Outsourcing av IT innebär att överlåta aktiviteter relaterade till informationsteknologi till en eller flera externa parter och är idag ett utbrett fenomen. Skälen till att outsourca IT varierar och några exempel på vanligt förekommande skäl är att organisationen som outsourcar vill fokusera på sin kärnverksamhet, höja sin kvalitet, sänka riskerna med föråldrad teknologi eller kostnadseffektivisera sin IT genom att köpa kompetens och komponenter från en extern part. När en kund överlåter IT-relaterade aktiviteter till en leverantör ingår de båda parterna i en outsourcingrelation med varandra och båda har förväntningar på och målsättningar för outsourcingrelationen. Förväntningar och målsättningar styr hur kunden och leverantören agerar och spelar en viktig roll för styrkan i outsourcingrelationen. Framgång inom IT-outsourcing kan definieras som att kunden uppnår sina målsättningar med IT-outsourcingen och känner sig nöjd med outsourcingrelationen. En hög andel av de organisationer som outsourcar sin IT uppger sig dock inte vara nöjda. Den outsourcande organisationen uppnår inte sina målsättningar eller upplever outsourcingrelationen som problematiskt. Framgång eller misslyckande inom IT-outsourcing kan förklaras utifrån flera olika faktorer. Syftet med denna uppsats är att analysera IT-outsourcing från kundens och leverantörens perspektiv för att komma fram till vilka kritiska framgångsfaktorer som har påverkat outsourcingens framgång och misslyckande och på vilket sätt. Analysen bygger på en kvalitativ undersökning som har genomförts i form av en fallstudie av en outsourcingrelation mellan en kund och en leverantör, där personer från båda parterna har intervjuats. De kritiska framgångsfaktorer som analyseras är: Val av aktiviteter, Strategi, Val av leverantör, Undvikande av oförutsedda Kostnader, Personal, Avtal, Partnerskap, Styrning av leveransen och Uppföljning av leveransen. Dessa framgångsfaktorer analyseras mot bakgrund av de förväntningar och målsättningar som kunden och leverantören haft i outsourcingrelationen. Resultatet av fallstudien visar att Val av aktiviteter, Strategi, Undvikande av oförutsedda kostnader, Personal, Avtal, Partnerskap och Styrning i hög grad påverkade målsättningarna och Kundens nöjdhet med outsourcingrelationen. Eftersom studien har genomförts på en enda outsourcingrelation går det inte att generalisera slutsatserna till att gälla alla förhållanden, men de bidrar till en ökad förståelse kring interaktionen mellan parterna i outsourcingrelation där båda förhåller sig på sitt sätt till de framgångsfaktorer som nämns i litteraturen kring IT-outsourcing. Ytterligare en möjlig framgångsfaktor som inte nämndes i den genomgångna litteraturen framkom i intervjuerna: Intern styrning hos leverantören.

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IT outsourcing has been studied by many scholars throughout the world in much detail. The People’s Republic of China, as one of the leading IT outsourcing markets in the world, nonetheless, is still considered as a developing market. Not many IT outsourcing studies have set their focus on China. Although there are summary overviews, few studies have sought to answer why China should be studied or what should foreign companies be aware of before searching for any Chinese service providers. Through a literature review of conducted research, this study aims to provide an overview of the challenges of IT outsourcing to China by answering the following research question: How does extant research portray the fundamental challenges of outsourcing IT to China? In sum, this study concludes that there are three main challenges including guanxi/relationship, legal risks, workforce/professional skills in outsourcing IT to China, offering insights as to why and how foreign companies need to understand and face these challenges before outsourcing IT to China.

Good business relations can contribute to the success of IT-outsourcing, and create new business opportunities. Despite a sharply increasing trend to outsource IT-operations there is a high degree of failures related. The cause may be that some important factors have not been taken into account. The purpose is to investigate elationships within IT-outsourcing and test if specific factors identified by previous research are being concerned in IT-outsourcing relationships and also to investigate the view IT-outsourcing customers and suppliers have on business.  Research shows that business relationships are widespread throughout companies. It demonstrated that a small number of business relationships can have a major impact on a company's financial performance and may create stability. Business relationships can be divided into an arm's length relationships and strategic alliances depending on the degree of involvement. IT is now the most common activity companies choose to outsource and the objectives are mainly related to costs but IT-outsourcing projects can also create strategic opportunities. IToutsourcing consists mainly of three components, supplier, customer and project. For an IT-outsourcing relationship to be successful there is some factors that should be carefully treated. These may include communication, commitment, choice of supplier and cultural similarities. Implementation of the study consists of previous research which is compared with a total of five interviewed companies. All the respondents have been informed about the study's purpose and which role their organization will have. Earlier theoretical sources have been carefully considered and critically examined by contemporary standards, tend criticism, depending criticism and authenticity. The study shows that the perception that respondents have been of business relationships is that they think it has a major role in IT-outsourcing projects. They also have a good knowledge of the factors that previous research claims has a strong influence on IT-outsourcing projects. These factors are: equal cultures / values, the choice of supplier, trust, commitment, contract / SLA management, communication, reciprocity / joint targets and responsible individual’s role. An additional factor was identified: proactivity, innovation and development.

The concept of outsourcing is a hot topic even today. The area of IT has received more attention when compared to other areas of outsourcing. Many organizations started outsourcing IT functions to other countries to access international markets. There lie many risks that are overlooked by these organizations. These risks need to be properly assessed and managed. This research investigates the potential risks perceived to be most relevant in the process of IT outsourcing from the customers point of view and how organizations can eliminate these risks by providing measures to assess risks. Literature analysis is the methodology used for conducting this research as it is assumed to cover all aspects of risks that lie in global IT outsourcing process.

