Introduction
Information systems (IS) management is no walk in the park as there are several issues that managers have to consistently deal with in addressing the organizations information needs (Henderson & Parsonns, 2001, pp. 3). The issues in IS management vary from data related issue to solution to problems that touch on the human resource aspects. The need for information, a good management team, policy and implementation mechanism are some of the issues that directly affect the effectiveness of an information systems. In the current data and information driven business environment, the information System (IT) and the information systems department have become key constituents of organizations as they strive for excellence in meeting and addressing their needs as a means to meeting the needs and expectation of their customers (Llewellyn, 2001, pp. 12). Therefore, information systems refer to an collection of people, data records and processes that help in dealing with the data and information needs of the organization. Information technology is major means to implementation of information systems in the ever computerizing business sector and therefore the interchangeable use of these terms is common in business circles. In consideration of this, information systems can be viewed as a system that is charged with the development, implementation and management of information technology infrastructure in an organization. The need for a good information system can never be over stressed as the biggest asset to an organization is information.
Strategic development
Most organizations are in the business to stay, and if their vision is anything to go by development and a bright future are often what they strive for. An organization which has a vision, shown by the existence of a well documented and constituted vision statement, has clearly displayed its intent for existence in the future. Development is a desirable aspect of human existence, moreover in order to be relevant in the future, organizations need to develop in order to meet future challenges that will no doubt be more challenging or to put it plainly developed. Therefore, change which is a major characteristic in development is inherent in any organization, as it tries to address its current and future needs. Change on the other hand, is a very complex phenomenon as it involves and touches on almost all areas of an organization (Kroenke & Hatch, 2003, pp. 33). Change management is a broad subject and involves various aspects that are neither predictable nor easy to manage or handle. Therefore, most organization often adopts a strategic approach to change and development so as to address them in a manner that best suits the organization.
Why is Important
To address the contemporary issues that are involved in deciding whether to outsource the strategic development of IS and IS services or not, the nature and importance of IS to the organization must be established. There are three critical areas that have to be looked at before any decision is made with regards to the development of an information system, these are:
IS Strategy
Development always has a basis that can be considered as its roots; the existing rules, policy and framework that govern the activities and jurisdiction of the IS department plays a major role in ensuring the organization’s efficiency in meeting its data needs. A strategy that addresses the organization’s data and information needs effectively rarely requires change. Development being an aspect of growth implies change in order to adapt to the ever changing environment is a major development area for good strategies. On the other hand, poor strategies require immediate change as organizations’ poor performance can always be traced back to it thus, development for such are always aimed at correction rather than improvements.
IS Management
Management is an area that has to be addressed effectively if the organization’s strategies are to be implemented in the best manner possible. The success of an organization largely depends on the management style adopted by the organization; especial the structure, policy formulation, organizational culture and in general the corporate management strategies employed by the organization and the information systems (Marshall & Eardley, 2000, pp. 19) . A good management system will lead to the realization of the goals that the implementation of the information systems is aimed at. The adoption of poor management policy will definitely lead to loss as the organization’s data needs will not be met in a manner that is best for the organization leading to losses.
IS Development
Development of information systems is key to ensuring that the future data needs of the organization are met presently and in future. The development procedure and the route taken in the development of an IS systems will greatly affect the relevance of the information system to the future data needs of the organization. A good approach to development leads to an information system that addresses the information and data needs of the organization in a manner that ensures growth and development. With respect to the information systems development issues, organizations must address the information system policy making and implementation in a strategic manner, in that all aspects and effects of change must be identified, analyzed and solutions formulated from the results. Strategic decision making and management is diverse as the number of approaches that can be applied are quite diverse and some of them vary significantly and conflict with the other approaches that could be applied.
Outsourcing Strategic Development In IS
The number of organizations that outsource their information systems is rapidly growing (Hawkins ; Hudson, 1999, pp. 33). A number of considerations based on economics have however taken center stage in its relevance and relative advantage to in house delivery of information systems functions effectiveness in addressing the needs of the organization. Some of the consideration are the transactions cost, resource dependence and agent cost. However, approaching outsourcing from a purely economic view point ignores the other aspects of the organization that constitute the success of an organization. A number of factors have been identified as having played a great part in the preference for outsourcing notably; technological change, management and change in the operational environment. The general trends in the outsourcing segment tends towards partnership rather than a basic service provider-seeker relationship (Curtis, 1998, pp. 33) . The nature of outsourcing as adopted by an organization may be one in which both partners contribute to the provision of the services. They do so by some form of a combined effort in which obtaining benefits separately is not possible. A number of issues have arose that have let to controversy in deciding on whether an organization should outsource the strategic development of IS.
