The role of vendor companies in IS/IT outsourcing

The academic literature on IS/IT outsourcing and insourcing mainly considers the client perspective, making diagnosis and giving prescription for client management and less is known about IS/IT vendor company perspectives. The research reported here concentrates on vendor supplied IS/IT services contracted by corporate client companies in the UK. It is argued that to better understand change in the IS/IT function, client and vendor strategy should be conceptualized as a professional service firm relationship. Four possible strategies are identified from interviewees' accounts and interpreted using an adaptation of Baker and Faulkner's (strategies for managing suppliers of professional services. California Management Review, 1991, 33(4), 33-45.) archetypes: reciprocal, client dominant, vendor dominant and preferred vendor. It is concluded that the vendor company contribution to IS/IT organizational structure and competences will be facilitated by reciprocal and preferred vendor strategy. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.