An Analytical Managerial Analysis of In-Outsourcing in the IT Industry - Research Proposal Example

and Section # of INTRODUCTION: Information technology has changed the face of business. It has altered the dynamics of the business environment; with each passing day, the time frames for transactions are decreasing. It is true sense; the IT industry has brought such rapid changes in the world. Comparison between the world present today with the world that existed about 30 years, show the magnitude of changes. The IT industry itself is going through rapid changes every day. Terminology is being superseded on almost a daily basis; with its importance increasing with the same speed. On the basis of its enormous importance, it was important to choose the Information technology industry as the basis of this research project; it will serve as a dynamic topic of discussion that will have immense importance in the future. Also, information technology is my field of career; working on information technology will benefit my employer as well. It will help me increase my knowledge on a subject that I have immense interest in. In order to work on analytical managerial review of an organization in IT industry, I have chosen my organization as the subject. The research on information technology will not only help me enhance my capabilities in this area, but will also greatly help my organization. With the advent of numerous outsourcing options; the question today is not about to outsource or not to outsource. The new dilemma is to introduce the right kind of IT System at the right time with the right price point. The right decision at the right time about the right system is the key. Therefore, the tile of this research proposal is In or Out? – using the words from in sourcing or out sourcing; which management strategy works better for organization. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT: As the head of ICT services, the project is extremely close to my interest, my line of career and will greatly benefit my organization and the field of IT as a whole. As mentioned above, it is not about outsourcing, it is about the time and price at which outsourcing decisions should be taken. As the environment is changing with each passing day, so is the development of the field of IT and its relative importance to the business technology. This changing environment can be greatly noticed in the information technology industry. In the current global financial environment, organizations are required to produce immaculate synergy; producing more than ever from the limited resources put in the system. The geographical location is more of a limitation that is mitigated by operations all across the world. Also, the information technology is one of those services that can move from one place to another without much expenditure. It is established that information technology is one of the biggest movable capital investments that a company can make. On the other hand, it is also one of the first areas that are targeted for streamlining through consolidation and outsourcing. The basic competitive advantage can be established through the proper channel and technology utilization, in any organization. As the field of information is big, only certain areas/subsets of information technology will be investigated for this project. This will be done to ensure that a realistic outcome is achieved. The basic areas which will be covered in this project will be: 1. E-mail provisioning. 2. Website hosting 3. Work processing applications 4. Telephony 5. Data centre provisioning 6. First/second client support FOCUS OF THE PROJECT: The basic focus of the project has also been outlined, to streamline the data collection, the processing of the data to eventually land on a realistic outcome. The primary focus of the project will be a comparison between alternatives of in-sourcing and out-sourcing, performing a cost benefit analysis. Some other areas which will also be touched upon in the report are, The impact on the client of response times that they can face in order to get a problem resolved. Development of an efficient structure for day-to-day management of the concerned staff and/or outsourcing bodies. How the importance of the solution being investigated will affect the reasoning behind in/outsourcing. The possible integration method and extent of integration whether in-sourcing or out-sourcing is done. The level of disaster recovery provided by the supplier. IDENTIFICATION OF TARGET MARKET: The target market for this research report and the outcomes will be the organization that I am working for as well as other organizations who believe in the importance of IT in the success of their organization. The idea that IT can be used to develop and enhance the business capabilities will help organizations that develop software designs and web based designs, custom made and tailored according to the specific needs of the customer organizations (Brenda, 2003). The solutions that such organizations provide are phenomenal in providing assistance to their customers in their business operations. The understanding the importance of the strategic importance and the impact of sourcing decisions made by the management on the development of the business will help firms in evaluating their options in the right manner. At the end of the report, possibly, a matrix will be provided that will help organizations outline the variables that are at play for their organization and the subsequent strategies that they need to reach a certain point in the organizational life cycle. The scenario based research conclusion will help the organizations providing information technology solutions as well as their customers by making them ask question about the position of their organization at the time of decision, so that they are able to better determine which option is better, in-sourcing or out-sourcing. ANALYSIS OF OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS: This research project will open new domains for analysis for organizations that do not understand the importance of the right information technological tool or the importance of the right decision in such a dynamic organization. Therefore, such a review will open new domains of analysis. On the other hand, the biggest threat is the evolving nature of the IT industry. Since the ever-evolving industry is the topic for this research, the industry dynamics may take an unexpected turn, making the findings of this research not up to the par. ROLE AS A RESEARCHER: Being an active part of the industry, the knowledge that has already been attained can serve as a huge asset for the research project. Working in the field of Information technology has helped in achieving immaculate experience, knowledge that can only come with experience and understanding of the basic system. My role as a researcher will be that of an analyst, where the premise of IT will be analyzed on the basis of the data gathered throughout the course of this project. While integrating my work as an employee and contributing towards this research project, with the help of my knowledge, I think it should be able to refine the end product. The research result is bound to be enriched by the work based learning and knowledge that has been achieved throughout the course of my career (David, 2001). There has already been proven connection between investments in work-based learning and bottom line returns for organizations. Therefore, engaging in such projects, investing time and effort in such an endeavour is bound to serve the objectives of both the organization as well as myself (Joseph, 2008). MAIN RESEARCH QUESTIONS: The research questions will focus on certain areas of the overall information technology field. The reason for this is that the broad spectrum that information technology covers cannot be covered by one single research. In order to focus on producing realistic suggestions and outcomes