Author: Josep Maria Marco Simó
Programme: Doctoral Programme on the Information and Knowledge Society
Language: Catalan
Supervisor: Dr Joan Antoni Pastor
Faculty / Institute: Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3)
Subjects: Computer Science, Public Administration. Government. Military Affairs., Operations and Organization. Business Administration and Management. Advertising. Public Relations. Mass Media.
Key words: Supply, Provision, Outsourcing, ICT services, Government of Catalonia, Public administration, Supplier approval, Supplier pre-classification, Information systems administration and management
Area of knowledge: Computer Languages and Systems, Business Organization, Political and Administration Science
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Summary
Outsourcing of information systems, services and technology (ISST) is a common practice in the private sector that has been widely studied in the literature. However, in the context of the public sector, ISST outsourcing has not yet received sufficient attention, despite its importance to the sector in terms of economic volume generated and ISST needs.
The present thesis makes a contribution to the still scarce research about ISST outsourcing in the public sector, by showing the research results which arose during the in-depth study of an innovative case: the so-called pre-qualification agreement for ICT services (AMH) led by the Government of Catalunya. The AMH is a mechanism for pre-qualification or certification of provider companies responsible for provisioning a central part of the ISST needed by the various departments and agencies of the Catalan Government. It was first conceived in 2003 and, after three different versions, its third edition was validated at the beginning of 2013.
This thesis is, therefore, a longitudinal case study that has been undertaken by following mainly the in-depth case study research method. From the analysis of the available literature and documentation, and a significant set of interviews with representatives of the roles involved (developers, implementers, suppliers, and customers), this study was designed as an essentially qualitative research effort.
The main contribution of this thesis is, therefore, the detailed description and in-depth analysis of the case from the points of view of the underlying background, causes, context, design, implementation, operation, and performance of each of its three editions, as well as the relationships between them. The analysis of all three editions is supplemented with another comprehensive analysis of the AMH instrument as a whole on an aggregate and more abstract level. From those analyses, we explain the three different dimensions that have emerged and that reflect the complexity of the case: the technical dimension, the organizational one, and the dimension of policy and market.
The second main contribution, instrumental and derived from the first, is a conceptual framework representing those issues considered in prior and current research concerning the outsourcing of ISST at the public sector. As far as we know, this framework is the first attempt of its kind so far in the relevant research literature. We hope that it may be of help and become a tool that serves as a starting point for future research in this area; in fact we have found this framework to be complete enough with regard to our researched case in all its complexity.
Finally, in this document we have also highlighted all issues relating to the methodological learning which occurred during the research process, as we believe they can also be of practical interest to other research endeavours similar to ours.