Small businesses in IT can find a great number of benefits in outsourcing their software services to a specialist company, it has been stated.

Ross Taylor, a marketing manager at Direct Response, stated that companies are able to reduce their overhead costs and do not have to consider management issues as that is something already done for the customer.

Furthermore, flexibility of the service also means that it can be tailored with greater ease to the demands of the buyer, he explained.

Mr Taylor continued: "Also the advantage of outsourcing is [in terms of] development costs, new technologies, new processes and new ways of doing things; you don't have to invest to do that in-house."

The expert commented on how the outsourcer is paying for that to be done themselves and is simply passing on the benefits to the consumer.

Earlier this week, a study carried out by research firm Vanson Bourne found that talent was being wasted in small businesses in IT through the sheer amount of administrative work that needed to be done - something which could be automated and outsourced.

More than half of small businesses (53 per cent) believe that the most important benefit of outsourcing is guaranteed response times for IT support. London-based Connect conducted the research in 2007.