As the credit crunch bites, companies are looking ever more closely to their IT departments in order to make them more flexible, efficient and profitable and hence more capable of withstanding whatever the inclement economic times throws at them.

Demand for IT will defy the downturn and increase by 2% next year, according to the European Information Technology Observatory (EITO). The market research institute said the value of IT services

Technology-enabled flexible working will increase as employers move away from the assumption that those that are at their desks longer are doing more work. If employers support flexible working it will inevitably take off because workers are demanding it