Stanimirović, D. & Vintar, M. (2012). Management of IT Outsourcing 
in the Slovenian Public Sector – Material and Procedural Aspects. 
Uprava X(1), 7–34.   7 
1.01 Original scientific article 
Management of IT Outsourcing in 
the Slovenian Public Sector – 
Material and Procedural Aspects 
UDK: 35:004(497.4) 
Dalibor Stanimirović 
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Administration, 
Institute for Informatization of Administration 
dalibor.stanimirovic@fu.uni-lj.si 
Mirko Vintar 
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Administration, 
Institute for Informatization of Administration 
mirko.vintar@fu.uni-lj.si 
ABSTRACT 
Public sector management in Slovenia has been following the trends in 
information technology (IT) outsourcing since the mid-nineties of the last century. 
Being aware of the complex role of IT in modern public sector organizations and 
its ubiquitous implications, the paper focuses on in-depth analysis of the critical 
success factors, benefits and risks within the concept of IT outsourcing, while 
employing the international studies and primarily the results of own research 
examining the current situation and identifying the main drivers for IT 
outsourcing in Slovenian municipalities. The paper additionally analyses the 
material, procedural and other relevant aspects within the process of IT 
outsourcing, provides an overview of its potentially positive and negative 
implications and eventually presents a contextual framework for management of 
IT outsourcing along with applicable guidelines for effective utilization and 
implementation of IT outsourcing in the public sector. 
Key words: IT outsourcing, public sector, municipal IT outsourcing, IT 
outsourcing process, framework for management of IT 
outsourcing 
JEL: H72, M15 

Dalibor Stanimirović, Mirko Vintar 
Management of IT Outsourcing in the Slovenian Public Sector – 
Material and Procedural Aspects 
8 Uprava, letnik X, 1/2012 
1 Introduction 
Confronted with rapid technological developments in the mid-nineties of 
the last century, Slovenian public sector organizations have adopted the 
utilization of IT outsourcing as one of the viable solutions to deal with the 
intractable and costly IT-sourcing issues. IT outsourcing was expected to 
generate savings of public sector organizations in the process of 
developing IT infrastructure and information systems (IS), providing 
modern IT service for citizens and public officials and facilitating better 
quality information resources management in the public sector 
(Kakabadse & Kakabadse, 2001; Kim et al., 2007; Lacity et al., 2010). 
Past experience and recent research carried out in the public sector show 
that IT outsourcing can indisputably bring many benefits to the 
organizations which master the art of devising, deploying, and 
maintaining outsourcing relationships (Linder, 2004; Corbett, 2004; 
Ghodeswar & Vaidyanathan, 2008), however many organizations find 
those benefits elusive, while outsourcing projects are usually accompanied 
by unexpected and often negative effects (Chapman & Andrade, 1997; 
Kern et al., 2002; Taylor, 2006; Cordella & Willcocks, 2010). Slovenian 
public sector has encountered problems with IT outsourcing especially in 
the last five years, while the on-going financial and economic crisis and 
the subsequent austerity measures just revealed their magnitude 
(Stanimirović, 2010), indicating that IT outsourcing cannot provide a 
workable long-term solution in every IT-related project. 
The main goal of the paper is to examine the state of IT outsourcing in 
Slovenian public sector and highlight its material and procedural aspects. 
The identification and systemization of the phenomenon ought to enable 
easier and more effective management of IT outsourcing in the future. 
Referring predominantly to own research and given the theoretical 
foundations of foreign and domestic authors, the paper is focusing 
primarily on the following research questions: 
1. Overview of the current situation in the field of IT outsourcing and 
identification of the main drivers for IT outsourcing in Slovenian 
municipalities. 
2. Analysis and characterization of the key material and procedural 
factors applicable in planning and implementation process of IT 
outsourcing at the municipal level. 

Dalibor Stanimirović, Mirko Vintar 
Management of IT Outsourcing in the Slovenian 
Public Sector – Material and Procedural Aspects 
   Uprava, letnik X, 1/2012 9 
3. Construction of contextual framework for quality management of 
IT outsourcing and presentation of applicable guidelines for 
effective utilization and implementation of IT outsourcing in the 
public sector. 
Following the introduction of main research questions, the first section of 
the paper presents the outsourcing concept and an overview over the 
relevant literature while outlining contextual considerations and 
implications of sourcing alternatives. The second section reveals the 
characteristics of own survey examining IT outsourcing in Slovenian 
municipalities, its results and their synthesis, providing an insight of the 
main drivers for IT outsourcing at the municipal level. The third section 
presents the contextual framework for quality management of IT 
outsourcing based on the material and procedural factors, obtained from 
the conducted survey, while the last section contains the evaluation of the 
presented approach, discussion on its practical applicability and 
description of its positive features and limitations, and subsequently 
submits the final arguments and observations regarding the IT outsourcing 
phenomenon. 
1.1 IT outsourcing concept and its implications 
Ellram and Maltz (1997) argue that outsourcing is a contractual transfer 
of organizational activities and responsibilities to other (external) business 
entity. They emphasize that the volume of outsourced activities depends 
on their content and the needs of the parent organization. Kubr (2002) 
defines outsourcing as a contractual elimination and transfer of the 
activity, for which the organization decides not to perform it itself in future, 
to the external business entities. Such an operating strategy in his view, 
allows the efficient allocation of resources. Literature presents a wide 
range of different definitions, ranging from the most consistent and 
accurate up to superficial and partial definition of the phenomenon, while 
the most useful and versatile is its most widespread and widely accepted 
definition, which reads as follows: »Outsourcing is a contractual transfer 
of certain activities and business processes from the parent organization to 
the external contractor« (Greaver, 1999). 
Outsourcing is a business strategy of transferring the selected 
organization’s activities to the external supplier in order to improve 
business performance (Florin et al, 2005; Ghodeswar & Vaidyanathan, 
2008) and primarily cut back costs (Kim, 2003) as well as focus on its 

Dalibor Stanimirović, Mirko Vintar 
Management of IT Outsourcing in the Slovenian Public Sector – 
Material and Procedural Aspects 
10 Uprava, letnik X, 1/2012 
core functions (Power et al., 2006), which should consequently improve 
service provision and quality (Corbett, 2004). It is one of the main 
components of New Public Management (NPM) paradigm used by 
governments in their efforts to modernise public sector (Hodgson et al., 
2007) and make it more market-oriented as well as cost efficient (Hood & 
Peters, 2004). Public sector reforms have been driven both by budgetary 
pressures requiring reduced government spending (Martin, 2010) and by 
the influence of economic theories (Lapsley, 2009) about public 
administration and its function. Several studies of outsourcing (Florin et 
al., 2005; Kim, 2003; Corbett, 2004; Linder, 2004; Ghodeswar & 
Vaidyanathan, 2008; Ho & Atkins, 2010) report considerable positive 
effects, savings and increased efficiency; in general they outline positive 
impacts of outsourcing while others find no benefit or even increased costs 
resulting from tendering and contracting out (Taylor, 2006; Kakabadse & 
Kakabadse, 2001; Chen & Bharadwaj, 2009; Cordella & Willcocks, 
2010). 
Diverse studies (Lonsdale & Cox, 1997; Linder, 2004; Nellore & 
Soderquist, 2000; Wadhwa & Ravindran, 2007) as well as own research 
of IT outsourcing in Slovenian public sector conducted in 2010 by the 
Institute for Informatization of Administration (Stanimirović, 2010), 
revealed positive implications of outsourcing which are divided into four 
categories and presented in Table 1. 
Despite positive implications listed in Table 1, rationalization of the public 
sector using IT outsourcing experienced particular problems as well, the 
significance of which has been revealed only after a certain period of 
time. While lacking experience as well as formal regulations and expertise 
in the field of IT outsourcing, public sector started straying to the growing 
and increasingly less justified IT outsourcing ventures, leading to a 
completely opposite effect than expected and desired. Reported 
expenditures on IT outsourcing in Slovenian public sector have doubled in 
last years and in the deteriorating fiscal situation reach tens of millions of 
Euros (Stanimirović, 2010). Besides eligible decisions to outsource non-
core processes and functions (software development and prototyping, 
website designing, maintenance of IT infrastructure in relation to computer 
hardware and software, integration of IT systems, networks and security, 
training and education etc.) public sector organizations resorted to 
outsourcing of core business activities essential in providing public 
benefits and overall development of public sector (development and 

