LESSONS LEARNED FROM OFFSHORE IT OUTSOURCING:
A CLIENT AND VENDOR PERSPECTIVE

Peter Haried, College of Business Administration, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
haried.pete@uwlax.edu 1
K. (Ram) Ramamurthy, Sheldon B. Lubar School of Business, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
ramurthy@uwm.edu

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  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.