Majoreconomicupheavalscanhavethesortofe?ectthatSchumpeterforesaw60 yearsagoascreativedestruction.Inscienceandtechnology, equivalentupheavals resultfromeitherscienti?crevolutions(asobservedbyKuhn)ortheintroduction of what Christensen calls disruptive technologies. And in software engineering, there has been no technology more disruptive than outsourcing. That it should so quickly reach maturity and an unparalleled scale is truly remarkable; that it should now be called to demonstrate its sustainability in the current ?nancial turmoil is the challenge that will prove whether and how it will...