Concerns have been raised over the provision of IT support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the future, due to low numbers of computer science students.

A professor at Cambridge has complained about the lack of applicants for these courses this year and blamed it on the "geeky" image of the subject.

"We don't portray ourselves to potential applicants in a contemporary way," explained the head of Cambridge's computer laboratory, Professor Andy Hopper.

"We don't show that computer science knowledge can help solve some of the world's global problems. And we should."

It was added that some potential IT or computer sciences students are put off by their misconception that most jobs after they graduate would involve them heading to India or China.

Although IT outsourcing has found success in those countries and there will likely be offers available, Professor Hopper suggested that there would still be jobs available in the UK, for example in IT support.

In a recent survey of SMEs for Connect, the two most important benefits of outsourcing were 'guaranteed response times' and 'allowing in-house IT staff to concentrate on more strategic issues'.