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When it comes to making a decision on any software to purchase, a phrase that is becoming increasingly more prominent is open source. Like many other corporate buzzwords, many people like the idea or sound of open source software, especially those that are not in the information technology department, but how many can also understand the business implications that go hand-in-hand with an open source solution?

What characteristics should a business look for when deciding on a project management solution? Here are several points to remember when investigating the lasting viability for any software you or your company are considering.

One of the first points of Internet marketing and one of the first points of interest from the financial side of the table is price. Open source project management software can be downloaded from a number of different vendors, free of charge, at this very moment. Many people equate the words “open source” to merely be a synonym for “free, ” but this is not entirely accurate. A piece of software can be called open source when its original source code is made freely available. In its purest form, open source software would also be able to be redistributed by anyone with or without modifications having been made to the original code. All that means is that just because something is marketed as open source it does necessarily have to be free of charge.

While the initial investment to acquire software is one cost associated with it open source project management software, it is not the only price to be considered. Total cost of ownership must be accounted for, when any software is about to be incorporated into your environment. Even if a program is free to download and use, you may end up paying money to consultants to assist with technical support or even rewriting parts of the code, in order to better fit your company’s needs. Open source software, as a general rule, does lower the cost barrier for entry into a field for smaller companies, but as with any purchase, you’ll want to be sure that you are providing the best long-term solution for your workforce.

Interoperability is another concern. Seamless interaction between applications is an oft overlooked but vital characteristic of any going concern. Consider Microsoft Office as an example. Scheduling meetings, sending emails, creating spreadsheets and memos can all be easily accomplished with this suite of programs, but an added bonus is a similar feature set and familiar controls. If an employee is familiar with one aspect of Microsoft Office, they already have some built-in knowledge of the other pieces of the suite, even if they don’t realize it. There are plenty of open source project management solutions available and certainly any of them would allow blind copy/paste types of data import and export, but how much productivity could be reclaimed if your software was able to integrate with other applications already in use in your ecosystem?

There is no clear-cut, “one size fits all” answer. But if you are willing to investigate the alternative choices prior to making a decision, just as you would with any hardware purchase, great strides can be made to protect the bottom line. A little research on the front end, before bringing something new into your enterprise’s portfolio, could save a lot of resources in the long run.

Steve Wilheir is a project management consultant, teaching successful management practices to Fortune 100 companies looking to build a better tomorrow. When deciding on the best project management software, you might want to consult my Project Management course.