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We think the managed security services opportunity is enormous and so we have been an active participant and probably the largest firm in this space outside of an IBM or EDS, which does large outsourcing contracts.

Will the industry outsource more? I think it depends on the client base.

One of the marked characteristics of the U.K. security industry as compared with defence is the lack of company scale. This can put our firms at a competitive disadvantage when it comes to big contracts.

A lot of companies are clueless, because they spend most or all of their security budget on high-tech security like fire walls and biometric authentication - which are important and needed - but then they don't train their people.

A consultant is someone who saves his client almost enough to pay his fee.

A company can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on firewalls, intrusion detection systems and encryption and other security technologies, but if an attacker can call one trusted person within the company, and that person complies, and if the attacker gets in, then all that money spent on technology is essentially wasted.

In the ideal scenario, consultants work for a board, and they're helping the board check on certain aspects of management. Their work is made public and transparent.

I'm not sure that you can say definitively that some roles are better filled by consultants, but I would say that some projects are better handled by consultants.

At our company, our Design and Construction Consulting Service Team not only helps eliminate the risks inherent in the construction process, they typically save our clients 5% - 10% on overall construction costs. They also help make sure projects come in on time.

The other part of outsourcing is this: it simply says where the work can be done outside better than it can be done inside, we should do it.