A Vector-Based, Content-Analytic Methodologyfor Comparing Negotiated IT Service Level Agreements

摘要

Growth in the outsourcing of IT services has led many organizations to enter into negotiated contractual agreements withrnboth internal and external service providers known as information technology service level agreements (IT SLAs). To furtherrnempirical research into IT SLAs, we present a methodological approach based on the theory of conceptual spaces that allowsrnthe content of these negotiated agreements to be analyzed and compared geometrically using vector representation. Thernoutcome of such an analysis is a set of distance measures by which defensible statements regarding the similarity of IT SLAsrncan be made. We also discuss how the comparisons provide insights for IT SLA negotiation researchers that go beyondrnalternate empirical and analytic methods. The implications of these comparisons are discussed with a specific focus onrnresearch methods that can foster cumulative empirical investigation of IT SLA negotiation support system requirements.