Businesses are increasing their use of IT outsourcing in a bid to reduce their costs during the recession, research has found.

According to the National Outsourcing Association (NOA), the market for the activity grew by 12 per cent in 2008, while there was a six per cent increase in business process outsourcing.

In addition, the research found that businesses are investing more in their relationships with the existing outsourcing suppliers, leading 40 per cent of providers to say this has improved their revenue.

Martyn Hart, chairman of the NOA, commented: “In times of economic turbulence it is not surprising that the industry is continuing to grow.”

However, the expert advised companies using IT outsourcing to avoid using low-cost contracts over shorter timeframes in a bid to save money, as this could affect the success of the project.

Last month, a study carried out by the IT Job Board found that 64 per cent of businesses have used a form of outsourcing for some of their IT tasks, with 34 per cent outsourcing over half of their IT department.