Lead analyst at Ovum, Peter Ryan, said the unrest is putting the country's outsourcing credentials at risk.

"Ovum believes that Egypt's outsourcing space retains value in the form of a sizeable talent pool with significant education and language skills," he said. "This, along with generous financial incentives, has been the backbone of the country's growth in services."

The virtual state of martial law imposed by the Mubarak government, however, impacts the ability of outsourcers to service their clients and counters the pro-business message of openness which has typically encouraged foreign investment, he said.

"It is clear that the expression 'business as usual' has no practical application for outsourcing work currently slated for Egypt. Communications within, to, and from the country have been minimal, and staff are under government curfews restricting movements to and from work. These constraints are giving outsourcers on the ground a significant amount of pain from the strain of fulfilling tactical processes and ensuring that adequate labour and technology backups are in place." In recent years, several large global players have established themselves in Egypt, such as Sutherland Global Services, Xceed and Raya. Microsoft has already begun to move some of its work out of Egypt.