The integration mechanism of IT outsourcing partnership

In the latest 15 years, the use of IT outsourcing has exploded. With fast changing business environment and IT environment, the relationship between the clients and vendors are evolving from market type of buyer-seller relationship to partnership relationship. Partnership outsourcing has been the trend of IT outsourcing. Some scholar identified five levels of integration for succeed strategic alliance: strategic integration, tactical integration, operational integration, interpersonal integration and cultural integration. We think the five levels integration is also important to the success of partnership outsourcing, but they're not enough. Besides the five levels integration, we should add knowledge integration that is also very important to the success of IT outsourcing partnership. This paper is to discuss all the six levels integration in IT outsourcing partnership. And concluding that only when the client and vendor implement tightly integrate at all the six levels, the partnership can run smoothly, and the client and the vendor can achieve sufficient communication, cooperation and control to the partnership.