IT leaders need to have the right approach to outsourcing if they are to gain good returns from it, according to an expert.

Lee Ayling, managing director of the IT advisory team at IT and business transformation consultancy EquaTerra, tells ComputerWeekly.com that companies seeking London IT support need to make sure they manage the outsourcing contract so that it meet their needs.

He warns that traditional IT personnel are usually more technically-orientated and do not necessarily possess the relationship skills required.

“A chief information officer who has been through outsourcing before will understand up front what extra skills they need to bring in,” he tells the news provider.

Firms may want to create a new supplier relationship management role to manage the contract, suggests Andrew Parker, a vice president and research director with Forrester Research.

This week, industry analyst Gartner predicted that vertical IT expenditure will total $2.7 trillion (Ј1.86 trillion) this year, seeing particular growth in the utilities, healthcare and government sectors.