The IT department as we know it could be dead within five years, says Gartner.

The analyst predicts that increased concentration on business processes and outsourcing will mean that at least 60 per cent of IT departments will reduce their in-house workforce by half by 2008, compared to the average department size in 2000.

'Our expectation is that real value will come from business processes - and this could mean the end of the IT department as we know it,' said John Mahoney, managing vice president at analyst Gartner.

'The outsourcing trend of technology and business processes will mean that where IT is not critical, companies will not need a specific head of IT.'

IT directors will begin to take on more management-focussed roles within different sectors of the organisation as IT becomes more embedded within the business.

Gartner forecasts that at least one-third of IT director roles will transform of disappear by 2009.

'You could see this as a bad trend - or as an indicator of the increasing maturity of IT. But what this will all mean is huge changes,' said Mahoney.

Remaining IT directors will need to spend more than 50 per cent of their time on external relationships to ensure they deliver expected results.

By 2009, Gartner predicts the management of business processes will supersede management of technology as the leading value contribution for more than 50 percent of blue-chip IT departments.

Businesses will look continue to look towards outsourcing as method for providing IT services.

Gartner, who will present the findings at its forthcoming Gartner Symposium ITxpo in Cannes, predicts that 50 per cent of IT departments will refocus on brokering services by 2008, rather than on delivering IT services directly.

What do you think? Email feedback@computing.co.uk

If you want to be first with the news, visit Computing every day.