IT managers should look at what savings they can make as a recession looms, it has been claimed.

Computerweekly.com reports comments from IT firm Gartner that if IT bosses wait until a recession if officially declared they may be too late.

Speaking to the website, Ken McGee, an analyst at Gartner, explained that last year the firm suggested companies draw up two IT budgets for the year ahead, one of which should reflect what a firm should do if they needed to cut costs.

He said: "Since that time the factors we based the research on - such as GDP growth projections and expert predictions for the likelihood of a recession - have worsened to a degree that convinces us it is now time for clients to prepare for cutting IT costs."

One way companies might be able to cut costs is through outsourcing their IT operations.

Earlier this month Edinburgh city council announced it expects IT outsourcing to save it more than GBP 22 million over the next eight years.

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)