Save big bucks with consistency in your computers

Written by Russ Levanway, the CEO of TekTegrity, Inc.

Jan. 14, 2010 ---

In most areas of our life, inconsistency is a major obstacle to overcome. Going to a different doctor for every checkup means many things need to be repeated or explained again. Bringing your car to a different repair shop every time can result in a higher repair bill and repeated work.

Consistency creates a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) with many things. It’s no different with computers. Here are two examples of companies that will help illustrate this point. “Company A” spent 50% more than “Company B.” Find out why and you could save your business thousands of dollars:

Company A

Bought 10 computers over 6 months.
Looked for the cheapest possible computers each time, often going to Staples, Costco or looking for the latest online deal.
Purchased each computer for an average of $500

The 3-year total cost these computers (hardware, software, ongoing technical support, training and company specific software) was $4,040/each, so $40,400 total.

Why was the TCO so high?

This is a common scenario with smaller businesses that only look at sticker price. Here are some typical problems with this approach.

These computers are usually designed for home users, not business environments. They don’t stand up to the rigors of an 8-hour business day. Also, these computers usually have 90 day warranties and come with low budget parts, which is a bad combination. We conservatively estimate that each computer will have 1 hardware repair over a 3 year period. Estimated additional cost: $250/computer.

These computers didn’t come with a business-class operating system. Instead of Windows XP Pro or Windows 7 Pro, they came with the Home or Basic versions of the software. Once Company A grew beyond the first 4 computers, they had to network the computers together and connect them to a server in order to be productive. This meant the computers software had to be upgraded. Estimated additional cost: Software, between $100 - $200/computer, and labor around $250/computer.

Some of these computers came with Microsoft Office Student or Office with a 90-day evaluation period, so the company had to spend extra money to get all the features of Office they needed once this period expired. Additional cost: $150/computer.

Some of the computers came with Windows XP, some with Vista, and the latest computer came with Windows 7. Because the software is so different, the IT company supporting the computers has to employ a different method for supporting each computer. Additional cost: $450/computer.

Each computer came with different antivirus software, the licenses for which expire at random intervals. Additional cost: $40/computer yearly renewal fee and at least $100/computer per year to manage.

At first, the computers ran fine. However, they did not have leading-edge hardware at the time of purchase. While the computer specifications sheet may have looked good, many budget computers tend to share resources, such as shared memory between the video card and standard RAM. As the company’s hardware and software needs changed, several of the computers had to be upgraded. Additional cost: $150/computer.

The most difficult item to measure is related to employee productivity. It is much more difficult to learn in a work environment where there is inconsistency across computers. The computers slowed down over time, were not reliable and did not work well in a network configuration. All of these items resulted in a loss of employee productivity.

For providing 10 computers to employees over 3 years, Company B paid $40,400 (not including lost productivity due to inconsistency, increased training time and increased support issues).

Company B

Bought 10 computers over 6 months
Worked with their IT vendor to purchase business-class computers that would last 3 years.
Purchased each computer for an average of $1,000 (twice what Company A paid).

The 3-year TCO for these computers (hardware, ongoing technical support, training, company specific software) was $3,150/each, so $31,500 total.

Why was the TCO so much lower than Company A? The computers had 3-year warranties so the cost of replacement parts and servicing was not an issue. The computers were all purchased with one operating system, XP Professional. Once the company had to network their computers together, there were no additional software costs. These computers all came with Microsoft Office Small Business, so there was no need to upgrade the software.

The systems were all consistent so there was no additional maintenance costs over the standard baseline support provided by the IT company.

Business class antivirus software was purchased separately at a cost if $36 per computer per year. The company pays for a single renewal per year and does not need to track the antivirus software licensing individually. Since the antivirus software is business class, it can be centrally managed from a single console. As such, maintaining the antivirus software only costs $50 per year per computer to maintain. Additional cost: $86/computer per year.

For providing 10 computers to employees over 3 years, Company B paid $31,500. Lost productivity due to system consistency and ease of support was not an issue.

Which of these companies made a better decision?

The cheapest solution in the beginning can often cost you more over the long run. We hope this helps you in your future computer purchasing decisions, and helps save you company valuable dollars, time and stress.

Note: If the idea of paying twice as much for a computer up front is too expensive, consider leasing the same computers over the 3 year period, with a $1 buyout option. If you do this, you can spread the costs out and avoid the up-front $1,000 payment.

Russ Levanway is the CEO of TekTegrity, Inc. TekTegrity is an IT Strategies and Management firm that provides premium IT services to businesses, government, education and non-profit organization in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Monterey and Kern counties. TekTegrity’s goal is to become your organizations long-term strategic partner by supporting your IT infrastructure with your bottom line in mind. Some of TekTegrity’s services include System and Workstation Installation, Virtual Hosted Servers, Priority Backup, Off-Site Data Replication,, and Total Systems Management™ (TSM). TSM is an industry-leading managed services model that emphasizes proactive and preventative IT support at a predictable fixed monthly fee. For more information about TekTegrity, you can reach them by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , on the Web at www.tektegrity.com, or by telephone at 805-596-0135.