An organization may choose to outsource the development of IS for several reasons, the considerations for such reasons are filled with controversies as the alternatives display relative advantages to outsourcing. Some of the reasons are:
The company may be at a stage where it is seeking to develop new systems to meet its increasing data needs, during that transition period the organization may turn to outsourcing as a way of meeting its information requirements (Griffin ; Pustay, 2004, pp. 21). This is a classic example of why most companies choose to outsource their services. A question of the efficiency in meeting the organizations data needs is raised by this rationale. An organization that has been in existence has characteristic data needs that are best handled by professional who have been handling the processes for sometime. The process of change is one of the most fragile stage an organization goes through and inclusion of a new member into the organizational operational environment is like adding more force to the already fragile situation (Sernaddas ; Bubenko, 2005, pp. 95). Most people who are against outsourcing of IS services under this rationale argue that the double change that the organization is forced to undergo as a result, offsets the benefits that it accrues as a result of outsourcing.
Most outsourcing companies specialize in one service and thus are well developed and have the professional ability and experience in dealing in such areas. Therefore, a facility management model implemented by many organization in IS management is seen to be inferior to the services provided by the large outsourced companies as they also enjoy the economies of scale. IS is constituted of three major aspects: strategy, development and management. Under all these there are a number of issues that have cropped up with regards to outsourcing IS strategic development and services (Henarrt, 1999, pp. 15). First, the development of IS is an internal affair, in that the information system is built for internal use and therefore the internal providers know the needs of the organization better. The strategic development of IS involves considerations of such things as culture, data requirements, expected changes in data requirements and operational environment that can best be tackled by those who handle the operational environment (Elram ; Malltz, 2007, pp. 45). An information system developed by an outside firm will always be viewed by many in the organization as an alien feature in their organization and it will be pretty difficult to integrate it into the culture of the organizations and therefore, its benefits will be diminished. Secondly, strategic development is not something that happens in a matter of days; it is a gradual and continuous development. The nature of outsourcing involve the signing of contracts, therefore the likelihood of discontinuity is real and the thought of implementing a strategic development plan based on an entity whose presence is not guaranteed is a risk that any well functioning organization should not have to take (Hall, 1999, pp. 99). Lastly, the organization that the firm has outsourced is a separate entity and has its modes of operation which may be in conflict with those of the organization its providing services to. The existing organizational structure may conflict with the mode of delivery of services by the outsourced firm and thus the advantages that could have been accrued by outsourcing are reduced.
Off-site provision of IS services by outsourcing implies that organizations eliminate the need to devote resources to the development and running of in-house information systems (Hecscher, 2001, pp. 100). Therefore the organization is left with more time and resources to focus on the customers satisfaction. This could be theoretically true, though the argument does not consider the money saved by in-house handling of IS services (Burch ; Grudnitski, 2004, pp. 21). Furthermore, the considerations are based on relating outsourcing to in-house provision of IS, thus lack on factual content for they are based on perception. It could be that the provision of in-house IS services is cheaper under some considerations.
Some services require professional handling and if such jobs are rare and cannot be considered as part of the normal organizational operations, most companies prefer to outsource such services rather than have a labor force charged with the task of implementing them (Bragg, 2006, pp. 22). Organizations always aim at the development of their staff as as a means to quality service and thus the overall development of the organization. Staff development is seen to entail dealing with different situation that demand varied inputs and therefore dealing with specialized services is an approach to staff development. When organizations delegate the specialized jobs to outsourced companies they hinder the development of their staff and thus the development of the organization as a whole.
Conclusion
The information system services are very important to the operations of an organization as data plays a major role in the formulation of strategic plans for the development of organizations (Science-Direct, 2004, pp. 33). The development of IS Services and their provision need to be looked at thoroughly before an organization can decide on how it will approach its data and information requirements. Organizations may choose to conduct the development of strategic plans and the provision of IS in-house or outsource the service to a firm that provides IS services. A decision on whether to outsource or perform the tasks in-house can be so demanding and therefore organization must look keenly at their options before reaching on a decision that will address the organization’s needs adequately.
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