Cloud computing will be high priority for businesses this year, according to one expert, which could see a surge in contractor jobs in the sector.

Nathan Marke, chief technology officer at 2e2 said that cloud computing would help IT departments to save money and utilise more flexible practises.

"Organisations are realising that by using cloud computing models they can gain more flexibility in their cost and skills base, whilst also achieving the scalability for growth, at less cost and with greater flexibility than traditional IT models," he added.

Meanwhile, research by the International Data Corporation found that the worldwide cloud system management software market will experience strong growth over the next few years and reach $2.5 billion (£1.56 billion) by 2015.

Additionally, businesses will require highly integrated and automated system management software tools to make the most of IT processes and application performance across the hybrid of cloud and non-cloud resources.