{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,27]],"date-time":"2026-02-27T16:33:20Z","timestamp":1772210000816,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":81,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"18","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,14]],"date-time":"2021-09-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1631577600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Abduallah Alharbi","award":["TURSP-2020\/231"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["TURSP-2020\/231"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Applied Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The phenomenon of Global Software Development (GSD) has attracted the interest of businesses all over the world. It brings together partners from various national and corporate cultures to develop applications with numerous advantages, including access to a vast labor pool, cost savings, and round the clock growth. GSD, on the other hand, is technologically and organizationally diverse and poses a number of obstacles for the development team, such as geographical distance, cultural differences, communication and language barriers. Global services are provided by selecting one of the suitable global delivery options, i.e., the onshore model, nearshore model or offshore model. Experts typically choose one of the models based on the nature of the project and the needs of the customer. However, the vendors and clients lack an adequate decision support system that can assist them in making suitable sourcing decisions. Therefore, the current study presents a Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) model for offshore outsourcing decisions of application maintenance. To achieve our target, two systematic literature reviews were conducted that explored a list of 15 influencing factors. The identified factors were further evaluated in the outsourcing industry by performing an empirical study that resulted in a list of 10 critical success factors. We propose a sourcing framework based on the critical success factors that can assist decision makers in adopting a suitable sourcing strategy for the offshore outsourcing of application maintenance. In order to further enhance the decision-making process, the MCDM model is developed based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The MCDM model is evaluated with three case studies in highly reputable international companies, including IBM Stockholm, Sweden, Vattenfall AB, Stockholm, Sweden and a London based company in the United Kingdom. The outcomes of these case studies are further reviewed and validated by the outsourcing specialists in other firms. The proposed model is used as a decision support system that determines the ranking of sourcing alternatives and suggests the most suitable option for application maintenance offshoring.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/app11188550","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,14]],"date-time":"2021-09-14T23:34:11Z","timestamp":1631662451000},"page":"8550","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":19,"title":["Multi-Criteria Decision Making Model for Application Maintenance Offshoring Using Analytic Hierarchy Process"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6012-6199","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hanif Ur","family":"Rahman","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Computer Science, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Mardan 23200, Pakistan"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2890-8072","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mushtaq","family":"Raza","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Computer Science, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Mardan 23200, Pakistan"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1024-1118","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Palwasha","family":"Afsar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Computer Science, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Mardan 23200, Pakistan"}]},{"given":"Abdullah","family":"Alharbi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Information Technology, College of Computers and Information Technology, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3198-7974","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sultan","family":"Ahmad","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Computer Science, College of Computer Engineering and Sciences, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 151, Alkharj 11942, Saudi Arabia"}]},{"given":"Hashym","family":"Alyami","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Computer Science, College of Computers and Information Technology, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"58589","DOI":"10.1109\/ACCESS.2021.3073315","article-title":"Empirical Investigation of Influencing Factors Regarding Offshore Outsourcing Decision of Application Maintenance","volume":"9","author":"Rahman","year":"2021","journal-title":"IEEE Access"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"11492","DOI":"10.1109\/ACCESS.2021.3051023","article-title":"Making the Sourcing Decision of Software Maintenance and Information Technology","volume":"9","author":"Rahman","year":"2021","journal-title":"IEEE Access"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"183913","DOI":"10.1109\/ACCESS.2020.3029501","article-title":"Analyzing Factors That Influence Offshore Outsourcing Decision of Application Maintenance","volume":"8","author":"Rahman","year":"2020","journal-title":"IEEE Access"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"22274","DOI":"10.1109\/ACCESS.2021.3055858","article-title":"Empirical Investigation About the Factors Affecting the Cost Estimation in Global Software Development Context","volume":"9","author":"Khan","year":"2021","journal-title":"IEEE Access"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"112879","DOI":"10.1109\/ACCESS.2019.2924404","article-title":"An Evaluation Framework for Communication and Coordination Processes in Offshore Software Development Outsourcing Relationship: Using Fuzzy Methods","volume":"7","author":"Khan","year":"2019","journal-title":"IEEE Access"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"164556","DOI":"10.1109\/ACCESS.2019.2949919","article-title":"Barriers to Software Outsourcing Partnership Formation: An Exploratory Analysis","volume":"7","author":"Ali","year":"2019","journal-title":"IEEE Access"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1438","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jss.2006.10.038","article-title":"Establishing and maintaining trust in software outsourcing relationships: An empirical investigation","volume":"80","author":"Babar","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. 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