Businesses should be embracing IT outsourcing to free up resources, not merely to reduce costs, it has been claimed.

Writing for ComputerWorld.com, Adam Hartung commented that the overall objective when delegating functions to an external support provider is to make the business perform better.

“What most of them need is more room to experiment, try new technologies, try new applications, try new solutions, seek out new customer market opportunities and find ways to grow the business,” he suggested.

Mr Hartung said outsourcers can help achieve these goals, also noting that they can help complete end-of-life projects cheaply and quickly.

Firms should also be wary about spending on legacy systems as they plan to outsource IT, he noted.

Anthony Hayes, head of IT supplier management at the Royal Mail, recently told Computer Weekly that it is inevitable more businesses will choose to embrace IT outsourcing in future.