More than two-thirds (69%) of organisations in the US, UK and Ireland expect to increase their investment in open source software during 2010, according to research by Accenture.

The IT services vendor’s survey of 300 organisations also found that 38% were planning to migrate ‘mission critical’ applications to open source platforms within the next 12 months.

Only half of the organisations surveyed said that lower total cost of ownership was their primary driver for adoption. Of these, almost three-quarters (71%) of these expected cost savings to derive from lower maintenance fees.

“We are seeing an increase in demand for open source based on quality, reliability and speed, not just cost savings,” stated Accenture chief technology architect Paul Daugherty. “This is a significant change from just two years ago when uptake was driven mainly by cost savings.”