Current and Future Directions of IS Outsourcing

Abstract

Outsourcing has emerged as a key method for managing information systems in organizations. Although many researchers and practitioners have discussed different aspects of outsourcing in the past, there have been only handfuls of papers that grapple these complex issues from a broad perspective. The main purpose of this study is to lay an integrative groundwork for the understanding of outsourcing, including its key research areas, its theoretical models, and its future research trend. Such groundwork is synthesized from our extensive review of past and current outsourcing research. At the core of the paper is the two-stage model that not only links together past study research issues but also projects the future trend. The key focus of this model is on the notion of partnership — an emerging form of outsourcing that is based on the interests of both clients and their service providers, an equal relationship, and a win-win strategy. The proposed model is an attempt to synthesize a rich but overwhelming body of research into a more understandable framework that may provide valuable guidance for the research in outsourcing. Finally, this study is the first attempt to trace the evolution of outsourcing from its past to its present and use this knowledge to project the future direction of outsourcing research. The critical outsourcing issues and the integrative theoretical perspective presented in this study may provide both researchers and practitioners with new insights in the direction and focus of future outsourcing trends.