Choosing whether to outsource IT or upgrade systems is a key choice for small and medium-sized enterprises due to their restricted funds, but it has been suggested that they often do not receive adequate government advice on such topics.

According to Eastside Consulting, the support provided by the government is "patchy" and could be improved by consolidating information and advice in just a few locations.

Richard Litchfield, managing director of the small business advice service, said: "It is also quite confusing if you are a small business with all the different enterprise agencies, business support agencies, consultants and advisors that you can potentially go to for advice.

"One of the things driving government policy in this area is to consolidate and reduce the number of entry points that entrepreneurs and business people have to go to."

Mr Litchfield suggested that this could help small firms avoid the cost of hiring business consultants to guide the growth of their company.

But he was not completely critical of the support for SMEs provided by the government, highlighting the use of enterprise capital funds to bring in financial backing as being "on the right track".

Following an injection of funds, SMEs may find the best way to expand and improve efficiency at the same time is by outsourcing their IT services to another firm - allowing them to focus on growing their business.