Outsourcing is now considered an integral part of clinical drug development, not just a short-term fix for a temporary resource constraint. The efficiency and cost-effectiveness of drug development is often determined by the sponsors’ outsourcing strategy, its ability to select the right providers and its skill in managing the sponsor-provider relationship. The DIA outsourcing summit is designed to bring together executives and operational personnel from biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, service providers, and study sites to benchmark best practices and engage in discussions on how to achieve greater value from outsourcing. The goal is to enable participants to share insights and experiences and to examine how to apply these concepts to their own projects and corporate culture.