Offshore Outsourcing: Trends, Pitfalls, and Practices

The allure of offshore outsourcing is just too enticing for companies to ignore. Organizations are drawn by short-term cost reductions and the long-term promise of greater staffing flexibility and overall business agility. But because outsourcing involves several potential pitfalls and a number of critical success factors, the decision to outsource should not be made lightly. This is the first of two Executive Reports on offshore and nearshore outsourcing. Part I focuses on the origins and trends, traces the evolution of IT and business process outsourcing from their origins to the dominating global model, examines the forces driving global sourcing, and discusses the factors critical for offshoring success.