Global companies would continue to spend on IT and on processes to improve efficiency of existing IT infrastructure in their organisations, a top IBM official said.

"The way businesses are going, spending money on IT will be to move forward and not backward... The global business environment would make CEOs and CIOs find ways to leverage IT for much better business efficiency," IBM senior vice president and group executive software group Steve Mills told industry leaders at an interaction organised by the National Association of Software and Services Companies.

He said the focus of organisations would be on consolidating their server space, eliminate redundancy and take advantage of technology like Linux to improve efficiency and be cost-effective.

Mills said IBM's 'e-business on demand' strategy is a way to face new challenges which today's business environment brings with it.

He said leveraging the Internet to outsource activities would increase and countries like India would continue to do back office and front office activities for global corporations.

"There is a clear chance of saving up to 30 per cent in costs in adopting the e-paradigm," Mills said.

Nasscom chairman Som Mittal said Indian companies cannot only add value but also have to be cost-effective for global firms which are facing enormous pressure on profits.