IT outsourcing decisions will be made with more assurance this year as businesses are becoming more confident.

This is the view of software and IT consultancy firm Ovum, which said the outsourcing industry has had a tough time of late as the recession did not lead to as big a surge in the market as expected.

Patrick O’Brien, senior analyst at Ovum, said a number of outsourcers expected to generate more business as firms looked to reduce their costs during the economic downturn.

‘Now businesses may well have at least settled and may have a bit more of a longer-term outlook or visibility for the year ahead,’ he said.

‘There’s a little bit more confidence and a little bit more visibility with businesses. That enables them to have a bit more confidence in making strategic decisions around outsourcing.’

Mr O’Brien’s comments follow the publication of a report from managed services company Hibernia Evros Technology Group, which claimed that outsourcing can benefit an organisation regardless of its size.

According to the firm, small to medium-sized companies can really benefit from outsourcing their IT projects.