Facilitating the Performance of IT Evaluation in Business Groups: Towards a Maturity Model

Leading market analysts such as Gartner, Forrester Research and IDC expect again for 2012 an increase of global in-formation technology (IT) spending between 3.7% and 6.9% compared to 2011. This trend emphasises the fact that ensuring the effectiveness and efficiency of IT or IT evaluation is a substantial task of strategic IT management. Weighing costs and benefits is already a real challenge for IT executives nowadays and is getting even more complex in the environment of business groups. Business groups are a collective of legally independent companies which are owned and partially managed by a core entity or management holding. The purpose of this paper is to develop a maturity model for IT evaluation on the group level as a management instrument to analyse and evaluate the current setup as well as to identify possible areas for improvement. The maturity model development is based on design science research and evaluated with experts residing on the management level from particular business groups

Managing costs and performance of IT in business groups: Towards a performance measurement model for global insurance business groups

According to chief operating officers (COOs) and chief information officers (CIOs) of leading insurance business groups, the utilization of economies of scope and scale are essential key success factors for achieving strategic cost and performance advantages. In the area of information technology, achieving these advantages requires appropriate IT governance mecha-nisms like IT performance measurement. Most recent IT performance measurement systems show a very specific scope and are not capable of providing a holistic evaluation of IT performance. Furthermore, their utilization within special organization forms like business groups is mostly not intended or considered. In this paper we will develop a strategic IT performance measurement model for insurance business groups. The development is based on a design science research approach with the support of a multiple case study and various expert interviews

Global IT Multisourcing: Objectives, Challenges And Requirements In Multinational Insurance Companies

In recent times, information technology (IT) multisourcing has emerged as a key strategy in the field of IT outsourcing. Most of the current scholarlyand practitioner-related literature acknowledges the importance of multisourcing, but linear extensions of the dyadic client-vendor relationship are insufficient to capture its nuances. Multinational financial services providers (such as banks and insurance companies) have been pioneers in the fieldof IT outsourcing. However, there is a lack of experience-based research about the implementation of global IT multisourcing. In this article we present findings from a cross-case study investigating the implementation of global IT multisourcing in four leading insurance companies. First, the article presents the objectives of the insurers in pursuing global IT multisourcing. Second, the researchreveals challenges the companies are facing in implementing global IT multisourcing. Finally, requirements for implementing IT multisourcing are derived. The insights of these real-life examples extend existing literature on IT outsourcing and provide helpful orientation for organizations that are implementing global IT multisourcing

Information Systems in the Industrial Service Business: Analyzing Unaddressed Requirements in a Multiple Case Study

The manufacturing industry is subject to structural economic change reflected in the constantly rising fraction of industrial services. Being confronted with the strategic challenge to reduce operating costs while at the same time meeting ever-increasing industrial service demands, manufacturing firms struggle to find the appropriate information technology (IT) solution for planning and execution. Despite the existence of a parsimonious set of standardization efforts addressing product-related services, manufacturing firms have not reached a common understanding of the product-service system and the corresponding business processes and IT systems. This paper addresses this need by exploring key requirements for information systems (IS) support of product-service systems based on a multiple case study approach. For a critical reflection we confronted those requirements with scientific and managerial frameworks which are derived from a structured literature review. We contribute to the theoretical body of knowledge by outlining six highly relevant requirements for the under-researched field of back stage service systems. Based on the explored requirements, managerial practitioners are able to draw a preliminary roadmap that prioritizes their investments according to firm specific needs

Deriving a Research Agenda for the Management of Multisourcing Relationships Based on a Literature Review

There has been considerable development in Information Technology (IT) outsourcing during the last two decades. Nowadays, practitioner-related as well as scholarly literature have identified multisourcing as an emerging key strategy. Multisourcing is described as the blending of services from multiple internal and external vendors. Especially in the case of multisourcing the management of relationships is complex. For a certain field of research it is important to have an overview of the existing literature and a common understanding of basic terms. In this article we identify and analyze the body of knowledge in the area of managing multisourcing relationships. We hence conduct a structured literature review based upon an established literature review framework. It can be observed that the current literature lacks depth in terms of management of multisourcing relationships and that only a few articles cover the aspects of multisourcing in detail. Particularly regarding performance management, governance and knowledge management of multisourcing relationships we propose further research. We subsequently deduce a detailed research agenda for future research options

