International strategic alliances in the IT field

Abstract

Background. International strategic alliances are becoming one of the most appropriate forms of partnership between domestic IT firms and leading foreign IT companies. However, gaining membership in such an alliance without prior planning can result not only in benefits but also significant losses, which are often ignored and not calculated in advance by domestic representatives of the IT-industry.
An analysis of recent research and publications has shown that, despite the existence of some scientific developments, the issues related to determining the advantages and disadvantages of international strategic alliances in the field of information technologies remain unresolved.
The aim of the article is to identify the advantages and disadvantages of creating international strategic alliances in the field of information technologies.
Materials and methods. Methods of theoretical generalization, analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction are applied.
Results. The advantages and disadvantages of international strategic alliances in the IT sphere are identified and characterized. The key advantages of creating international strategic alliances in the IT sphere include: maintaining a greater share of autonomy; achieving new goals; expanding the customer base; improving the quality of services, goods; financial infusions; avoidance of tariff and non-tariff restrictions; expanding the database of contacts. The key shortcomings of the creating international strategic alliances in the IT sphere include: loss of autonomy of management and control; «brain»drain; copyright disputes; uneven costs; differences in terminology; cultural and language barriers; unforeseen conflicts.
Conclusion. The need for careful substantiation of decisions on the entry of domestic IT companies into the international strategic alliance has been established. It is argued that the advantages and disadvantages of international strategic alliances in the IT field in most cases depend on the position taken by partners in the creation of ISAs.