A Relationship Perspective on IT Outsourcing

The article focuses on the role of outsourcing in the management of information technology and systems (ITS) portfolios of companies. Outsourcing is defined as the process which involves contracting out of various information systems functions such as management of data centers, operations, hardware support, software maintenance, network, and even application development, to external service providers. A two-dimensional framework to examine information system outsourcing relations of client organizations with their service providers has been developed. Four types of relationships and three types of movements have been recommended for better understanding of dynamic outsourcing relationships