Business outcomes are increasingly being written into outsourcing agreements as companies respond to the recession, according to analysts at IT market research company Gartner.

The IT services market declined last year as a result of businesses changing strategies amid recession, says the company. Worldwide spending on IT services declined 5.3 percent to $763 billion in 2009, compared with $805 billion in 2008.

In the wake of economic turmoil, suppliers and end-customers are increasingly drafting outsourcing agreements with a defined business outcome. According to the Gartner research, suppliers that focused on the business outcome did better than average last year.

"The economic uncertainties and the crisis in industry have had negative implications on the worldwide consulting market in 2009, and many providers' revenue growth rates were negatively impacted. However, business outcome-focused providers of consulting services with established business relationships were often successful in growing their market share better than the market average," says Gartner.