This TowerGroup Research Note analyzes the evolution of the outsourcing market in Japan as well as the underlying trends in the financial services industry that are precipitating this change. This Note also examines specific outsourcing deals inked over the past two years and the ways they differ from previous outsourcing arrangements. In particular, it outlines several examples of application-based shared utilities intended to support groups of regional banks. Finally, TowerGroup analyzes relevant IT spending trends that accentuate the market change discussed in this Note.