According to Gartner, worldwide IT services revenue totaled $748 billion in 2007, a 10.5 percent increase from 2006 revenue of $677 billion.

"This strong growth, combined with strong first quarter results for market leaders, runs counter to the gloomy and widespread economic concerns arising in the United States," said Kathryn Hale, research vice president for Gartner's worldwide IT services group. "Many providers are successfully selling buyer value propositions that external spending on IT services and solutions can help customers save money and be more productive, even in a profoundly uncertain economic climate."

As per Gartner's research, IBM continued to be the worldwide market leader across all IT services, with 7.2 percent of the market. IBM and Accenture delivered strong growth rates, 12.2 percent and 19.7 percent, respectively, and were the only companies in the top six that experienced revenue growth rates above the overall market average.

While global sourcing makes the location of a provider's headquarters increasingly less relevant, Gartner tracks this information for more than 360 vendors who collectively account for more than 70 percent of end-user spending worldwide. While India-based vendors' IT services revenue grew 38 percent in 2007, these companies earned only 4.1 percent of revenue tracked, and US-based vendors dominated the IT services market with 55.4 percent of that total.

"To build on their success in 2007, service providers should focus on selling services that will deliver visible returns in 2008, either in cost, speed to market, or business impact," said Hale. "They should also focus on growing sales in emerging markets that enjoy faster-growing economies and high growth rates in IT services."