The future of global sourcing: Trends and enduring challenges

Abstract

When we began research in this area in 1989, the IT outsourcing (ITO) market was quite small, only an estimated US$3 billion market. Today, the global ITO market is a US$200 billion market, and, in terms of size the BPO market is rapidly catching up. Ironically, clients have sought the same benefits from outsourcing for the past 17 years. Clients typically seek operational, transformational, or strategic benefits from global sourcing (see Table 11.1). But despite the growth, learning has been painfully slow. And most disturbingly, outcomes rarely meet all the client’s and supplier’s a priori expectations.