Asia Pacific managing director of the outsourcing consultancy, Arno Franz, said 2006 was a stand-out year for the region accounting for 13 percent of the global market.

"It is the first time market share has exceeded 10 per cent since 2002; but the relative immaturity of the Asia Pacific market makes it prone to spikes in activity so it remains to be seen if this is the start of an ongoing growth trend," Franz said.

The compound annual growth rate for service providers in the region is 10.5 per cent, according to TPI, which is more than double the global rate of 4.5 percent.

Despite the 'lumpy' nature of the Asia Pacific market in terms of yearly contract awards, Franz said the sustained growth in annualized revenues since 2002 suggests there is some strength in the region's outsourcing market.

The big six service providers, namely Accenture Ltd., Affiliated Computer Services Inc., CSC Corp., EDS Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., and IBM Corp., are losing market share.