Outsourcing has become a ubiquitous phenomenon, but IT outsourcing success has been elusive. Over half of the outsourcing contracts are ended prematurely and some organizations are beginning to backsource. This research employs a unique lens to understand outsourcing. Although most IT outsourcing studies employ absolute success measure, this research utilizes expectations and disconfirmations to predict success. Specifically, the Expectation Disconfirmation Theory is used to understand the role of various types of expectations on IT outsourcing success. A Delphi study of IT outsourcing experts in addition to a survey on success is utilized to present a triangulation of data to support the value of understanding how a client’s expectations impact that elusive goal of IT outsourcing success