Dalibor Stanimirović, Mirko Vintar 
Management of IT Outsourcing in the Slovenian 
Public Sector – Material and Procedural Aspects 
   Uprava, letnik X, 1/2012 11 
implementation of major strategic IT projects – e-government, e-health, 
customer help desk regarding administrative issues, IT consulting and 
preparation of feasibility studies, development strategies and action plans, 
preparation and implementation of public tenders for IT projects, drafting 
of legislative proposals regarding the role of IT and IT service provision in 
the public sector etc.). The actions listed have established relative 
dependence on external IT suppliers causing loss of control over long-
term development perspective of IT in the public sector, while the vendor 
lock-in has eventually resulted in weak control over increasing costs and 
in reduced accountability for IT projects and services (Stanimirović, 2010). 
Table 1: Positive implications of IT outsourcing in the public sector 
Organizational and corporate implications 
focus on core business and activities; 
increased business flexibility in changing social conditions; 
restructuring the organization; 
creating higher added value products/services, increased customer satisfaction 
and generating greater returns to capital investments. 
Increased efficiency implications 
improving operational efficiency that may result in better quality, greater productivity, 
shorter investments cycle, increasing returns; 
access to knowledge, experience and modern technology;  
improved governance and control processes; 
minimizing risk when operating in-house; 
access to innovative ideas and solutions. 
Financial implications 
reduced future investment in assets that can be provided by external supplier; 
focus on in-house investments; 
increased market share and exploitation of business opportunities offered by a 
network of partner organizations; 
faster growth of the organization possibility of using the partner's capabilities, 
processes and systems.  
Cost implications  
reduced costs due to the external supplier’s performance and price of products or 
services; 
transformation of fixed costs into variable costs; 
decreased costs due to the large reductions in the value of fixed assets. 
 
Considering the above assumptions and international studies (Bongard, 
1994; Chapman & Andrade, 1997; Greaver, 1999; Power et al., 2006; 

Dalibor Stanimirović, Mirko Vintar 
Management of IT Outsourcing in the Slovenian Public Sector – 
Material and Procedural Aspects 
12 Uprava, letnik X, 1/2012 
Jensen, 2007) and predominantly the results of own research mentioned 
earlier (Stanimirović, 2010), the potential negative implications and 
effects of IT outsourcing are highlighted as they follow (Table 2). 
Table 2: Negative implications of IT outsourcing in the public sector 
Organizational performance implications 
reduced quality of services; 
user related problems (technical support, service information, user satisfaction etc.); 
reduced accountability for services. 
Human resources implications 
loss of core competencies; 
dissatisfaction and insecurity; 
unstimulating working environment; 
"brain drain". 
Organizational risk implications 
loss of control over the most important organizational functions; 
loss of control over preparation, development and realization of planned projects; 
complete dependence on external contractor; 
collusive tendering and other tendering problems. 
Cost implications 
loss of control over increasing costs; 
hidden costs; 
unexpected costs. 
 
The continuation of this paper presents up to date literature and research 
concerning the outsourcing phenomenon, which have been trying to 
resolve the problems addressed above and facilitate better quality 
management as well as more objective and comprehensive controlling of 
outsourcing projects. 
1.2 Literature review and recent research 
The first systematic and scientific research of outsourcing can be found in 
the late eighties and early nineties of the last century (Ford & Farmer, 
1986; Due, 1992; Willcocks & Lacity, 1995 etc.). Thorough scientific 
studies of the impact and importance of outsourcing are still rare. Authors 
are most often focusing on a rather narrow perspective, usually costs and 
other particularly financial benefits, but do not provide sufficiently 
comprehensive answers neither regarding the long-term implications 

Dalibor Stanimirović, Mirko Vintar 
Management of IT Outsourcing in the Slovenian 
Public Sector – Material and Procedural Aspects 
   Uprava, letnik X, 1/2012 13 
of outsourcing nor the management of outsourcing in the public sector 
based on objective material and procedural aspects. Here it should be 
noted that private sector has been adopting a portfolio approach to IT-
related sourcing decisions (Hirschheim & Lacity, 2000) in the last period, 
while this trend is gradually transferring to the public sector as well (Scholl, 
2006). IT portfolio approach represents a comprehensive strategy for 
management of IT infrastructure, provision of IT services, IT development 
and all IT-related operations within the organization, it should enable 
public sector organizations to systematically align IT investments and 
harmonize IT sourcing decisions with business objectives and provide IT 
support to all business functions in maximizing public benefits, while 
maintaining a constant focus on customers and costs (Bongard, 1994; 
Hirschheim & Lacity, 2000; Scholl, 2006). Contrary to the generally 
accepted view that IT outsourcing means lower costs and greater 
flexibility, convincing empirical evidence regarding the benefits of IT 
outsourcing in the public sector is not sufficiently elaborated, particularly 
when considering long-term aspects of IT outsourcing (Boyne, 1998; 
Kakabadse & Kakabadse, 2001; Lacity et al., 2010; Kim et al., 2007; 
Cordella & Willcocks, 2010). Nevertheless, because of its complexity, 
pervasiveness and broad implications, the number of outsourcing 
researchers has been rising in recent years. Experts in this area (Corbett, 
2004; Jensen, 2007) claim that the phenomenon of outsourcing gained 
so much importance over the last twenty years due to the global social 
change and transformation as well as the booming public sectors 
worldwide. 
Previous research of outsourcing (Quinn & Hilmer, 1994; Johnson, 1997; 
Lonsdale & Cox, 1997; Linder, 2004; Jacobides, 2005) is largely 
exploring the financial implications of outsourcing and mainly presents 
parent organizations dissatisfaction with the on-going projects which are 
often terminated before expected (Ravindran et al., 2009; Kavčič & 
Tavčar, 2008). Despite growing interest in the phenomenon of 
outsourcing, which has recently raised increasing attention among 
researchers in the fastest growing economies over the past few years, 
namely the authors in India (Pandey & Bansal, 2003; Wadhwa & 
Ravindran, 2007) and China (Lee et al., 2002; Kim, 2003; Choy et al., 
2005), it is difficult to trace a comprehensive management strategy for 
preventing or resolving problems of outsourcing projects. Studies (Kern et 
al., 2002; Schniederjans et al., 2005; Taylor, 2006) often reveal the 

