IT contractors should be aware of the growth of online business and the growth of Twitter as a medium for firms, an expert has advised.

Deborah Collier, managing director and chief strategist at Echo E-Business, claimed that social media is becoming increasingly important and can create ten times the click-through rate of a more traditional email marketing campaign.

She suggested that IT contractors with a speciality in designing delivery and shipping systems could also experience a big boost in the next 12 months.

These services will be more in demand during 2010 due to customer's memories of the postal strike.

Ms Collier added that companies will need to embrace and explore the possibilities presented by mobile commerce in order to maximise its effectiveness.

She said: "Throughout the next decade, we will become less and less attached to our computers and more connected to our surrounding world via cutting-edge technologies and handheld mobile devices."

Other growth areas that could interest IT contractors include enterprise resource planning systems, which National Computing Centre director Michael Dean predicted will be crucial next year.