Nearly half of the service providers, primarily representing BPO, infrastructure management and application maintenance, indicated that the slowdown has not impacted the deals pipeline in the current quarter. On the contrary, many of these companies are seeing a stronger deals pipeline and accelerated sign-ups.

However, companies representing the new application development and offshore engagements reported delays, downsizing or renegotiation of contracts.

"The study also included in-depth interviews with analysts from Gartner, TPI, Compass Consulting and The Hackett Group," said Ed Nair, editor, Global Services, in a press release.

Nearly two-thirds of the outsourcing buyers said that their companies will go ahead with the planned projects.

Over a third of the buyers denied there were across-the-board cuts in IT spending, while an equal number admitted that their companies may prioritise the outsourcing of IT projects in the short term.