Dalibor Stanimirović, Mirko Vintar 
Management of IT Outsourcing in the Slovenian Public Sector – 
Material and Procedural Aspects 
14 Uprava, letnik X, 1/2012 
hidden costs as the most problematic segment of outsourcing, in which 
problems usually occur when organizations are already heavily involved in 
the outsourcing projects and the termination of contract in that phase 
would inflict large financial losses for both sides. Surprisingly, research is 
rarely dealing with the other negative consequences that may pose a 
potential threat. 
On the other hand, outsourcing literature (Barney 1991; Peteraf, 1993; 
Nellore & Soderquist, 2000) deals with separate aspects of the parent 
organization and the external contractor and rarely addresses the 
outsourcing projects in an integrated manner in which attention is focused 
to the whole project, rather than individual business entities within the 
project (Kavčič & Tavčar, 2008). Accordingly, most sourcing-related 
studies in e-government, if any, focus on outsourcing and not on the 
sourcing subject as a whole (Scholl, 2006). Here it should be noted that 
the material and procedural criteria presented by the most literature, 
which should form the basis for quality management of outsourcing, are 
extremely vague and arbitrary and consequently prevent organizations to 
implement a long-term successful outsourcing project. Existing research 
(Kern et al., 2002; Linder, 2004; Power et al., 2006) is mainly focused on 
a small number of criteria, which consider only short-term and partial 
aspects of business cooperation between the parent organization and the 
external contractor and do not address long-term, strategic implications of 
outsourcing projects. IT investments are often juxtaposed to other 
investments in fixed assets, while in fact they are poles apart, as they 
represent the basic strategic element of information resources 
management and define the main trajectory of public sector organizations 
development and their action in the future (Rocheleau & Wu, 2002). 
Considering the nature and characteristics of IT outsourcing, a 
multidisciplinary method which includes structured and balanced 
approach in addressing the overall problem, is essential. While listed 
research and studies represent a firm foundation for better understanding 
of the outsourcing problem, their main drawback is evaluation of IT 
outsourcing from rather narrow and static aspects while ignoring its broad 
organizational and social implications and other issues specific only to the 
public sector studied in this paper. Contextual framework for management 
of IT outsourcing in the public sector presented in this paper exceeds the 
limitations of existing research, since it is considering the implications of IT 
outsourcing on different organizational aspects and conducting analysis of 

Dalibor Stanimirović, Mirko Vintar 
Management of IT Outsourcing in the Slovenian 
Public Sector – Material and Procedural Aspects 
   Uprava, letnik X, 1/2012 15 
IT outsourcing projects in the broader perspective. Presented studies are 
predominantly unilateral and focused primarily on short-term cost 
indicators which highlight mainly the financial background of the whole 
problem. The latter makes it impossible to adopt quality and 
comprehensive management strategy facilitating long-term effective and 
efficient governing of IT outsourcing in the public sector. 
The conducted research has set a broader research framework, covering 
all the specifics of the public sector hoping they can provide a starting 
point for the construction of comprehensive management strategy which 
could, subject to material and procedural requirements, enhance the 
efficiency of outsourcing. The method used will help generate effective 
long-term management strategy and align outsourcing project goals with 
public sector goals. 
2 Survey of IT outsourcing in Slovenian municipalities 
The survey was conducted during the first six months of 2010 by the 
Institute for Informatization of Administration at the Faculty of 
Administration (University of Ljubljana), in a sample of 85 municipalities 
(211 municipalities in Slovenia, which means that the sample covered 
40.28% of all municipalities). 64 municipalities responded to the survey 
(75.29% response rate of the sample, which means that the realized 
sample amounted to 30.33% of the total number of municipalities in 
Slovenia). Directing this survey we focused primarily on the municipalities 
which are predominantly very small in Slovenia and subsequently the 
implications of IT outsourcing are much more significant, while IT 
outsourcing consumes bigger proportion of the annual budget than in 
larger governmental agencies. The questionnaire consisted of qualitative 
and quantitative indicators, adjusted for objective and comprehensive ex 
ante evaluation of the outsourcing projects in public sector organizations. 
The purpose of the research is detailed and comprehensive analysis of the 
situation in the field of IT outsourcing at the municipal level in Slovenia, 
with special emphasis on the analysis of different organizational factors 
within public sector domain. Methodology within the survey focuses 
particularly on the financial, organizational, customer and human 
resources perspective. The findings obtained will enable the construction 
of a contextual framework for quality management and implementation of 
IT outsourcing in the public sector. 

Dalibor Stanimirović, Mirko Vintar 
Management of IT Outsourcing in the Slovenian Public Sector – 
Material and Procedural Aspects 
16 Uprava, letnik X, 1/2012 
2.1 Survey results and their synthesis 
Assessing the current situation in the field of IT outsourcing, the survey 
revealed that as many as 51 (80.00%) surveyed municipalities believe that 
IT outsourcing cannot negatively affect the organization and its human 
resources. The study has also discovered that 64.00% of the surveyed 
municipalities are not familiar with potential long-term impacts of IT 
outsourcing directly related to "hollowing out effect" (loss of core 
competencies within the organization), and are consequently unaware of 
potential risks when signing an outsourcing contract. Estimated risks of the 
IT outsourcing were assessed with an average rating of 3.78 on the scale 
of 1 to 5 where 1 means high and 5 is negligible (2 fairly large, 3 
medium, 4 small). In addition 41 (64.00%) municipalities have clear 
definitions of their core business and activities, which should not be 
outsourced under any circumstances, as well as clear understanding of 
supporting activities which could be outsourced under certain conditions, 
while 23 (36.00%) municipalities have no clear position on this issue. 50 
(78.00%) municipalities argue that IT outsourcing facilitates greater cost 
effectiveness, while 14 (22.00%) municipalities state the opposite. Overall 
ratings of municipalities considering their satisfaction with IT outsourcing 
results and outcomes have reached very high. On the scale from 1 to 5 (1 
– dissatisfied and 5 – very satisfied) mean value has reached 4.05 (std. 
error of mean 0.96 and std. deviation 0.76) (Graph 1). 
Graph 1: Satisfaction with the results and outcomes of IT outsourcing 
 
 
26,50% 
42,20% 
31,30% 
Moderately satisfied Satisfied Very satisfied 

Dalibor Stanimirović, Mirko Vintar 
Management of IT Outsourcing in the Slovenian 
Public Sector – Material and Procedural Aspects 
   Uprava, letnik X, 1/2012 17 
Regarding the vendor lock-in issue and focusing on different pressures in 
the selection of external suppliers, 5 (8.00%) municipalities stated they 
have undergone various forms of pressures, 41(64.00%) municipalities 
have not detected any pressure, while 18 (28.00%) surveyed 
municipalities are not acquainted with these pressures. 
Considering material and procedural factors applicable in planning and 
implementation process of IT outsourcing, results revealed that the 
municipalities do not use formal methodologies. Their planning activities 
are focused largely on financial aspect of IT outsourcing. Accordingly, 30 
(46.90%) municipalities underlined financial reasons as the main 
argument for IT outsourcing, while 14 (21.80%) municipalities pointed out 
improvement in customer relations and satisfaction as the main argument, 
12 (18.80%) municipalities emphasized the enhancement of internal 
business processes and 8 (12.50%) municipalities accentuated the 
advancements in the field of learning and growth as the main argument 
for IT outsourcing (Graph 2). 
Graph 2: Reasons for IT outsourcing in Slovenian municipalities 
 
 
In compliance with the above findings we can see the main drivers for IT 
outsourcing, identified in Slovenian municipalities and itemized below, 
extend to different areas (Graph 3). Graph 3 displays the number and 
percentage of municipalities opted for a particular driver. Assessing the 
main drivers for IT outsourcing in respondent municipalities on a scale of 
1 to 5, where 1 is unimportant and 5 is very important (2 fairly important, 
0% 
20% 
40% 
60% 
Finance 
Internal business 
processes 
Customers 
Learning and 
growth 

