Reducing Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Mike Chon AM Computers

What you will learn l How to lower your TCO by: –Using Private Virtual Network instead of expensive dedicated telecommunication circuits –Minimizing downtime through server clustering and organized disaster recovery procedure –Proactively monitoring for impending problems

Topics demonstrated l Live demonstration of Great Plains Dynamics accounting software through Virtual Private Networking (VPN) l Live demonstration of Citrix WinFrame over the Internet l Proactive monitoring of PCs with Intel LanDesk

What is TCO? l Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is defined as all of the possible costs incurred in the life cycle of a workstation, from acquisition to disposal. l Statistics puts the Total Cost of Ownership in business computing in a range between $7k-$13k per computer per year.

TCO and its seven factors l Hardware Acquisition 17% l Software Acquisition 7% l Installation 4% l Training 7% l Support 21% l Maintenance 7% l Infrastructure 36%

What is TCO, continued l During the computer’s lifecycle, the cost of managing and supporting a computer and its users is far greater than the cost of the computer itself. l Due to the difficulty in measuring the TCO it is often neglected in purchasing decisions.

Key factors in reducing TCO l Standardization l Centralization l Automation

Standardization l Use a uniform platform, system configuration, and software packages l Standardize software installation options and settings l Y2K Date setting

Standardization, continued l Reducing the number of vendors lowers procurement cost, minimizes system integration and support costs, and reduces training requirements l Reduces downtime and troubleshooting time by providing a baseline to work from

Centralization l Reduces management cost by allowing the systems administrator to manage the network from one location l Set group policies to eliminate user tampering with system configuration and to increase security

Centralization, continued l Set roaming profiles to increase productivity –Enable capability to swap computers l Proactively monitor the network for problems before they harm productivity.

Automation l Important to get updated virus definitions and to upgrade to latest virus engines l Not enough just to have anti-virus software l Consistent settings in the workstations through login scripts l Reduce costs by cutting down time to roll out software l Saves money in the future by maintaining standardization

Minimize Downtime l Server Clustering l Organized Disaster Recovery Procedure –Reduce time to restore a system from backup in the event of hard drive crash

Minimize Communication Costs l Virtual Private Network (VPN) –is a private data network that instead of dedicated lines uses the Internet to establish secure tunneling between computers –WAN –Outside sales –Traveling Executives

Virtual Private Network

VPN Cost Comparison Table l Dedicated 56k line l Rohnert Park to Herndon, VA l $1200/month used to connect to remote office l VPN DSL 384k l Six times faster l $500/month l used to connect to Internet. Connect outside sales and traveling executives l Savings –at least $800/month

Citrix WinFrame l Remote Terminal Server supporting low speed connections l Allows multiple people to use a single Windows NT Server simultaneously l Reduces the need for expensive fast lines

Summary l Support l Maintenance l Infrastructure l Improve service and support –Standardization –Centralization –Automation

AM Computers l Our goal is to help you reduce your TCO –recycle capital investment in equipment l We help you plan l We have developed automation techniques for all major anti-virus software on the market l We have developed centralization methods for many desktop applications such as Outlook, Netscape, and AutoCAD

AM Computers l We are an Internet Service Provider. –You will benefit from our inside knowledge of both the telecom and the computing sides of WAN, VPN, and Internet services

Reducing TCO  Copyright 1998 by AM Computers 1040-B N. Dutton Ave, Santa Rosa, CA (707)