A Capability Framework for IT Service Integration and Management in Multi-Sourcing

Multi-sourcing, the blending of services from multiple external and internal providers, has gradually become the standard mode of operation in IT outsourcing. It allows companies to assemble a best-of-breed provider portfolio and to reduce costs. A key difference between single- and multi-sourcing is the potential interdependence between services delivered by multiple providers. To deliver a seamless service to the client’s business units, various services often need to be integrated and managed as an end-to-end service. This activity is denoted as service integration and management. Many clients, however, are having difficulties implementing and performing this important task. Therefore, we explore which IT capabilities organizations need to build for performing service integration and management. \ \ After deriving challenges from literature, we perform a multi-stage qualitative study based on a series of focus group sessions and expert interviews. In a qualitative content analysis, we develop a framework of IT capabilities which enable successful service integration and management by addressing the key challenges. We, thus, aim to contribute to more effective multi-sourcing solutions in practice and to lay the groundwork for future research in this important field

Towards Multi-Sourcing Maturity: A Service Integration Capability Model

When outsourcing IT services, many enterprises today resort to multi-sourcing. It allows them to reduce costs and assemble a best-of-breed service portfolio. However, this usually also increases complexity. Despite the economic importance of multi-sourcing, though, there is no systematic understanding of the capabilities required to successfully integrate interdependent services and to manage multi-sourcing. This paper develops a capability model for service integration in a grounded coding approach based on literature and expert interviews. The model identifies six key capabilities and 18 sub-capabilities. We evaluate its applicability and validity via an empirical survey and two in-depth case studies. In addition, provide various insights into the implementation of service integration functions. Our contribution should provide orientation for companies how to direct their transformation efforts. It outlines an agenda for future research and builds a solid foundation for maturity models to improve multi-sourcing readiness – ultimately leading to more effective multi-sourcing solutions

Cost-Optimal Service Selection Based on Incident Patterns - A Service Level Engineering Approach

The assessment of services\u27 adverse business impact is a prerequisite for the determination of cost-optimal service offers. We suggest service incident patterns as an advanced form of quality measures describing a service\u27s characteristic incident behavior. We show that the knowledge about service incident patterns and the business impact induced by service incidents is required to determine the total business costs a service induces and develop the method for Cost-Optimal Service Selection