"Large organisations are perfectly prepared to use free software where possible, and upgrade to a fully paid-for version of the product where it makes sense for them," said Gary Fry, chief executive at Global Graphics.
His views came as new figures have revealed that almost 25 per cent of large companies are considering replacing Microsoft Office and 38 per cent are looking to replace Adobe Acrobat in favour of free alternatives.
According to the Global Graphics research, more than half of these businesses will start using free software in 2010, following IT budget slashes and freezes.
In other news, Google's voice search function, Google Voice, offers new opportunities for software developers, according to Andrew Pouros, chief operations officer for search marketing consultancy Greenlight.
Mr Pouros said Google Voice is "more than just speaking your search terms to instigate a query".
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