Financial services and the public sector remain the biggest clients of IT consultancies but the availability of new technologies such as cloud computing and continued austerity have meant increasing take-up in other sectors.
While the overall IT consultancy sector grew 5% in spending, the construction and transportation sectors increased spending by 80% more in 2011 compared to 2010. The figure for the resources and energy sector was 39%.
In its Trends in UK consulting in times of austerity report, the Management Consultancies Association (MCA) revealed that the changing use of technology in these sectors is creating IT consultancy growth.
The report also revealed that IT management consulting is the second largest management consulting service in financial services. This is the result of the need for accurate processing and storage of data, the digitisation of services and data security requirements.
The public sector accounts for a 20% of IT management consulting fees. But 2011 saw the first drop in its spending on IT management consulting since 2007.
"Even through a period of austerity, the demands of consumers and the ability of new technology to deliver better options for businesses mean that this is an important and growing market for management consultancy firms in the UK," said Alan Leaman, CEO at the MCA.
"The UK has a strong background in IT solutions for large multinational business, and is a world leader in cyber security. This market creates a formidable platform to export our consultancy skills around the world."
