Papers

A Case Study Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process for IT Outsourcing Decision Making

Author(s)
Mary Anne Atkinson
Central Washington University
United States
Ozden Bayazit
Central Washington University
United States
Birsen Karpak
Youngstown State University
United States

Publication date: Jan, 2015

Journal: International Journal of Information Systems and Supply Chain Management
Vol.: 8- Issue: 1- Pages: 60-84

Publisher: IGI Global

Abstract: Decisions related to managing IT resources - which resources to keep in-house and which resources to outsource - are critical to business success. The goal of this paper is to show the usefulness of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) as a decision-making tool for IT sourcing decisions, based on an analysis of factors that recent literature found to be associated with IT sourcing risk. Although the AHP previously has been suggested for IT outsourcing decision making, this study is the first to consider evaluating the risks of offshore outsourcing, rural outsourcing, and in-sourcing IT processes by using the AHP. From the perspective of the expert decision maker, three IT sourcing strategies were evaluated with respect to 58 criteria. The case study example presented in this paper shows the effectiveness of the AHP to support management for this business decision. The authors' results show that a systematic approach to analyzing outsourcing can reduce the uncertainty and risk that is common in such decisions.

Keywords: AHP, IT resourcing, Decision making

URL: https://doi.org/10.4018/ijisscm.2015010104