Context
The researchers use the name Iota to protect the organisation’s identity. Iota faced significant competitive pressure and needed capabilities that could support digital service innovation.
What Iota did
The organisation chose not to establish external partnerships because it did not trust potential partners. It therefore restricted the range of capabilities and implementation routes available to it.
Observed outcome
The study places Iota within an unsuccessful configuration characterised by competitive pressure and the absence of effective partnerships. The finding does not mean that outsourcing is always required. It means that refusing partnership without a structured capability assessment can constrain the transformation.
Why the initiative underperformed
Under competitive pressure, an organisation may not have enough time to build every capability internally. Iota’s boundary decision was influenced by distrust rather than by a clear assessment of strategic control, speed, internal capacity and partner governance.
What leadership should take from the case
Identify which knowledge must remain internal, which capability can be built within the available time and which capability may be accessed through a governed partner. Define data rights, integration responsibilities, knowledge transfer, accountability and exit conditions before engagement.
What this means for infrastructure decisions
Vendor Neutral does not mean Vendor Against. It means that the organisation owns the requirement and selects partners against clear business, technical and governance conditions.
Source and evidence note
Soto Setzke et al., “Pathways to Digital Service Innovation,” Information Systems Frontiers 25 (2023), 1017–1037. DOI: 10.1007/s10796-021-10112-0. Iota case discussed on p. 1028.
Peer-reviewed multi-case research; anonymised organisation.