Towards a framework for effective outsourcing practice within the new application service provisioning trends

The paper presents an original framework to assist end user organisations in deciding the most suited ICT sourcing solution. With respect to actual trends such as SaaS or ASP, the framework helps with answering the following questions: What services should be provided internally and what services should be outsourced? What type of outsourcing is the most appropriate for the particular service? What specific service on the market is the most suitable according to the defined service requirements? The paper introduces a comprehensive methodology, together with important criteria to be considered for a much suited ICT service provisioning practice. Furthermore, it details prerequisites and limitations of this approach, as well as possible future research directions.