Dalibor Stanimirović, Mirko Vintar 
Management of IT Outsourcing in the Slovenian Public Sector – 
Material and Procedural Aspects 
18 Uprava, letnik X, 1/2012 
3 medium-important, 4 important), the survey revealed the values 
presented in Graph 4. 
Graph 3: Main drivers for IT outsourcing in Slovenian municipalities 
 
 
Graph 4: Assessing the value of main drivers for IT outsourcing 
 
 
Lower costs  
because of 
specialization and 
expertise of external 
supplier; 16 
Lack of expertise, 
knowledge and 
skills within the 
organization; 16 
Focus on core 
activities and 
functions within the 
organization; 16 
Flexibility of the 
organization and 
better quality 
management; 2 
Reducing risk and 
improved control 
over work; 3 
Better quality and 
cheaper services for 
users; 9 
Business process 
reengineering; 2 
0 
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 
1. Lower costs because of specialization and expertise of external supplier 
2. Lack of expertise, knowledge and skills within the organization 
3. Focus on core activities and functions within the organization 
4. Flexibility of the organization and better quality management 
5. Reducing risk and improved control over work 
6. Better quality and cheaper services for users 
7. Business process reengineering 

Dalibor Stanimirović, Mirko Vintar 
Management of IT Outsourcing in the Slovenian 
Public Sector – Material and Procedural Aspects 
   Uprava, letnik X, 1/2012 19 
On the other hand, municipalities have highlighted the potential negative 
implications of IT outsourcing as well, namely the survey results have 
indicated that 37 (57.82%) municipalities believe that financial aspect is 
most exposed to potential negative impacts of IT outsourcing in the long 
run, 10 (15.63%) municipalities believe that customers and learning and 
growth perspectives are compromised because of IT outsourcing, while 7 
(10.92%) municipalities believe that IT outsourcing poses the biggest 
threat to the internal business process in the municipalities (Graph 5). 
Graph 5: Potential negative implications of IT outsourcing 
 
 
Regarding the daily operations of municipalities, the survey disclosed that 
46 (72.00%) municipalities do not have formal indicator models for 
measurement of organizational performance and efficiency. The survey 
also revealed that 60 (94.00%) municipalities do not have comprehensive 
long-term strategy in the field of outsourcing (Graph 6). In addition, the 
research showed the vast majority of surveyed municipalities (80.00%) 
have no actual evaluation framework, including objective criteria or a 
system of indicators to measure the eligibility of outsourcing decisions 
(Graph 6). 
0% 
20% 
40% 
60% 
Finance  
Internal business 
processes 
Customers 
Learning and 
growth  

Dalibor Stanimirović, Mirko Vintar 
Management of IT Outsourcing in the Slovenian Public Sector – 
Material and Procedural Aspects 
20 Uprava, letnik X, 1/2012 
Graph 6: Long term strategy and indicators for outsourcing 
 
 
Graph 7: Potential savings generated from in-house provision of IT-projects 
 
 
The surveyed municipalities have an average of 1.92 external suppliers in 
the field of IT, while their importance was assessed with an average rating 
of 4 on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is unimportant and 5 is very important 
(2 fairly important, 3 medium-important, 4 important). Overall number of 
external suppliers, taking into account all areas of outsourcing, is 
averaging 5.98, amounting approximately to 17.76% of their annual 
6,00% 
20,00% 
94,00% 
80,00% 
0,00% 25,00% 50,00% 75,00% 100,00% 
Long-term 
strategy for 
outsourcing  
Indicators for 
measuring the 
eligibility of 
outsourcing 
decisions   
YES NO 

Dalibor Stanimirović, Mirko Vintar 
Management of IT Outsourcing in the Slovenian 
Public Sector – Material and Procedural Aspects 
   Uprava, letnik X, 1/2012 21 
budget, which accounts for a significant share. The largest percentage of 
the costs is allocated to IS, IT infrastructure and other areas related to IT 
summing up to 5.70%, in second place is consulting and expertise with 
4.61% share. Referring to the foregoing assessments, municipalities do 
not share very affirmative opinion on internal provision of IT-projects in 
general. In evaluating the savings that could be generated from in-house 
provision of IT-projects, municipalities’ ratings were relatively low, namely 
on the scale from 1 to 5 (1 – insignificant and 5 – very high) mean value 
has reached 2.80 (std. error of mean 0.11 and std. deviation 0.89) 
(Graph 7). 
Obtained results disclosed the need for better outsourcing strategy in the 
extensive and dynamic field of IT, indicating that municipal IT outsourcing 
initiatives are predominantly grounded in short-term financial benefits, 
while deeper reflections and rationales for outsourcing decisions are often 
omitted. Given the decrease of revenues and high indebtedness of 
municipalities in Slovenia, outsourcing issues necessitate a comprehensive 
understanding of this complex phenomenon, a consideration of all 
business and structural characteristics of municipalities, a strong 
management commitment in all phases of outsourcing process, a long-
term risk assessment and restrained decisions following public benefits 
and an efficient public spending. 
The section above presents only the survey results directly related to the 
main theme of the paper, while the overall presentation of research results 
and their detailed statistical analysis is not possible, due to the limited 
length of the paper. The next section presents a contextual framework for 
management of IT outsourcing based on material and procedural 
considerations highlighted in the survey and theoretical platform. 
3 Contextual framework for management of IT 
outsourcing 
Construction of a contextual framework for quality management of IT 
outsourcing in the public sector inevitably requires balancing several 
different factors, such as: economic, social, political, regulatory and 
technological. This requires the inclusion of numerous stakeholders with 
different priorities and objectives in all phases of IT outsourcing. Given the 
above arguments, the paper focuses on the classification and 
characterization of appropriate material and procedural factors and 

Dalibor Stanimirović, Mirko Vintar 
Management of IT Outsourcing in the Slovenian Public Sector – 
Material and Procedural Aspects 
22 Uprava, letnik X, 1/2012 
proposes the possible construction of contextual framework integrating the 
material and procedural aspect. 
The presented contextual framework should provide a good basis for the 
development of objective and comprehensive management strategy which 
could assist decision makers in setting priorities and making enhanced 
decisions in the field of public sector outsourcing, as well as highlight 
some of the hidden aspects and potential problems that may arise in the 
process of IT outsourcing. 
3.1 Material aspect of IT outsourcing in the public sector 
In order for outsourcing to facilitate focus on core business, flexibility, cost 
effectiveness and meet other organizational needs, an outsourcing 
organization should assess the material importance of the outsourced 
activity or outsourced project in general (Cong & Chau, 2010; Chen & 
Bharadwaj, 2009). While assessing different factors depending on the 
type of outsourcing project, its costs, risks, duration, goals and other 
important material implications, designated material factors relevant for 
the quality management of IT outsourcing may vary between different 
organizations (Ravindran et al., 2009; Goo et al., 2007). However, 
regardless of the organization, management should pay special attention 
to different material factors, as they follow (MAS, 2004): 
 importance of the business activity to be outsourced, for example, in 
terms of contribution to income and profit; 
 potential impact of the outsourcing on earnings, core 
competencies, human resources, organizational structure, user 
satisfaction, solvency, liquidity, funding and capital, and risk profile; 
 impact on the institution’s reputation and brand value, and ability to 
achieve its business objectives, strategy and plans, should the 
service provider fail to perform the service; 
 cost of the outsourcing as a proportion of total operating costs of 
the institution; 
 aggregate exposure to a particular service provider in cases where 
the institution outsources various functions to the same service 
provider; 
 ability to maintain appropriate internal controls and meet regulatory 
requirements, if there were operational problems faced by the 
service provider. 

