IT outsourcing could save firms a substantial amount of money, a new report suggests.

The Deloitte Outsourcing Report for 2008 reveals that 83 per cent of firms who engaged in the practices achieved their goals of a return on investment of just above 25 per cent.

Deloitte also found that 70 per cent of firms were "satisfied or very satisfied" with the arrangement they had entered in to - the highest figure the survey has ever recorded.

Paul Robison, principal global leader, technology, for the firm said: "It appears [that] companies [which] view outsourcing in a broader strategic context and implement it systematically with proper financial analyses, governance, and methodologies, can gain greater business value."

Computerweekly.co.uk reported that a recent survey by Compass found that IT outsourcing showed an immediate 18 per cent saving on in house operations, rising to 30 per cent by the third year of the contract.

A recent Connect survey found that the two major concerns about outsourcing services like IT support were 'loss of control' (56 per cent) and 'budget over-runs' (43 per cent).