out of this research project, it is important that certain key areas such as communication and efficiency of the system are covered. Broadly speaking, some of the research questions could be related to the following broad spectrums: The response generated in a customer due to different response times that he/she faces while a problem is being addressed. The management of the day to day operations and its impact on the morale, efficiency of the relevant staff. If the solution is affecting the reasoning for in-sourcing or out-sourcing. How important is disaster recovery of information and data provided by the supplier, to the customer. RATIONALE FOR THE CHOSEN RESEARCH APPROACH: The biggest rationale for choosing the work-based learning approach for the conduction of this research project is the success rate for such research had been positive. Research into the subject of work-based learning has provided a positive sign for management, helping in increase the bottom line profit for many organizations. Work based learning engages the employee into working on a specific problem, dimension of the business cycle or the environment so that they produce solutions to those problems, or suggest improvements to the relevant business models. As the researcher has immense knowledge being related to the business itself, it enriches the overall research project with exclusive knowledge and understanding that would not have been possible if the same research was conducted by an independent research agency (Solomon, 2001). Also, the business of information systems is critical to understanding and knowledge of the industry. In order to fully understand the system and its critical points, it is important that someone from the industry only, conducts such research. IDENTIFICATION AND RATIONALE FOR DATA COLLECTION TECHNIQUES: Data collection for the research project will be done from the organization as well as other participating organizations. This will be done to ensure objectivity and include other organizational variables into the project as well. Primary as well as secondary data will be used to compare and contrast the different techniques that are being used in reality and their impact on customer satisfaction (Donald, 2009). Survey based questionnaires will be submitted to organizations which will qualify for the research. Possibly, the research questions will be a mixture of both open-ended and closed-ended questions to increase objectivity. Participants will be given responses to answers to increase comparability between two answers by two different participants to the same question (Donald, 2009). This data will then be used to compile statistics in such a manner that it determines a baseline for the acceptable level of support that may be required by a cross section of surveyed organizations and the perceived importance of the solution under investigation. These statistics will then be utilized to draw up another elaborate list of questions for a feasibility study, which will then be submitted to the out-sourcing companies. The data that will be gathered through this elaborate and thorough research project will be converted into variables working together in a matrix. They will be comparing business importance, cost savings, business benefit and manageability of in-sourcing and out-sourcing options (William, 2006). FEASIBILITY OF THE PROJECT: In order to manage the project in the provided time frame with the limited resources that are available to the researcher, it is important that an action planned time line be established. Assistants will be employed for this project, utilizing the project management skills of the assistant as well as the researcher to make sure the deadlines are met, the proper interpretation is done and the research remain beneficial for the organization at the end of the day. Data from other larger organizations will be required, which may be hard to obtain as there are not many contacts available to the researcher. Organizations are not comfortable in sharing much information with competitor organizations. This is an issue that may be faced by the researcher. WORK CONSTRAINTS AND ETHICAL ISSUES: Ethical standards are needed to be maintained at all times and stages of the research to maintain credibility of the results of the research. Therefore, a proper system of checks and balances will have to be established in order to protect the data collection and interpretation. The analysis and interpretation is subjected to the analysts’ unwanted biasness. Analysis of a certain object or variable may be influenced by the researcher. In order to save the research from such a bias, while interpreting the data, there will have to be counteracting measures installed through the process so that the least amount of personal prejudice or liking of the author is reflected in the interpretation and analysis. PROJECT REPORT: The result of the research will be to provide the target audience with a reflective report on the learning process of an organization and its importance for an organization today. This reflective report will focus more on what can be learned and installed in a particular organization, in relation to the other organization. The result of this research will also be presented in a form of a research paper. This research paper will include the findings of the research, coupled by matrix solutions for organizations that are looking for answers related to implementation it IT systems and their sourcing needs. STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF THE RESEARCH: There are a number of strengths and weaknesses of the project underlined. It is a project that will be covering a core set of IT systems and their impacts on the different sized organizations. This will be done by evaluating the different kind of impact that such systems have for a small organization that may be under 100 employees or a medium level organization with fewer than 1000 employees. The impact, importance and cost benefit analysis will be done for these organizations related to the IT systems that are developed to enhance their organization. Size of an organization will definitely alter the cost benefit analysis for any product and service that they use or intend to use. Therefore, the size is a crucial factor in the decision to implement an IT system, or their decision to in-source or out-source the IT systems. The dynamics of an organization change as the size changes. A weakness comes into play where there are no possible contacts present with the larger organizations. The researcher will have to establish research based contacts to the large organizations so that their responses can be incorporated in the total data collection. Another limitation that is present in the project is that fact that results and responses may be influenced or swayed by the most popular and widely implemented method of IT systems. The research can also increase or decrease in importance due to any changes in the trends of the industry. The research will only be based on some of the legislative requirements. This will include the subject matter. This is because every institution has their own set of rules, policies and procedures which may vary from one organization to another. They all depend on the organizational philosophy and the business model. Therefore, standardization of the outcomes will become impossible if data from different organizations is added to the data for this research. BIBLIOGRAPHY Boud, D., Solomon, N. (2001) Work Based learning: a new higher education? Society for research into higher education & Open University Press Raelin, J. (2008) Work Based Learning: Bridging knowledge and action in workplace. John Wiley and Sons. Laurel, B. (2003) Design research: methods and perspectives. MIT Press McBurney, D., White, T. (2009) Research Methods. Cengage Learning Trochim, W., Donnelly, J. (2006) Research Methods knowledge base. Cengage Learning Read More