Virtualisation technologies capable of cutting datacentre energy use, remote working and "Green IT" will have the biggest impact on the IT industry over the next few years, according to an exclusive survey carried out by BusinessGreen.com's sister title IT Week.

IT Week carried out the survey to mark its 10-year anniversary this week, questioning 620 UK IT managers on the biggest IT developments and issues from the past decade and going forwards.

When asked to choose the three technologies or trends that would have the most impact on the industry in the future, more than half of respondents cited virtualisation – a software technology that allows firms to consolidate much of their IT hardware by running the work typically undertaken by a number of servers or PCs on one machine. This was followed by 43 per cent for virtual working and 38 per cent for green IT.

Richard Dawson, IT services manager at Bracknell Forest Borough Council, agreed that virtualisation will have a huge impact going forward, providing organisations with the opportunity to curb their energy use, carbon emissions and costs, while simultaneously making their IT infrastructure easier to manage.

"We've taken the VMware route to help reduce the cost of our server estate," he explained. "This has also led to a reduction in power and CO2 that dovetails with the council's green agenda. Within one year we have virtualised 140 servers. We have even accelerated the project to take advantage of the savings. "

The interest in technologies capable of cutting carbon emissions and supporting greener business models was also evident in the support for virtual or remote working by just under half of respondents. Moreover, broadband emerged as the most important technology development by far looking back over the past decade, rated in the top three by almost three-quarters of readers.

The importance of the internet was also reflected by the half of respondents who rated e-commerce, another carbon efficient business model, as a key development.

With all of the top three priorities containing a green element the poll further highlights the extent to which environmental concerns are shaping IT departments' thinking.

A version of this article first appeared at IT Week