IT-services outsourcing from Sweden to India has increased in the last few years and it is often regarded as a strategic measure to handle the increasing costs of IT-related development and maintenance operations. There are a number of advantages of outsourcing however, there are many challenges that outsourcing initiatives face. One of the challenges mentioned by many researchers is the cultural differences between the Swedish culture and the Indian culture. At the same time there is not enough research done about these cultural differences in the context of IT-services outsourcing from Sweden to India. It creates difficulties for the partners involved in an IT services outsourcing initiative to achieve the desired results. In this work we have researched these problems by sending questionnaire to IT-outsourcing companies in Sweden. The questionnaire was prepared after a thorough literature review. The participants were asked if they are still facing the problems identified in the literature review and to also mention any other cultural problems faced by them. The questionnaires were analysed and the results obtained are presented in this work. The results show that the practitioners were still facing the problems. This thesis identifies the root causes, the negative effects and also suggests ways for handling the problems. This research will help the IT-services outsourcing practitioners to manage these problems for achieving better result.

Introduction Cloud Computing, that is providing computer resources as a service, is a technology revolution offering flexible IT usage in a cost efficient and pay-per-use way. As for the evaluation of companies to whether which technology solution to use, it would be necessary to decide whether or not the evaluation of cloud computing would actually differ to the traditional way of IT outsourcing. Problem Discussion Outsourcing IT capabilities are a crucial and inevitable step for enterprises that want to survive in the currently high competitive climate. Until now most of the researches, that has been done so far, only consider the XaaS model only from a traditional IT outsourcing point of view rather than in the cloud computing context. This research will now include the evaluation of cloud solutions giving companies another possibility to outsource their IT resources. Purpose The purpose is now to see how the evaluation of cloud computing possibilities as an outsourcing option actually differs to traditional IT outsourcing. One aspect that needs to be covered with this purpose, is whether it is possible to evaluate the source through a cloud computing solution with the same concepts and theories used to evaluate traditional IT outsourcing. It will also be the purpose to see, which aspects need to be added or removed when considering a cloud computing opportunity compared to the traditional IT outsourcing. Method With help of the theoretical framework, interviews have been launched with three companies to see what their general opinion and knowledge is on the evaluation of cloud computing and its maturity. Questions have been asked openly so that answers could not be directed or manipulated by the authors of the research. Conclusion After challenging the theoretical framework against the data collected, the traditional IT outsourcing theories appeared to be valid also for the evaluation of cloud computing solutions. Some important concepts are added to the evaluation of cloud computing solutions in consequence of particularities present in the model.

Kurs: Mälardalens Högskola, EIK024, Magisteruppsats i IT-ekonomi Författare: Anna Lycksén & Patrik Wallin, Västerås Titel: Hantering av riskfaktorer för små och medelstora företag vid IT Outsourcing Handledare: Therese Hansen Nyckelord: IT Outsourcing, SME, riskfaktor, hantering Problem: Outsourcing av affärsprocesser såsom IT har funnits länge, men fokus hartidigare varit på stora företag av ett antal olika anledningar. För det förstaville outsourcingleverantörerna vinna stora kontrakt för att uppnå stordriftsfördelarså att deras egna kostnader kunde hållas så låga som möjligt.För det andra lyckades inte de mindre outsourcingleverantörerna som försöktege sig in på marknaden för små och medelstora företag (SME) med atterbjuda tjänster som ansågs vara tillräckligt lockande för SME. Slutligen ansågde flesta SME att de inte hade något att tjäna på att outsourca. Tidernahar dock förändrats. IT outsourcing för SME blir allt mer vanligt, men trotsdetta forskas det relativt lite på området. Med tanke på ovanstående anseruppsatsförfattarna att området är såväl relevant som intressant att behandla. Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att utifrån IT outsourcings tre faser beskrivaoch analysera hanteringen av riskfaktorer för små och medelstora företag(SME) vid IT outsourcing, för att därigenom belysa vad SME börtänka på för att lyckas med IT outsourcing. Teori: Den teoretiska referensramen börjar med ett konceptuellt ramverk därkoncept som IT Outsourcing, SME, risk och riskfaktor fastställs. Vidare innehållerteoriavsnittet en sammanställning av de tre faser som ingår i IToutsourcing, där riskfaktorer och hanteringsåtgärder kopplas till respektivefas . Ledande referenser är Chou & Chou, Aubert, Palvia och Bahli & Rivard. Metod: Studien utgörs av besöksintervjuer och telefonintervjuer. Intervjuer hargjorts på företagen Arvid Nordquist, Företag X, Gärdin & Persson och Byggbeslag. Resultat: Resultatet av studien visar att det är viktigt för SME att förbereda noggrantoch sedan välja rätt leverantör vid IT outsourcing. Vidare indikerar ocksåstudiens resultat att det är av stor vikt för SME att värdesätta och behålla

IT outsourcing is a hot topic in today’s demanding environment. Many organizations start to outsource information technology in order to achieve benefits such as cost reduction, improve quality of service, and focus on the core competence. However, IT outsourcing projects are not an easy task to manage and many projects fail even though there exists a lot of research within the area. In order to increase the possibility to achieve project success, today’s literature indicates that trust is an important factor to achieve. This thesis aim is to identify and describe the process of how to achieve trust in IT outsourcing relationships. The methodology is a literature study as its purpose is to cover the aspects of trust and how the literature proposes how to achieve trust in IT outsourcing relationships. Relevant literature has been identified, analyzed, and categorized in order to define the thesis concepts and to create a framework based on critical success factors of how to achieve trust in IT outsourcing relationships. The framework can be used as a guiding principle of how organizations can achieve trust in IT outsourcing relationships to increases the possibility to achieve project success. The framework can also raise the awareness that makes it possible to deal with different IT outsourcing situations.