation of research relevance in academic reward schemes and the academic publishing structure are the main root causes of the research-practice gap in the knowledge production side. Moreover, various institutional mechanisms exist in knowledge transfer and adoption domains that influence the knowledge adoption channels of practitioners. As a result, academic research does not become a priority source of ITO decision support knowledge for practitioners. This study suggests that to overcome the barriers to academic research adoption by practitioners, the effective structural coupling mechanism between the system of science (knowledge production domain) and organisation systems (knowledge consumption domain) needs to be identified and activated

Safety Hazard and Risk Identification and Management In Infrastructure Management

Infrastructure such as transportation networks improves the condition of everyday lives by facilitating public services and systems necessary for economic activity and growth. However, constructing and maintaining transportation infrastructure poses safety hazards and risks to those working at the sharp end, leading to serious injuries and fatalities. Therefore, the identification of hazards and managing the risks they create is integral towards continually improving safety levels in Infrastructure Management. This work seeks to fully understand this problem and highlight past, present and future issues concerning safety in a comprehensive literature review. A decision support tool is proposed to improve the safety of transportation workers by facilitating hazard identification and management of associated control measures. This Tool facilitates the extraction of safety knowledge from real paper-based safety documents, capturing existing worker’s knowledge and experiences from industrial ‘corporate memory’. The Tool suggests the most appropriate control measures for new scenarios based on existing knowledge from previous work tasks. This is achieved by classifying work tasks using a new method based on unilateral UK legislation (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences (1995) Regulations) and the innovative use of Artificial Intelligence method Case Based Reasoning. Case Based Reasoning (CBR) allows transparency in the Tool processes and has many benefits over other safety tools which may suffer from ‘black box’ stigmatism. The Tool is populated with knowledge extracted from a real transportation project and is hosted via the internet (www.Total-Safety.com). The end product of the Tool is the generation of bespoke method statements detailing appropriate control measures. These generated paper documents are shown to have financial and quality control benefits over traditional method statements. The Tool has undergone testing and analysis and is shown to be robust. Finally, the overall conclusions and opportunities for further research are presented and progress of the work against each of the five research objectives is assessed

Managing IT outsourcing relationships to enhance outcomes: cases in a cross-cultural context

Information Technology (IT) outsourcing is a serious option available to modern managers. An emerging trend is the focus on relationship management in IT outsourcing, imploring organisations to look past tactical objectives and concentrate on strategic outcomes. In a global economy business sponsors are connecting with overseas vendors in IT outsourcing in an attempt to accelerate realisation of benefits. This complicates outsourcing arrangements, because cross-cultural differences may add to the complexity of fostering relationships. This study examines how to manage IT outsourcing relationships in a cross-cultural context to enhance IT outsourcing success. Due to the exploratory nature of this study, interpretivist case studies were adopted. The researcher investigated three IT outsourcing cases within one Chinese organisation. One case has a vendor with a western cultural background and the other two with a Chinese cultural background. The main data were collected through interviews with key managers in the case organisation, complemented by secondary data (such as published reports, internal documents). Some additional data concerning the cross-cultural differences were also collected from the two Chinese vendors and another western vendor who provided corporate strategy consulting services to the case organisation. Analysis of data showed that a good contract implementation, the established trust and the acknowledgement of vendor's high value were recognised as the three distinguishing characteristics of a satisfactory IT outsourcing relationship. In managing relationships the outsourcing company emphasised not only contract implementation but even more importantly communication with vendors, recognition of mutual interests, establishment of social/personal bonds, and appropriate allocation of project resources. It was shown that the relationship management practices influenced the dynamics of a relationship as well as the outcome of an IT outsourcing project. Furthermore, the relationship management in IT outsourcing was found to be culture-sensitive. By demonstrating that companies with different cultural background held different perceptions of relationship management practices and had different understandings of the nature and dynamics of the relationships, this study contributes to the understanding of relationship management in IT outsourcing, especially when cultural differences among the parties are involved. These findings also have practical implications for IT outsourcing involving global and partner-based alliances

A Knowledge Management Based Cloud Computing Adoption Decision Making Framework

Cloud computing represents a paradigm shift in the way that IT services are delivered within enterprises. There are numerous challenges for enterprises planning to migrate to cloud computing environment as cloud computing impacts multiple different aspects of an organisation and cloud computing adoption issues vary between organisations. A literature review identified that a number of models and frameworks have been developed to support cloud adoption. However, existing models and frameworks have been devised for technologically developed environments and there has been very little examination to determine whether the factors that affect cloud adoption in technologically developing countries are different. The primary research carried out for this thesis included an investigation of the factors that influence cloud adoption in Saudi Arabia, which is regarded as a technologically developing country. This thesis presents an holistic Knowledge Management Based Cloud Adoption Decision Making Framework which has been developed to support decision makers at all stages of the cloud adoption decision making process. The theoretical underpinnings for the research come from Knowledge Management, including the literature on decision making, organisational learning and technology adoption and technology diffusion theories. The framework includes supporting models and tools, combining the Analytical Hierarchical Process and Case Based Reasoning to support decision making at Strategic and Tactical levels and the Pugh Decision Matrix at the Operational level. The Framework was developed based on secondary and primary research and was validated with expert users. The Framework is customisable, allowing decision makers to set their own weightings and add or remove decision making criteria. The results of validation show that the framework enhances Cloud Adoption decision making and provides support for decision makers at all levels of the decision making process