The delivery of IS services is very resource consuming in all organizations. In an era in which
management optimization is one of the bases for competitive advantage, sourcing options must be
judged carefully. Traditionally, the dilemma has been considered in terms of make (insourcing) or buy
(outsourcing). But both of these options have shown a certain amount of problems. Although
outsourcing has allowed firms to concentrate on their core competencies, it has also shown several
issues that prove it is not a panacea. Insourcing, on the other hand, does not allow a great deal of
flexibility and we also find that it is every time more frequent that firms do not want their amount of
staff to grow. Between both options, the internal mechanism has arisen. Its use entitles the creation of
an intermediate society between the organization and the market. This article shows two cases of
organizations from different environments in which the sourcing process involved the creation of an
intermediate organization to act as the described buffering mechanism. Both processes were related to
the IS/ICT function, one in Spain and another one in Italy. The study of the two cases has helped us
identify and confirm empirically a number of features achieved by this internal mechanism use