Outsourcing of ICT: An Empirical Study in Swiss SMEs

Results from a longitudinal study on the importance and use of information and communication technology in Swiss small and medium-sized companies provide the basis of this paper. In an empirical survey, 901 questionnaires were collected and analysed. The results were weighted according to company size and industry sector and are representative for Switzerland. The data was used to run an extensive cluster analysis. Based on the identified clusters, several bivariat analyses were performed in order to identify the typical outsourcing behaviour of the clusters. The clusters were tested against four different statements regarding (1) experiences with outsourcing, (2) degree of outsourcing (buy or rent), (3) IT know-how, and (4) influencers for outsourcing. The results have a high statistical validity and allowed us to draw conclusions about the typical behaviour of cluster members.