An increasing proportion of the information systems in both the US and British governments are now developed and maintained by private sector companies. Previous chapters have provided evidence of this trend. As the first chapter showed, information technology engendered a need for organised expertise, drawing teams of technically skilled personnel into government. A high proportion of such personnel have since been replaced by private sector computer companies, with the US government having contracted out around 50 per cent of information technology work by the 1990s. As Chapters 3 and 6 have shown, the UK social security and taxation agencies both embarked on major outsourcing contracts in 1994. The purpose of this chapter is to draw together government-wide evidence on information technology contracting to examine the history, nature and implications of this trend.