Switching to more open-source software, cloud computing and virtualisation could save the US government billions of dollars, according to a study.

The budget crunch means governments, as well as other agencies and businesses, will be forced to do more with less, the survey states.

Published by MeriTalk, Red Hat and DLT Solutions, it suggests that the three combined IT services could save the US government $23.6 billion (16.1 GBP), IDG reports.

The study highlights the need to look for new ways of doing business and think strategically about long-term business IT investments, comments Peter Tseronis, deputy associate chief information officer for the US Department of Energy.

Cloud computing could be set to change the way IT is paid for, SAP vice-president of large enterprises David Keene said earlier this month.

He suggested at the Intellect Annual Regent Conference 2009 that cloud application platforms will battle with on-premise ones.

More than half of small businesses (53 per cent) believe that the most important benefit of outsourcing is guaranteed response times for IT support. London-based Connect conducted the research in 2007.