Dalibor Stanimirović, Mirko Vintar 
Management of IT Outsourcing in the Slovenian 
Public Sector – Material and Procedural Aspects 
   Uprava, letnik X, 1/2012 23 
The material aspect contained by the contextual framework should define 
organizational priorities within the complex structure of the IT outsourcing 
process and incorporate complex interactions between material factors 
such as the degree of interdependence, and consider their long-term 
effects, especially their implication on organizational needs and goals. 
Determining material factors and effective use of the contextual framework 
therefore requires accuracy, consistency and detailed knowledge of both 
the organizational processes and outsourcing process, which consequently 
facilitates a balanced application of data for objective assessment of 
different material factors (Wang & Yang, 2007; Humphreys et al., 2002). 
Material factors relevant for successful management of IT outsourcing 
projects are rarely studied in the wider context. The most prominent 
experts and researchers of outsourcing, its wider socio-economic 
implications and managerial aspects of outsourcing (Willcocks et al., 
1999; Chapman & Andrade, 1997; Jensen, 2007; Greaver, 1999; 
Bongard, 1994) emphasize the complexity of this phenomenon, which is 
reflected in the extremely multifaceted and complicated structure (Florin et 
al, 2005; Scholl, 2006; Walden & Hoffman, 2007), while the long-term 
implications of outsourcing are often very well concealed, which makes 
them very difficult to manage. 
Organizational factors, which represent the core material aspect in the 
process of IT outsourcing, should be defined in organizational policies, 
goals and objectives with strict regard to organization’s strategic, tactical 
and operational considerations. Considering the numerous studies, 
potential long-term consequences as well as the complexity of the entire 
field of IT outsourcing and predominantly own research (Stanimirović, 
2010; Vintar et al., 2010), where municipalities pointed out various 
outsourcing issues, based on the survey results we extracted the following 
material factors to be deployed in contextual framework for management 
of IT outsourcing: 
1. Costs 
2. Competencies 
3. Quality 
4. Customer satisfaction 
5. Risk 
6. Organization 
7. Development 
8. Innovation 

Dalibor Stanimirović, Mirko Vintar 
Management of IT Outsourcing in the Slovenian Public Sector – 
Material and Procedural Aspects 
24 Uprava, letnik X, 1/2012 
Management of IT outsourcing in the public sector is very specific as it 
covers very sensitive ground due to public financing and other eligible 
public interests, hence the relatively large number of material factors. 
Management of the public sector organizations should consider the effects 
of IT outsourcing on the listed material factors, while they represent the 
main material aspects of organization, concerning its financial stability, 
human resources, organizational structure and development. Public 
management must be therefore kept under constant alert, while 
harmonizing the implications of IT outsourcing with the complex nature of 
public sector and public benefits provision. Figure 1 illustrates the 
inclusion of these factors in a contextual framework, whereas the factors 
listed represent only the material aspect of a contextual framework, while 
the procedural aspect is presented in the section bellow. 
Figure 1: Material aspect of managing IT outsourcing project 
 
 
3.2 Procedural aspect of IT outsourcing in the public sector 
Comprehensive contextual framework for quality management of IT 
outsourcing in the public sector requires integration of both material and 
formal aspects in order to facilitate a structured and quality decision 
making and governance of outsourcing projects. Factors listed represent 
the material aspect of IT outsourcing concerning its financial stability, 
service quality, human resources, risks, organizational structure and 
development, while the procedural aspect denotes the second integral 
part of contextual framework. 
Procedural aspect in the process of IT outsourcing includes the 
consideration of legal framework, with strictly defined contractual 
Innovation 
Strategic goals 
Costs 
Develop-
ment 
Organiza-
tion 
Risk 
Customer 
satisfaction 
Quality 
Competen-
cies 
IT outsourcing project 

Dalibor Stanimirović, Mirko Vintar 
Management of IT Outsourcing in the Slovenian 
Public Sector – Material and Procedural Aspects 
   Uprava, letnik X, 1/2012 25 
relationship, transfer of liabilities, transfer of assets and statutory 
provisions in this area as well as contractual terms, such as: subject of the 
contract, obligations, Service Level Agreement (SLA), price, risk 
assessment, duration and termination, dispute resolution, choice of law 
and special provisions (Cong & Chau, 2010; Goo et al., 2007; 
Ravindran et al., 2009). Well defined and detailed contract must provide 
a quality regulation of strategic elements within the outsourcing 
relationship, namely very clear definition of business requirements 
between both parties, comprehensive description of activities, outputs, 
performance as well as metrics and control mechanisms (Stanimirović, 
2010; Chen & Bharadwaj, 2009). In addition to compliance with strict 
procedural regulations required by the legislation and contractual 
provisions, a significant part of the procedural aspect is an execution of 
market analysis, specifications of project requirements as well as 
preparation and execution of the public tender in order to select the best 
external supplier. The supplier selection phase should be followed by a 
phase of negotiation on terms of cooperation, transition of resources and 
finally once the outsourcing contract is already signed, management of IT 
outsourcing project should get underway providing supervision, timely 
anticipation of potential threats and various mechanisms to overcome 
those (Greaver, 1999; Wadhwa & Ravindran, 2007; Walden & Hoffman, 
2007). Public management must be well informed and fully engaged in 
all phases of implementation process, while monitoring the impacts of IT 
outsourcing on public sector organizations and public service provision in 
general. 
Based on procedural factors emphasized by the municipalities in our 
survey and theoretical platform described above, the procedural aspect of 
managing IT outsourcing process is structured and illustrated in Figure 2. 
If the whole process was well coordinated, management should be able to 
integrate material and procedural aspects and bring them in line with 
strategic objectives of the individual organization and the public sector in 
general. 

Dalibor Stanimirović, Mirko Vintar 
Management of IT Outsourcing in the Slovenian Public Sector – 
Material and Procedural Aspects 
26 Uprava, letnik X, 1/2012 
Figure 2: Procedural aspect of managing IT outsourcing project 
 
 
Only the integration of both material and procedural aspects in the 
comprehensive contextual framework can represent a useful platform for 
quality management and effective utilization of IT outsourcing strategies in 
public sector (Figure 3). The structure of the contextual framework allows 
necessary flexibility to the management of IT outsourcing projects, taking 
into account strategies, goals and objectives of the public sector 
organization. However, ensuring the appropriate quality level of the 
material and procedural factors throughout the IT outsourcing process 
remains a major problem. Presented contextual framework for quality 
management of IT outsourcing (Figure 3) is only one segment of the 
comprehensive methodology which was developed by the Institute for 
informatization of administration in cooperation with the Ministry of Public 
Administration and presents the groundwork in the research project 
(Stanimirović, 2010; Vintar at al., 2010) Evaluation of the effects of e-
government projects. 
Market analysis and 
identification of potential 
providers 
IT 
outsourcing 
project 
Other 
options 
Analysis and specification 
of project requirements 
Preparation of the 
public tender 
Procedural requirements 
analysis and planning of IT 
outsourcing project / legal 
compliance 
External provider 
selection 
Negotiation and 
agreement on terms of 
cooperation 
Transition of 
resources 
Management of IT 
outsourcing 
Execution of the 
public tender 

Dalibor Stanimirović, Mirko Vintar 
Management of IT Outsourcing in the Slovenian 
Public Sector – Material and Procedural Aspects 
   Uprava, letnik X, 1/2012 27 
Figure 3: Contextual framework for outsourcing of IT-projects in the public 
sector 
 
