Worldwide IT services revenue totaled $624.4 billion in 2005, <A HREF="http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9589_22-6085387.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=zdnn">a 6 percent increase</A> from 2004 revenue of $588.9 billion, according to Gartner. "Traditionally, the outsourcing service segment has been the key growth area for the worldwide IT services market, but that trend was altered in 2005," said Kathryn Hale, research vice president for Gartner's worldwide IT services group. "In 2005, project-based services and software support grew at a greater rate than the overall market average, which has not been the case since 2000." IBM continued to be the worldwide market leader, but its growth rate was below the industry average.