Outsourcing companies have been increasingly focusing on technological innovations, which could create new opportunities for IT contractors.

Patrick O'Brien, senior analyst at consultancy Ovum, claims that the lack of this trait had traditionally been a complaint levelled at the industry.

He says that many of these companies have been taking steps to try and improve their innovativeness, creating new jobs for those in the contracting business.

"We asked clients about the innovative capabilities of their outsourcing vendors and they were actually extremely positive," he explains.

Mr O'Brien identifies this quality as one over which there is a great deal of competitivity.

The companies he believes will succeed are those that look beyond simple cost-cutting to hiring contractors and other staff that can improve the quality of the service they offer.

The International Association of Outsourcing Professionals recently predicted that there would be a rise in the number of firms using contractors to help them make use of advanced management technologies such as object-relational mapping.