Monitoring of outsourcing arrangements is getting a lot of focus from regulators and companies of late, and there is an industrywide push to improve policies, processes and procedures. But how exactly should outsourcing be defined? This definition will set the scope for what activities or arrangements should fall within the boundaries of these governance and monitoring exercises. In this briefing note Patrick Meghan and Padraic O’Malley explore the definition of outsourcing and give some food for thought when setting a company’s definition.