IT OUTSOURCING PARTNERSHIPS: EMPIRICAL RESEARCH ON KEY SUCCESS FACTORS IN BULGARIAN ORGANIZATIONS

Outsourcing has recently developed as an overall business strategy in the search for global competitiveness. As a part of this process, IT outsourcing is widely spread in the Central and Eastern European countries. The objective of the paper is to identify the key factors affecting the success of IT outsourcing partnerships on the basis of an empirical study conducted in Bulgaria. The paper presents selected results from a survey of outsourcing relations considering the development of successful strategic partnerships in IT outsourcing practices. According to its results, the most influential factors of these partnerships' success are the level of achievement of partnership goals, top management commitment, and the level of effective communication. In addition to this, a trustful sharing of information and knowledge between partners can build a competitive synergy for achieving goals which otherwise cannot be accomplished separately by the organizations themselves. The key factors contribute to the strengthening of IT outsourcing partnerships and to the improvement of the organizational performance of both partners.