In order to cope with an increasingly difficult environment, organizations adopt more efficient and more flexible structures. These structures include delocation, divestment, strategic alliances and even the virtual organization. These modifications often seek to centre the organization on its core competencies. Many strategic alliances follow this logic. Organizations choose a partner in order to use its distinctive competencies and to maximize the use of their own competencies. In this line of reasoning, information systems (IS) outsourcing is seen as a divestment of activities that are not at the core of the organization's operations. Results presented in this paper, based on a survey of 641 Canadian firms, support this trend. They also show the importance of precise and enforceable measures in managing outsourcing contracts.