IT is the most outsourced corporate activity, according to a new study.

The website zdnet.com reports that a recent study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) found that 57 per cent of companies said that they already outsourced IT services and 37 per cent revealed that they did this to "a significant extent".

According to the survey, 55 per cent of businesses think that they will expand the scope of their IT outsourcing in the near future.

A separate investigation from PwC found that 87 per cent of companies which already outsource believe that it achieves the benefits originally projected.

However, outsourcing is now viewed as such an essential tool for businesses that 91 per cent of companies said they would outsource things like IT services whether they were happy with the product or not.

"Outsourcing is still very much the game, but the rules have changed," said Pat McArdle, the global outsourcing partner at PwC.

"The lightning pace of growth in outsourcing is only matched by the transformation of the market."