IT contractors will have to show that new projects will provide quick results if they are to be signed off by company directors, it has been claimed.

Private company budgets for IT are unlikely to rise this year, so all costs will need to be justified, according to a business analysis website.

The latest figures from Microsoft suggest that 63 per cent of the firm's small business partners expected to increase their IT spending this year, with virtualisation and software as a service their top priorities.

Silicon.com's editor Steve Ranger agrees that organisations will invest, but they will be more cautious about how they spend their money.

"Organisations are recognising they need to invest in new technology if they are going to be ready for growth when it comes," he said.

Larger debt concerns in Europe mean that EU countries will see the slowest growth in the global IT market in 2010, according to data from Forrester Research.