Australian Computer SocietySenate Finance and Public Administration References Committee
Parliament House
Canberra ACT
Wednesday, 6 August 1997
Attached is a printed copy of "Outsourcing and contracting out of IT products and services", prepared for members of the ACS. This may be of use for your inquiry into Federal Government IT outsourcing. The actual paper is available on the web at: http://www.acs.org.au/president/1997/outsrc/paper.htm and is linked to a number of source documents provided by the ACS and other organisations.
The current debate on outsourcing lacks clarity and the paper was prepared for ACS members who will be involved in outsourcing, as consultants and employees of both outsourcing companies and the Government. IT professionals need to be clear as to their obligations under the law, as well as their professional obligations set out in the ACS Code of Professional Conduct and Practice.
The paper sets out to provide guidance on what outsourcing is, why it might be done and what the possible problems are. Some wider community issues are also addressed.
Whole of government IT outsourcing is a high risk approach, for individuals, organisations and for the community as a whole. It is important that all those involved understand their obligations and the risks, as well as the potential benefits.
The paper was prepared by Ian Dennis FACS, and David Goble MACS, both of Whitehorse Strategic Group Ltd, and draws upon previous material developed by Dr John Houghton and Dr Ed Lewis.
Tom Worthington MACS
The Australian Computer Society is the professional association in Australia for those in the computing and information technology fields. It was established in 1966. The Society has over 16,000 members and on a per capita basis is one of the largest computer societies in the world.