Fast growing acceptance of hosted services, specifically software-as-a-service, is pushing utility computing into enterprises, analysts claim.

New research from In-Stat suggests that, as most business functions are still performed in-house, outsourcing the management of the network and related infrastructure may still be considered a "trend".

The hosted application model, however, is fast becoming a "paradigm", according to the high-tech market research firm.

"Business decision-makers plan to 'out-task' major business functions like security, storage and phone system management at a moderate pace, but adoption of third-party application hosting is the fastest growing area in managed services," said In-Stat analyst Jeff Jernigan.

"The on-demand hosted application model has seen acceptance in the small-to-medium business market, and demand is now rising among enterprise-sized firms. The on-demand model will also hasten the adoption of utility computing services."

Recent research by In-Stat points to a seven per cent overall compound annual growth rate for managed services through to 2012.

While the majority of business functions are still performed in-house, In-Stat research shows that convergence and complexity will aid in steady managed services revenue growth.