DanBodnar
on
Total Cost of Ownership, or TCO, is often considered for e-citation applications in large part due to the mission-critical nature of law enforcement.
Here are some key takeaways around TCO:
First, a critical aspect of any successful TCO analysis needs to include the business elements of TCO.
These include anticipated length of deployment and planned replacement cycles, failure rates and causes of failure, the opportunity cost of lost productivity—to name a few.
Of equal importance to TCO is an analysis of the end user’s needs based on their work flow and work environment.
Second, to determine "true" TCO, it is imperative to consult both hard (or direct) and soft (or indirect) costs.
Downtime costs, including any productivity loss and lost revenue streams, factor in here. VDC’s research shows that over 70 percent of the cost of owning a mobility solution can come after the initial purchase.
Third, understanding soft costs and being able to marry the best possible mobile system with the target user and application is ultimately what will set apart mobility innovators.
It is imperative to balance the user, application, deployment environment and—perhaps most importantly—the mission criticality of the applications.
In my next post, we'll discuss the future of e-citation and other industries it's being used for.
