[ Thanks to BR for
this link. ]
“First, we need to examine what constitutes the return on
investment (ROI) identified for Windows 2000. Microsoft’s claim
that Windows 2000 carries a lowered Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
is based on:
- Improved management of the network
- Streamline support services, like help desks
- Improved software deployment…”
“We need to calculate the ROI and calculate the expense
associated with achieving the ROI. Then, we must subtract the
expense from the return to see how much money our business will
save in the end. This is the scrutiny that is normally associated
with all business expenses. Normally, businesses do not incur any
expense which is not offset by a positive net return. There are
exceptions, of course, and it would appear that an organization
upgrading to Windows 2000 should apply for such an exception.”
“The Gartner Group modeled a 2,500 workstation LAN and
calculated that the cost of migrating a Windows NT user to W2K at
$2,000. The cost associated with migrating a Win9X user to W2K was
estimated at $3,100. Gartner goes on to indicate that it will take
three years to recover this expense. The problem, as Gartner
acknowledges, is that few, if any, users are likely to stay on W2K
for three years, meaning that a positive ROI is never
reached.“