Lessons Learned From Offshore It Outsourcing: A Client And Vendor Perspective

Abstract

Achieving success in international information technology (IT) sourcing or offshoring projects is a significant, emerging challenge for many organizations. Success requires a significant amount of detailed management, cooperation and coordination among the client and vendor organizations. This paper synthesizes the key findings from eight dyadic case studies consisting of 56 interviews in total from both client and vendor firms detailing their IT offshoring experiences. The case investigations lead to the discovery of twelve disparate and innovative lessons learned emerging from the experiences and challenges involved with IT offshoring on the part of client and vendor firms. These lessons cover a wide assortment of economic, strategic, relational, personal (individual), and organizational issues encountered while offshoring. The list of lessons learned can suitably guide client and vendor firms in their plans to engage in successful IT offshoring projects in the future as well as academic researchers to better understand and position the relationship for success.

Keywords:

• Information Technology Sourcing
• Offshoring
• Client-Vendor Relationship

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Peter Haried

Peter Haried is an assistant professor of information systems at the College of Business Administration, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. He received his PhD in management science with a concentration in management information systems from the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee. His current research interests include information technology outsourcing; electronic commerce strategy; ethics and information technology; information systems strategy and implementation; and electronic commerce trust formation. He has published research articles in major scholarly journals, including Project Management Journal and Business and Professional Ethics Journal. His work has been presented and published in the nationally and internationally refereed Conference Proceedings. A number of manuscripts are currently under review with scholarly journals.

K. (Ram) Ramamurthy

K. Ramamurthy is a professor of management information systems (MIS) at the Sheldon B. Lubar School of Business, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He received his PhD in business with an MIS concentration from the University of Pittsburgh. He has 20 years of industry experience, holding several senior technical and executive positions. He has served as an associate editor for MIS Quarterly. His current research interests include electronic commerce with inter- organizational systems/EDI and the internet; adoption, assimilation and diffusion of modern IT; data resource management and data warehousing; IT business value; IT outsourcing; decision and knowledge systems for individuals and groups; and TQM including software quality. He has published over 42 research articles in major scholarly journals, including MIS Quarterly; Journal of Management Information Systems; Decision Sciences; IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering; IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man and Cybernetics; Decision Support Systems; European Journal of Information Systems; Information & Management; Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce; International Journal of Electronic Commerce; IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management; International Journal of Production Research; International Journal of Human-Computer Studies; Journal of International Marketing; OMEGA; INFOR; and over 23 articles in refereed Conference Proceedings. He is a charter member of the Association for Information Systems.