Information systems outsourcing in public administration: an emergent research topic

Abstract

After reviewing the most relevant academic sources, we believe that there is still little academic literature on information systems (IS) outsourcing specialized for public administration (PA). In this paper we present the few we have discovered references while deriving and expanding some analysis from them. The sparse results of this analysis are then summarized and classified. This situation contrasts with the clear importance of PA as an IS consumer and often as a change leader in IS management practices, which is also depicted in the paper. As an example of what future research questions could be posed and of what findings could be expected from this research domain, we present a real IS outsourcing case of study which appears to be rather original in the approach taken by the involved PA. Hence, with all the issues outlined in this preliminary research work, we believe that it is possible to justify an interest in researching this topic and to encourage new scientific activities resulting from it, such as new proposals for PA of specific IS outsourcing frameworks, methods or in-depth case studies like the one introduced here.