Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should consider outsourcing their IT requirements to increase efficiency, an expert has commented.

Dominic Monkhouse, managing director of desktop systems management agency itlab, made his comments to online resource ITPro, asserting that smaller firms in particular stand to make real savings by turning to a service provider.

He suggested that calling in outside support could enable greater levels of data sharing among smaller firms, which can increase efficiency and improve sales.

Recently, marketing intelligence organisation ICD suggested that the IT services market in Western Europe remains steady despite a gloomy economic outlook because of the number of firms outsourcing their requirements.

Last month, Laura Converso, a research manager at IDC, predicted: "At a worldwide level, IDC estimates that western Europe will eclipse the US to become the largest geographic market for ... outsourcing by 2009."

However, despite this forecast, the study predicted the growth in demand will slow.

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)

IDC anticipates a drop of 1.8 per cent in spending growth during 2008 compared to 2007.