Despite challenging market conditions, the market for business process outsourcing has remained fairly resilient, an indication of the growing acceptance for the use of external service providers in the delivery of corporate functions. As a result of this buoyancy, IDC Canada's outsourcing services research team has decided to uphold the current forecast until the next major forecast revision period commences in the first quarter of 2005. "Business process outsourcing services have come into their own over the course of the last 12 to 18 months as witnessed by a number of key deals in 2004 that indicate demand is increasing and may soon challenge supply. In order to sustain growth over the long term, vendors will have to remain committed to delivering corporate services across the spectrum from processing and administration to strategic management and planning" says Jim Westcott, outsourcing analyst, IDC Canada.