He said several key points should be kept in mind when deciding on open-source applications:

-- "Don't be overly excited or panicked about it because it's open source," Astor said. "This has got nothing to do with being open source. It's a tool."

-- Costs for evaluation, testing, deployment and support will likely be similar for open-source and proprietary applications. Real cost savings will be for licenses, which can save 5 percent to 25 percent of a product's total cost of ownership, Astor said. "Projects are difficult. They're large. They're complex. Open-source projects are no different," he said.

-- Where open-source applications can shine in corporate IT environments is in software features and easy customization, he said. Corporate users care less about seeing the code than about getting quality software that works and is supported by a large community of open-source developers who are responsive to making fixes, improvements and other needed changes.

-- If you are paying for support for your open-source applications, make sure that your support vendor has staff members who are active members of the open-source communities that maintain and develop your software. Astor said. "Be sure your vendor is a 'joiner' so they have the expertise," he said.