The internet has been instrumental in the changing way that information is now looked at, it has been stated.

Joint managing director of System Concepts Tom Stewart said that there was a downside in the proliferation of internet technology in that people now find it more difficult to "get to the bottom of things" due to the sheer volume of information on offer.

He said that before the technology came along, "you would go to the library and there would be two books on the topic, and if you were really keen you could read both those books".

As a result, he added, people needed to be much cleverer with resources such as Google to track down the information.

Computer-savvy adults and middle-aged individuals were noted for using brain functions that harnessed complex reasoning when searching the internet, according to a study led by scientists at the University of California last month.

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.