One market faring OK in the recession is managed services. As corporate IT staffing gets squeezed, more firms will find purchase of third-party managed services a cost-effective alternative to hiring more workers. That's the finding of a report from Insight Research Corp.

Insight predicts managed services revenue to grow from nearly $30 billion in 2008 to nearly $43 billion in 2013. Carriers, service providers, IT equipment vendors, systems integrators and specialist firms all stand to benefit. Though Insight President Robert Rosenberg notes his company had to downgrade its forecast, “this storm does have a silver lining for the managed services providers, since enterprise IT and telecom managers will be much more willing to listen to the economic logic of outsourcing now that internal staffing is contracting,” says Insight President Robert Rosenberg.

The report, “Managed Services in an IP World: New Opportunities for Wireless and Wired Networks 2009-2014, focuses on five managed service segments all driven by the shift of voice, data and video to converged networks. There are managed data center services, managed infrastructure, managed LAN services, managed WAN services and managed mobility services. What’s more, there are all kinds of specialty subdivisions, such as VPNs, security services, VoIP and cellular services.

According to Insight, managed services will appeal most to medium size firms of 100 to 500 employees. Small firms don’t typically need advanced services, and large companies have the resources to manage their own networks, if not the desire.

You can find a report excerpt and purchase information here.

Amy Schurr is the former managing features editor of Network World.