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Total Cost of Ownership

What is Total Cost of Ownership?

Put simply, identification and resolution of unmanaged computer system problems and associated costs is the focus of (T)otal (C)ost of (O)wnership. Major corporations have long broken out the hard costs of initial purchase and installation, and the "soft costs" of tech support, training, maintenance, upgrades, downtime, etc. in an attempt to manage their costs overall. The reason is that the soft costs are (and always have been) many multiples of the hard costs. Since the organization will always pay for unmanaged soft costs in terms of disorganization, lost productivity, downtime, etc. it's critical to reduce them with proper planning. The same cost of ownership problems exist in small businesses, but lacking qualified professional analysis, usually go unidentified, or simply accepted as "the way it is".

(immediately assess your business TCO here.)

The most important thing to remember is that unmanaged hard and soft costs in your computer systems will always degrade your return on your investment. No matter how unpleasant, these costs are real, and will show up on your bottom line one way or another.

They can be reduced.

That's where the PC Support Source can help. We apply our technical expertise and TCO principles to provide small business the same benefits the corporations do. Examples of hard and soft costs:

Hard Costs - Typical

Purchase of hardware and software
Known costs for Installation of above
Staff/personnel costs

Soft Costs - Typical

Research
Hardware and software upgrades
Technical support
Training or absence of training
Maintenance
support coordination/management problems
security/viruses
Documentation

Just a few typical results of unmanaged soft costs are:

unstable PCs and networks - workers losing data, updating the wrong databases, unable to print, gain access, etc.
ill-trained workers - unable to execute simple or more complex tasks at hand
inefficient workarounds - decreasing the productivity the computer was designed for
disastrous backup plans - lost critical data when disasters small or large strike
wide open security - viruses, backdoors, internet pests decrease reliability and breech secure data.
Costly panic buying of systems and upgrades in "crisis mode".
Incompatibilities, lost functionality, etc. when changes are made, support calls or downtime eat into worker productivity.
Incomplete research and uncertainty, leading to "system paralysis" - old systems kept long past their lifecycle for fear of the unknown grow increasingly more expensive to maintain as they become less viable.

Check Our helpful TCO Matrix to assess for yourself how these principles impact your business and where.

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