Challenges with Implementing Data Warehousing Offshore in a Flat World: Issues for Study

Thomas Friedman, in his 2007 book, The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the 21 st Century (New York: Picador), discusses offshoring as a “flattener.” As a business strategy enacted to attain high levels of competency while reducing cost, offshoring is not a new idea, especially in information technology. The strategy of offshoring data warehousing and business intelligence (BI), however, is relatively new. In fact, there is little industry and trade literature on the topic, and virtually is no research available in the management, decision sciences, and information systems academic literature. This dearth of research persists despite recognition that business intelligence and data warehousing activities are gaining credence as competitive differentiators for companies. This paper highlights this research void, offering a review of the very limited literature available on the topic. Additionally, the paper sketches a picture of the challenges and risks companies face when deploying their data warehousing offshore; these challenges involve complexity, cultural communication, and data security. A discussion of outsourcing and offshoring in the context of Friedman’s “flat world” illustrates the social ramifications of offshoring and reinforces the call for increased research in the field.