The Process and Supplier Selection Criteria for Purchasing IT-Consultancy Services

Sammanfattning: There are plenty of IT-consultancy firms operating today, and the numbers show that they keep getting more and more. At the same time, the demand for these services are increasing. The biggest issue that these firms face today is related to finding new business opportunities. The complexity surrounding the purchase of these services make it a complex subject that is hard to fully grasp. It includes many variables, and until today, there has been no framework that considers all of these aspects. Further, the aspects that determine which supplier that gets chosen have not been investigated enough in-depth in regards to the purchase of professional services. The authors have not found a single study focusing specifically on ITconsultancy services in particular. The main purpose of this master thesis is to examine and understand the supplier selection process for IT-consultancy services. The most important choice criteria concerning supplier selection will be identified and their impact on the supplier selection process will be discussed. Further, a modern purchasing framework for IT-consultancy services will be developed. This thesis has identified the two most important choice criteria concerning the supplier selection as being perceived value and relationship. These two have been investigated in-depth in regard to the purchase of IT-consultancy services. Further, a unified purchasing framework for IT-consultancy services have been developed, including several aspects of purchasing. This thesis has been performed at the Lund Faculty of Engineering, in collaboration with Cybercom Group AB. The thesis has not looked at procurement through third parties, or at public procurement and its private counterpart. The thesis has two intended audiences. The first is academics and students wishing to gain a deeper understanding of the purchasing of IT-consultancy services for academic purposes. The second is suppliers of IT-consultancy services seeking to gain a deeper theoretical understanding of the way their customers choose suppliers.