The Art of Outsourcing Information Technology: How Culture and Attitude Affect Client-Vendor Relationships

Increasing numbers of businesses and Information Technology firms are outsourcing their software and Web development tasks. It is has been estimated that currently half of the Fortune 500 companies have utilized outsourcing for their development needs and estimates that by the end of 2008, 40% of U.S. companies will either develop, test, support, or store software overseas, with another 40% considering doing the same. Several industries, from computer software to telemarketing, have begun aggressively shifting white-collar work out of the United States. The United States currently accounts for more than half of worldwide spending on IT outsourcing, with a growing portion of this spending going to countries such as India, Russia, and the Philippines, and this trend will continue. Research has indicated that the primary problem is language because of idiomatic expressions and subtle cultural nuances associated with the use of particular words. Thus communication frequently breaks down when dealing with overseas companies.