Towards an Application Life-Cycle Approach for Selective Outsourcing

Selective outsourcing has been proven to be more likely to succeed in archiving efficiency targets. For application services outsourcing (ASO), selecting applications to outsource is critical for successful outsourcing. Thus, the implementation of application portfolio management (APM) is essential, in order to provide the necessary transparency throughout the entire life-cycle of an application. APM enables the classification of applications which guides the outsourcing decision. Furthermore, the application life-cycle perspective allows a differentiated and comprehensive view, which is required for selecting applications for ASO. In combination with common selection criteria identified by prior research, we studied the decision to in- or outsource an application. We evaluated outsourcing decisions in a comparative cross-case study with 37 German and Swiss companies. Our research revealed that the life-cycle perspective allows a differentiated view on outsourcing decisions.