Research firm predicts significant increase in IT outsourcing

Over the next several years, federal spending on information technology outsourcing likely will increase 18 percent annually, reaching about $15 billion by 2007, up from $6 billion in 2002, research firm Input said Wednesday.

"A combination of administrative pressures to compete non-governmental activities and difficulty retaining and replacing qualified ... personnel is driving a significant increase in spending by federal agencies for IT outsourcing services," said Input analyst Payton Smith.

He added that GOP leadership in Congress "will foster a generally favorable atmosphere" towards outsourcing this year. According to the report, current IT initiatives will help bolster the need to outsource.

For example, the Navy/Marine Corps intranet program at the Defense Department and the IT Managed Services contract at the Transportation Security Administration will "play a significant role in defining future outsourcing projects in the defense and civilian agencies, respectively," Smith said.