 
3.3 Lessons learned and guidelines for effective utilization 
and implementation of IT outsourcing in the public 
sector 
If e-government, as some scholars believe, tends to progress towards 
vertical and horizontal integration at least within a given level and branch 
of government, sourcing decisions may require more frequent review and 
revision (Layne & Lee, 2001; Scholl, 2006). In surveyed municipalities the 
following problem areas can be identified and highlighted: 
 non-defined core and non-core activities in municipalities; 
 the excessive and indiscriminate outsourcing and lack of strategy, as 
well as material and procedural standards in the field of 
outsourcing; 
 
 
PROJECT GOAL 
Costs Customer satisfaction Quality Competencies 
Risk 
 
Organization 
 
 Innovation Development 
 
In-house provision Outsourcing 
Market analysis and 
identification of potential 
providers 
Analysis and specification of 
project requirements 
Preparation of the public tender 
Procedural requirements analysis 
and planning of IT outsourcing 
project / legal compliance 
External provider 
selection 
Negotiation and agreement on 
terms of cooperation 
Transition of resources 
Management of IT outsourcing 
Execution of the public tender 

Dalibor Stanimirović, Mirko Vintar 
Management of IT Outsourcing in the Slovenian Public Sector – 
Material and Procedural Aspects 
28 Uprava, letnik X, 1/2012 
 unawareness of the potential long-term negative implications of 
outsourcing projects; 
 insufficient utilization of human and other resources and the 
synergies within the public sector organizations; 
 lack of vision and strategic objectives of organizations within the 
public sector, exceeding a period of government mandate. 
Unfortunately, research results cannot always be easily transferred into 
action, especially when the poor performance of the organization is 
related to several areas. Such situation requires a detailed analysis and 
preparation of solutions, which often necessitate a radical systemic 
change in the organization. A tighter integration of systems and 
application areas seems to call for the high internal availability of 
capabilities, competencies, and skills, and perhaps for increased 
insourcing of at least critical components and interfaces (Scholl, 2006). 
Bellow the guidelines will be presented that could bring improvement to 
the areas of particular concern and risk, which were disclosed by the 
survey results: 
 definition of core and non-core activities in the functioning of 
municipalities; 
 formulation of outsourcing strategy, creation of formal approach 
including strict compliance with material and procedural 
requirements and development of indicator models needed for 
evidence-based management through the whole cycle of outsourcing 
process; 
 assessment of the potential long-term negative implications of 
outsourcing projects; 
 utilization of human and other resources as well as hidden potential 
and synergy within numerous public sector organizations; 
 formulating a vision, strategic objectives, and precise tactics as well 
as providing funds for achieving long-term organizational goals, 
beyond a period of government mandate. 
4 Conclusion 
The featured research issues illustrated the problems and challenges faced 
by public sector organizations in their efforts to keep pace with dynamic 
socio-economic and technological environment. The obtained results of 

Dalibor Stanimirović, Mirko Vintar 
Management of IT Outsourcing in the Slovenian 
Public Sector – Material and Procedural Aspects 
   Uprava, letnik X, 1/2012 29 
the survey indicate only a partial, but a valuable insight into the 
outsourcing of IT projects in Slovenian municipalities. Specific modus 
operandi and characteristic role of municipalities in the administrative 
system preclude generalization and prevent application of the obtained 
results to all public sector organizations in Slovenia, but nevertheless they 
can provide a good overall impression of the particular problems 
associated with IT outsourcing in the public sector. 
The scale of the studied area and numerous factors affecting the 
management and implementation of IT outsourcing projects confirm the 
multiplicity and complexity of outsourcing and its long-term implications in 
many areas of organizational activity. The latter substantiates the need for 
a broader and deeper insight into the background and content of overall 
business strategy of Slovenian municipalities and public sector in general. 
The search of primarily short-term solutions and inadequate business 
strategy as well as uncritical managerial approaches in recent years have 
brought public sector organizations in a very complex situation, so it is 
high time for more serious reflection on management role in the future, 
and mechanisms that will have to ensure selection of appropriate business 
strategies, effective spending of budget funds and successful achievement 
of long-term goals. Even more, regarding the context and degree of given 
problems, the objective and critical approach to the management of IT 
outsourcing should receive greater support from all stakeholders and 
become a necessity. 
The critical analysis of the IT outsourcing concept presented in the paper 
involved a revision of its long-term implications as well as assessment of 
material and procedural aspects of IT outsourcing and their integration in 
the comprehensive contextual framework which could offer a valuable 
support to the managerial decision making processes concerning the 
implementation of IT outsourcing projects. Clearly, the contextual 
framework comprising material and procedural requirements does not 
represent the universal solution to important problems addressed in this 
paper in a self-sufficient form. However it may offer, due to its simplicity of 
use and definition of appropriate material and procedural requirements, a 
lot of help to the management in all phases of IT outsourcing process. It 
can also provide assistance in allocation of project management 
resources as well as facilitate evidence-based decision making and reduce 
risk in implementation of IT outsourcing projects. Despite some 
shortcomings, which can be seen mainly in the objective limitations of 

Dalibor Stanimirović, Mirko Vintar 
Management of IT Outsourcing in the Slovenian Public Sector – 
Material and Procedural Aspects 
30 Uprava, letnik X, 1/2012 
political, regulatory and organizational nature within the public sector, 
such formal approaches should become a standard in the operating and 
managerial procedures in the public sector. Application of contextual 
framework for outsourcing of IT projects, which is still undergoing the 
evaluation process in the field of Slovenian e-government, despite 
required upgrading and adaptation to the specific area of use, could 
become a useful tool for public sector management. The current practice 
concerning management of IT outsourcing is based on inertia, intuitive 
decisions and primarily on the fabrication of studies evaluating IT 
outsourcing projects much unilaterally and without regard to their long-
term and versatile consequences affecting all public sector stakeholders. 
Dalibor Stanimirović is a researcher in the field of Informatics in public 
administration. Throughout his work he has been involved in various 
research projects concerning this field of expertise, while his research work 
on IT enabling reform and development of public administration has been 
published in several national and international journals. His general 
research interests include IT in public administration, government 
Enterprise Architecture, e-government, health care information systems 
and social dimensions of IT. 
Prof. dr. Mirko Vintar is professor of Information systems in Public 
Administration and E-government. For over 20 years his work has dealt 
with the informatisation of public administration, with a major focus on the 
development of e-government in recent years. He has managed a number 
of national and international research and development projects in this 
field. A member of numerous national and international scientific and 
professional committees and working groups involved in the research 
(EGPA, Study Group on Informatisation of Public Administration, IFIP – 
WG 8.5, NISPAcee – WG on E-government). From 1993 to 2002 he was 
the chief editor of the Journal Uporabna informatika (Applied Informatics). 
  