Towards a Better Understanding of IT Cost Drivers of Asset Management Companies

Effectiveness and even more efficiency are substantial indicators of information technology (IT) performance management. Evaluation of an organisation’s IT performance relies heavily on benchmarking with other organisations. The comparability of IT key performance indicators (KPIs) is critical for resilient benchmarking results. KPI suggestions of established frameworks remain very generic. They are incapable of taking individual characteristics of different business models into account and impede, therefore, a sophisticated benchmarking. Such an occurrence can be observed frequently, especially in the environment of business groups. In the case of one leading international financial service business group, we analysed this problem and applied action research to identify IT cost drivers and develop specific KPIs for the group IT performance management. This article provides insights into a real-life example of evaluating IT performance and suggests a set of KPIs for IT cost efficiency benchmarking among asset management firms within a business group considering the firm’s different business models

MANAGEMENT OF IT COSTS AND PERFORMANCE IN BUSINESS GROUPS: ANALYSIS OF UNADDRESSED REQUIREMENTS

Abstract Information technology (IT

Comparing IT Supplier Selection Criteria in Single- Versus Multi-Sourcing Constellations: An Empirical Study

Although information technology (IT) outsourcing is widely applied by companies and has been intensively researched, there has been little scientific research on the differences in single- versus multi-sourcing constellations. Furthermore, linear extension of single-sourcing to multi-sourcing is limited, despite the fact that companies utilize multi-sourcing more frequently in recent times. This empirical research aims to increase the understanding of differences in single- versus multi-sourcing constellations based on the relevance of IT supplier selection criteria for application development and maintenance as well as infrastructure services. Based on a literature review, an empirical survey of sourcing professionals was conducted. Combined inferential and descriptive statistical analysis indicates a significant difference of the relevance of various IT supplier selection criteria in single- versus multi-sourcing constellations. The study reveals that criteria related to supplier-risk are more relevant in single-sourcing, while criteria related to price are dominant in multi-sourcing constellations

Fostering Efficiency in Information Systems Support for Product-Service Systems in the Manufacturing Industry

The ongoing shift towards stronger service orientation is leading to a rising number of industrial services offered in the manufacturing industry. In the attempt to fulfill ever-increasing service demands while at the same time reducing operating costs, manufacturing firms search for appropriate information technology (IT) solution for planning and execution. The industry has not yet reached a common understanding of product-service systems and the corresponding processes and IT systems. In order to holistically support such broad design and transformation tasks, we develop a maturity model capturing the key requirements for the information systems (IS) support of product-service systems based on a multiple case study. For a critical reflection on the extant literature, we compared those requirements with scientifically recognized maturity models and standard specifications. Being an integral part of the design science research approach, the model evaluation is organized in accordance with approved evaluation perspectives

Entwicklung eines Reifegradmodells zur Steuerung einer Multisourcing-Initiative auf Konzern-Ebene

Zahlreiche multinationale Konzerne verfolgen heute Multisourcing-Strategien. Als Multisourcing bezeichnet man den koordinierten Bezug von Dienstleistungen von verschiedenen internen und externen Lieferanten. Im Falle eines weltweit führenden Finanzdienstleisters hat sich speziell die Implementierung des Multisourcing-Konzepts im Rahmen einer föderalen IT-Organisationsstruktur mit zahlreichen eigen-ständigen Geschäftseinheiten als besondere Herausforderung herausgestellt. Mit Hilfe von Aktionsforschung konnte ein Reifegradmodell entwickelt werden, dass zum Ziel hat, die Implementierung der Multisourcing-Initiative zu unterstützen, kontinuierlich den Fortschritt des Implementierungsgrades zu messen und konzernweit Transparenz zu schaffen. Als Basis dienen Konzepte etablierter Reifegradmodelle, die den Anforderungen des Multisourcing angepasst werden. Darüber hinaus werden Multisourcing-spezifische Best-Practice-Ansätze adaptiert und integriert. Mit diesem Research-in-Progress Artikel geben die Autoren einen praxisnahen Einblick in die Entwicklung einer Multisourcing-Initiative und liefern ein Governance-Instrument zur Sicherstellung der Implementierung eines Multisourcing-Konzepts in Organisationen, die durch eine föderale Struktur gekennzeichnet sind