Critical success factors for offshore software outsourcing contract management from vendors´ perspective: an exploratory study using a systematic literature review

Offshore software development outsourcing is a recent and widely used business strategy for the development of high quality products at low cost. The objective of the research presented in this study is to find critical success factors (CSFs) for contract management to assist vendor organisations for successful outcomes of the offshore software outsourcing contract. A systematic literature review (SLR) process was performed for the identification of factors that can assist vendor organisations in successful management of the various activities at different stages of the outsourcing contract. that is, pre-contract, during contract and post-contract. Our findings reveal that `contract flexibility, `trustworthy relationship management´, `competitive bidding´, `consultation and negotiation´ and `quality management´ are considered as the CSFs for outsourcing vendor organisations in planning, management and execution of outsourcing contract.