Determinants of IT Outsourcing Relationships: A Recipient – Provider Perspective

Even though there is a big established IT outsourcing market, one can witness considerable amount of failed projects there. It is proven that good relationships between an outsourcing recipient and a provider contribute to the outsourcing success whereas less successful relationships increase the cost of outsourcing. The research in this area is mostly focused on either an outsourcing provider or more often on an outsourcing recipient, hardly considering both sides of the outsourcing relationships simultaneously. Moreover, there is no study on the importance of the determinants of the IT outsourcing relationships which takes into consideration both parties. In this research we are presenting the determinants of the IT outsourcing relationships. Moreover, we are evaluating the importance of the IT relationship determinants in the case study of the relationships between one outsourcing provider and one outsourcing recipient by using interviews as a data collection method and a content analysis as a data analysis method. The new findings can be used for the enhancement of the relationships between the outsourcing recipient and the provider, to improve the service deliveries to the end users and ultimately to contribute to the outsourcing success.