Dalibor Stanimirović, Mirko Vintar 
Management of IT Outsourcing in the Slovenian 
Public Sector – Material and Procedural Aspects 
   Uprava, letnik X, 1/2012 31 
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Public Sector – Material and Procedural Aspects 
   Uprava, letnik X, 1/2012 35 
POVZETEK 
MENEDŽMENT ZUNANJEGA IZVAJANJA 
IT-PROJEKTOV V SLOVENSKEM JAVNEM 
SEKTORJU – VSEBINSKI IN POSTOPKOVNI 
VIDIKI 
Ključne besede: javni sektor, občina, zunanje izvajanje IT-projektov, 
proces zunanjega izvajanja IT-projektov, vsebinski in 
postopkovni vidiki zunanjega izvajanja IT-projektov 
Spremenjene ekonomske razmere v pogojih globalne konkurence so v 
zadnjih treh desetletjih sprožile potrebe po reformah tako v zasebnem kot 
v javnem sektorju. Družbenoekonomski razvoj je s svojim pritiskom na 
javne finance sprožil številna vprašanja o učinkovitem, preglednem in 
namenskem trošenju proračunskih sredstev. Sočasen razvoj ekonomskih in 
upravnih znanosti ter tehnologije je v osemdesetih letih prejšnjega stoletja 
privedel do oblikovanja in vpeljave novih poslovnih strategij v javni sektor, 
ki je zaradi vse bolj perečih finančnih težav začel uporabljati nekatere 
poslovne strategije, ki so bile do tedaj prisotne le v zasebnem sektorju. 
Njihova uporaba naj bi predvsem znižala stroške poslovanja ter povečala 
uspešnost in učinkovitost javnih organizacij. Strategija, imenovana 
zunanje izvajanje storitev oziroma outsourcing (okrajšava iz angleške 
fraze: outside source using), je tako postala orodje javnega 
menedžmenta, ki je pričel po vzgledu zasebnih podjetij z intenzivnim 
oddajanjem del zasebnim ponudnikom, ki so na podlagi sklenjene 
pogodbe z organizacijami iz javnega sektorja opravljali storitve na 
najrazličnejših področjih javnega značaja. 
Splošno je torej zunanje izvajanje storitev mogoče razumeti kot strategijo 
poslovanja, pri kateri organizacija iz določenih razlogov (največkrat so to 
stroškovni razlogi) odda zunanjim izvajalcem opravljanje določenih 
delovnih procesov oziroma določenih storitev, z namenom osredotočanja 
na svoje ključne naloge in temeljne dejavnosti. Organizacija se lahko 
tako v določeni meri izogne naložbam v materialna sredstva, spremeni 
fiksne stroške v variabilne ter izboljša stroškovno učinkovitost, omogoči 
poslovno prestrukturiranje in rast, visoko usposobljene kadre in strokovne 
sodelavce pa preusmeri na ključne dejavnosti oziroma naloge, od katerih 
si obeta dolgoročno uspešnost in učinkovitost. To so očitne prednosti 

Dalibor Stanimirović, Mirko Vintar 
Management of IT Outsourcing in the Slovenian Public Sector – 
Material and Procedural Aspects 
36 Uprava, letnik X, 1/2012 
zunanjega izvajanja, vendar je treba temeljito preučiti, kaj lahko 
kratkoročna učinkovitost pomeni za dolgoročno uspešnost organizacij, še 
posebej tistih v javnem sektorju. Poleg prednosti in koristi se je namreč 
treba zavedati dejstva, da projekti zunanjega izvajanja storitev nosijo 
potencialno v sebi tudi številne slabosti in tveganja, ki jih je nujno treba 
objektivno ovrednotiti in analizirati pred sprejemom odločitve za 
vzpostavitev tovrstnih projektov. Najbolj problematično pri projektih 
zunanjega izvajanja storitev je dejstvo, da se težave pričnejo pojavljati s 
časovno zamudo, ko je organizacija že globoko vpeta v projekt. Za 
nastalo situacijo je mogoče najti več različnih vzrokov pri obeh 
sodelujočih poslovnih subjektih. Številni strokovnjaki poudarjajo, da so 
podjetja v zasebnem sektorju najbolj ogrožena zaradi izbire napačnega 
zunanjega izvajalca, organizacije v javnem sektorju pa zaradi zunanjega 
izvajanja neustreznih dejavnosti, nepredvidenih stroškov in dolgoročne 
izgube ključnih kompetenc znotraj organizacije. Zunanje izvajanje storitev 
v javnem sektorju je bilo v zadnjih dveh desetletjih tarča ostrih polemik. 
Na eni strani je jasno, da nemoteno delovanje javnega sektorja zahteva 
sodelovanje z zasebnimi podjetji, pojavlja pa se vprašanje, katere 
dejavnosti so primerne za zunanje izvajanje in v kolikšni meri, na drugi 
strani pa raziskave že od konca devetdesetih let prejšnjega stoletja 
razkrivajo nezadovoljstvo javnih organizacij z dolgoročno učinkovitostjo 
zunanjega izvajanja in s slabimi rezultati projektov zunanjega izvajanja. 
Javne organizacije so se skoraj enoglasno pritoževale zaradi 
nepredvidene rasti stroškov, izgube nadzora nad delovnimi procesi in 
človeškimi viri ter slabšanja kakovosti storitev zunanjih izvajalcev. 
Odsotnost dovolj kritičnega pristopa pri opredeljevanju realnih potreb in 
odločanju za zunanje izvajanje storitev je javne organizacije večkrat 
pripeljala v zelo težke položaje, včasih tudi do roba samega obstoja. 
Organizacije so zaradi kratkoročnih koristi ogrozile svoj dolgoročni razvoj 
ter onemogočile doseganje strateških ciljev celotnega javnega sektorja. 
Izkušnje, ki so se trideset let nabirale na področju zunanjega izvajanja 
storitev, so v zadnjih letih presegle kritično maso, tako da lahko danes 
pravzaprav govorimo o obratnem trendu v javnem sektorju, torej vrnitvi k 
notranjemu izvajanju storitev in poslovnih procesov (insourcing). V 
Sloveniji je kljub dvomom mnogih strokovnjakov o upravičenosti tega 
početja v zadnjih desetih letih opazna skokovita rast javnih razpisov z 
namenom sklepanja pogodb za zunanje izvajanje IT-projektov. Po ocenah 
nekaterih strokovnjakov se je višina stroškov za projekte zunanjega 
izvajanja v slovenskem javnem sektorju v zadnjih letih podvojila in v času 

Dalibor Stanimirović, Mirko Vintar 
Management of IT Outsourcing in the Slovenian 
Public Sector – Material and Procedural Aspects 
   Uprava, letnik X, 1/2012 37 
aktualne gospodarske in finančne krize dosega po grobih ocenah več 
deset milijonov evrov. 
V luči predstavljene problematike prispevek preučuje doslej še relativno 
neraziskano področje slovenskega javnega sektorja. Osredotoča se 
namreč na predstavitev koncepta zunanjega izvajanja, poglobljeno 
analizo pro et contra argumentov in predstavlja raziskovalne izsledke 
glede zunanjega izvajanja IT-projektov v slovenskih občinah ter 
predstavlja konceptualni model za menedžment zunanjega izvajanja 
IT-projektov v slovenskem javnem sektorju. Predmet raziskovanja je 
interdisciplinarno področje zunanjega izvajanja IT-projektov v javnem 
sektorju oziroma njegovo presečišče z različnimi ekonomskimi, upravnimi, 
informacijskimi in drugimi znanstvenimi paradigmami. Sama širina 
predmeta raziskovanja kaže, da parcialni pristopi, ki temeljijo zgolj na 
ekonomskih predpostavkah, ne morejo ponuditi celovitega in dolgoročno 
vzdržnega modela za implementacijo in menedžment zunanjega izvajanja 
IT-projektov v javnem sektorju. Metodološki okvir raziskave je prilagojen 
kompleksnosti raziskovalne problematike. Prispevek se v teoretičnem delu 
opira na spoznanja o zunanjem izvajanju, ki so jih objavili domači in tuji 
avtorji. Pri tem so uporabljene že uveljavljene metode kvalitativnega 
raziskovanja. Teoretičnemu delu sledi empirični del, ki temelji na 
empirični raziskavi, ki je bila izvedena v slovenskih občinah. Ta je bila 
opravljena z vprašalnikom, pogovori in pregledom projektne 
dokumentacije. Z uporabljenimi metodami kvalitativnega raziskovanja in 
ustreznimi statističnimi orodji so bila povezana teoretična in praktična 
spoznanja o zunanjem izvajanju IT-projektov ter podani konceptualni 
model in smernice za učinkovito implementacijo strategije zunanjega 
izvajanja IT-projektov v slovenskem javnem sektorju. Prispevek v uvodnem 
delu predstavlja paradigmo "Novega javnega menedžmenta" in koncept 
zunanjega izvajanja ter ekonomska, upravna in druga izhodišča, ki so 
pripeljala do njegove vpeljave. V nadaljevanju tudi navaja potencialne 
pozitivne in negativne implikacije zunanjega izvajanja IT-projektov in 
podaja oceno trenutnega stanja na področju zunanjega izvajanja 
IT-projektov v slovenskem javnem sektorju. Znana literatura namreč ne 
osvetljuje kompleksne in multidimenzionalne strategije zunanjega 
izvajanja IT-projektov s širšega vidika, ampak se največkrat osredotoča 
predvsem na zelo ozek vidik stroškov in drugih, predvsem finančnih koristi, 
kar pa ne daje dovolj celovitih odgovorov glede prednosti in slabosti 
strategije zunanjega izvajanja storitev. Slednje je še posebej pomembno 

