Capturando a dinâmica da gestão da terceirização de tecnologia da informação para apoio a decisões: um estudo de caso em organizações públicas.

Abstract

Information Technology (IT) can contribute significantly and be used as a tool to boost the development of people and organizations. To promote the effectiveness of this environment, it is appropriate that the IT department define and deploy a portfolio of IT services aligned with organizational objectives. Implement and maintain such a portfolio involves the application of resources and capabilities, implying in operational costs. It is essential define a most profitable sourcing strategy in terms of business results. When an organization lacks the internal IT capabilities, in terms of quantity and quality, required for the provision of all of its IT services portfolio, it must look for external organizations able to fill the gap. This practice is known as Information Technology Outsourcing - ITO. In the context of Brazilian public organizations, a high degree of IT outsourcing is observed without proper analysis of the benefits and risks involved or without aligning this initiative with organizational goals. On this research, it is assumed that among the causes for this problem is the poor understanding, on the part of decision makers, of the complex network of nonlinear interactions existing between IT capabilities management, sourcing management and benefits management activities, subject to feedbacks and delays of several magnitudes. In order to fill this gap in organizational knowledge, this research aims to analyze the complex dynamics existing on employing core IT capabilities and on the interaction of these capabilities with the suppliers' ones during ongoing outsourcing contracts, to support decisions that promote the achievement of expected ITO results. With this purpose, a system dynamics simulation model, called ITO-CapSim, was developed and validated through case studies in two public organizations in Alagoas state. Along validation process, the model was used to analyze different sourcing policies and risks inherent in the adoption of ITO, involving two core IT capabilities: ITO Contracts Monitoring and Systems Development Service Delivery. The effectiveness of ITO-CapSim was evaluated by IT managers from public organizations through questionnaires and interviews. After quantitative and qualitative analysis of the responses, the results indicated that the use of ITO-CapSim as organizational learning tool has improved the understanding of decision-makers on the complexity of strategic sourcing management IT core capabilities, generating insights that can result in a more successful ITO process.