The Externalisation of Producer Services Debate: The UK Computer Services Sector

Abstract

This article uses a variety of evidence from the UK computer services industry to inform debates surrounding externalisation processes and the nature of growth in contemporary producer service sectors. While it has been argued that growth in such industries is predominantly demand-lead and independent from the disintegration of businesses in client sectors, in the computer services sector the direct transfer of activity from client firms to independent computer service providers is an increasingly important component of growth at an aggregate, national scale. Growth in this segment is being fuelled by the de-regulation of public sector IT procurenment in the UK.