The IT outsourcing sector is expected to grow next year, according to the latest report from Research and Markets.

Studies by the analyst found that expansion will be driven by an increase in mergers, acquisitions, competition and globalisation, which will lead the business process outsourcing industry to witness higher demand for new applications.

Describing its findings, the group commented: “There is an increase in outsourcing of key business functions and related IT operations, as companies intend to get the right things done for less money.”

The organisation went on to say that processes that firms choose to outsource are those that are necessary but provide no competitive edge, including administration, billing, payroll, training, human resources functions and logistics management.

In other IT outsourcing news, in February next year the first law international summit on cloud computing in London will attempt to tackle the legal issues around the current shift to cloud-based IT services.