Dalibor Stanimirović, Mirko Vintar 
Management of IT Outsourcing in the Slovenian Public Sector – 
Material and Procedural Aspects 
38 Uprava, letnik X, 1/2012 
v povezavi z javnim sektorjem, čigar primarna funkcija je vsekakor 
nudenje javnih storitev in zadovoljevanje širših družbenih potreb, ki jih ni 
mogoče preprosto zreducirati in prenesti na zunanjega (zasebnega) 
izvajalca zaradi znižanja stroškov. V osrednjem delu prispevka so 
predstavljene raziskava zunanjega izvajanja IT-projektov v slovenskih 
občinah in glavne značilnosti tovrstnih projektov na občinski ravni, razkriti 
pa so tudi pogledi občin in razmišljanja povezana z zunanjim izvajanjem 
IT-projektov ter glavni razlogi za izbiro strategije zunanjega izvajanja. 
Doseženi rezultati raziskave so ponudili sicer samo parcialen, vendar 
dragocen vpogled v področje zunanjega izvajanja IT-projektov v 
slovenskih občinah. Anketni vzorec je zajemal 85 občin, od 211 občin v 
Sloveniji, od tega se je na anketo odzvalo 64 občin. Relativna majhnost 
vzorca sicer onemogoča posploševanje trditev in uporabo rezultatov 
raziskave na ravni celotnega javnega sektorja, vendar je kljub temu dober 
kazalnik nekaterih težav, s katerimi se srečujejo posamezne javne 
organizacije in posledično tudi celoten javni sektor. Rezultati raziskave so 
pokazali, da je v anketiranih občinah mogoče identificirati in poudariti 
predvsem naslednja problematična področja: čezmerno in nekritično 
oddajanje del zunanjim izvajalcem in pomanjkanje strategije na področju 
zunanjega izvajanja IT-projektov (pomanjkanje objektivnih in merljivih 
kriterijev ter kazalnikov, na katerih temeljijo odločitve za zunanje izvajanje, 
odločanje za zunanje izvajanje predvsem zaradi predvidenega zniževanja 
stroškov in zanemarjanje drugih organizacijskih vidikov, predvsem 
razvojnega in kadrovskega), nerazumevanje potencialnih dolgoročnih 
negativnih posledic projektov zunanjega izvajanja (prikriti in nepredvideni 
stroški, odvisnost od zunanjih izvajalcev, nepregledni javni razpisi, slabo 
definirane pogodbe z zunanjimi izvajalci, prevelika povezanost organizacij 
javnega sektorja z zunanjimi izvajalci) in neizkoriščenost kadrovskih in 
drugih potencialov ter sinergije znotraj lastnih vrst v organizacijah javnega 
sektorja. Rezultati raziskave nakazujejo, da je prav izbira ustrezne 
strategije poslovanja tisto, kar lahko deluje kot katalizator pri ustvarjanju 
večje učinkovitosti in racionalnosti pri doseganju ciljev javnega sektorja. 
Na podlagi raziskovalnih izsledkov in analize rezultatov so v zaključnem 
delu prispevka opredeljeni vsebinski, postopkovni in drugi pomembni 
vidiki v procesu zunanjega izvajanja IT-projektov, ki so pomembni za 
učinkovito načrtovanje in implementacijo zunanjega izvajanja IT-projektov 
v javnem sektorju. Vsebinski in postopkovni vidik zunanjega izvajanja 
IT-projektov sta v nadaljevanju predstavljena znotraj lastnih modelov, 

Dalibor Stanimirović, Mirko Vintar 
Management of IT Outsourcing in the Slovenian 
Public Sector – Material and Procedural Aspects 
   Uprava, letnik X, 1/2012 39 
ki podrobno predstavljata vsebinske elemente in postopkovne faze znotraj 
določenega vidika. Tako vsebinski kot tudi postopkovni vidik sta nato 
integrirana v celovit konceptualni model, ki naj bi omogočal kakovosten 
menedžment zunanjega izvajanja IT-projektov v javnem sektorju. Ob 
koncu prispevka so podane tudi smernice in predlogi za učinkovito 
implementacijo strategije zunanjega izvajanja IT-projektov v slovenskem 
javnem sektorju. 
Prispevek predstavlja stanje na področju zunanjega izvajanja IT-projektov 
v slovenskih občinah ter osvetljuje skrite vidike in potencialne dolgoročne 
implikacije projektov zunanjega izvajanja na različne organizacijske 
dejavnike v javnem sektorju. Raziskava potrjuje specifičnost zunanjega 
izvajanja v javnem sektorju in potrebo po bolj poglobljeni analizi in 
kritičnem razmisleku v fazi odločanja za tovrstne strategije. Odločanje na 
področju zunanjega izvajanja IT-projektov v javnem sektorju ne bi smelo 
temeljiti na pavšalnih ocenah in pogosto arbitrarnih odločitvah, ampak na 
empiričnih dognanjih in domišljenih modelih za podporo odločanju, ki bi 
zagotavljali celovito predhodno evalvacijo projektov zunanjega izvajanja, 
predstavitev različnih kvantitativno ovrednotenih alternativ in na 
objektivnih podatkih temelječe smernice za podporo odločanju tako v fazi 
načrtovanja kot tudi implementacije zunanjega izvajanja IT-projektov v 
javnem sektorju. Predstavljeni konceptualni model, ki vključuje tako 
vsebinski kot postopkovni vidik, lahko ponudi dobro osnovo za celoviti 
menedžment zunanjega izvajanja IT-projektov. Kljub določenim slabostim, 
ki so lahko vidne predvsem pri nedoslednem upoštevanju vsebinskih in 
postopkovnih dejavnikov, ter objektivnim omejitvam politične, normativne 
in organizacijske narave znotraj javnega sektorja, bi lahko tovrstni modeli 
za podporo odločanju postali standard pri sprejemanju odločitev za 
zunanje izvajanje IT-projektov v javnem sektorju. Potencialna nadgradnja 
modelov za podporo odločanju in njihova prilagoditev glede na 
specifičnost posamezne organizacije znotraj javnega sektorja, pa bi 
omogočali tudi prenos na druga področja. Dosedanja praksa v procesih 
odločanja za zunanje izvajanje v javnem sektorju je največkrat temeljila 
na enostranskih, predvsem stroškovnih ocenah, brez upoštevanja 
kompleksnih in dolgoročnih vplivov strategije zunanjega izvajanja na vse 
deležnike znotraj javnega sektorja.