Global ITO and BPO: Issues and Opportunities for Displaced Professionals

The Fifth Annual International Smart Sourcing Conference was held in Los Angeles, California, September 2123, 2006. The conference contains many interesting papers and panel presentations designed to attract academics and practitioners alike. Client f m s learned about the proper way to outsource their information technology (IT) related fimctions, and about the need to develop a proper relationship with vendor f m s . Many presented papers that detailed their experiences with the outsourcing function, and case histories of successful and unsuccessful outsourcing ventures. Still other papers discussed the socio-economic implications of global outsourcing. One important social issue relates to the plight of displaced professionals in the client country. In this short preface article, we address the associated critical issues and present possible solutions to alleviate this problem.