Information Technology Outsourcing: A Taxonomy of Prior Studies and Directions for Future Research

This paper reviews the nearly 20 years of scholarly research on information technology outsourcing (ITO), with an explicit focus on developing a taxonomy for AIS academics and extracting valuable suggestions for AIS practitioners. Our taxonomy subdivides the ITO research into separate streams: (1) initial outsourcing decision and its determinants, (2) execution of the outsourcing contract and dynamics of outsourcing relationships, and (3) measurement of outsourcing results and the long-term organizational consequences of outsourcing. We consider the primary research questions addressed, summarize the major findings, and identify the theories and methods used. Finally, we highlight the limited accounting studies on ITO and discuss directions for potential synergies between accounting and IS scholars.