Delivery of IT services: a case study of outsourcing at alpha corporation

The practice of outsourcing IT in Australia has only recently become commonplace. One large corporation, Alpha, was an early mover in outsourcing beginning in 1997 and is the subject of this study. Previous research proposes reasons for outsourcing and numerous factors which contribute to outsourcing success. This paper explores the reasons and the extent to which these identified factors for outsourcing success were important in this case and highlights a number of factors not identified in the literature but crucial to Alpha. Among the factors not identified were: consideration of the capabilities of the outsourcing vendor, type of partner arrangement, and the changing business environment. It has taken Alpha almost 10 years to reach a point where their outsourcing strategy could now be considered entirely successful. This paper reflects on the lessons learnt by Alpha over that time.