TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP (TCO) PITFALLS: Why your PCs aren’t saving you time and money

BY JAMES R. PYRICH, President/CEO
SOFTWARE FIRST

There are numerous financial pitfalls encountered when dealing with PC networks. Some are quite clear cut while others may be invisible until they take their toll. Here are some of the more common ones seen in many corporate offices today.

LACK OF A UNIFIED OFFICE

Each PC is an island unto itself. While certain office suites may be installed on each PC in the office, each user has the ability to modify and customize the application to their own desires. This freedom is a boon when creativity and specialization are needed but it is also the technical support when something goes wrong. Because of the lack of a unified installation, the technical support staff to research each individual PC and causes extended downtime.

BACKUP AND RECOVERY

The manager that tells you that they never have any problems with their PC network either has a pocketful of rabbit feet or someone else is fixing the problems. Hardware breaks down, software crashes, viruses activate, and data as well as applications become corrupted. Unless there is a tried and tested plan for backup and recovery, these problems can and will become nightmares. Who is responsible for daily backups and archiving them? Has there ever been a test of the recovery procedures? Are the original installation applications and operating systems kept in a secure location? Who will install them?

THE NETWORK

Was the network installed as a part of a comprehensive contract or has it grown piecemeal? Who takes care of day to day operations and what happens when the responsible party is out of the office? Is there an emergency plans in case the network crashes or the manager suddenly cannot do their job? This is just as important as the Backup and Recovery procedure for applications and data. Is there a hardware maintenance agreement for the PCs and the network? What is their response time to requests for service? If there isn’t a hardware agreement is there a known and reliable company that can repair the faulty equipment? Make sure you maintain good relations with your contact person, this might make the difference if time is a major consideration.

THE PC

"The lower the price of the PC, the less reliable the unit and service will be." While this isn’t a law, it is a pretty good way of prejudging the TCO that will go into the unit. Some local companies do build quality PCs and stand behind their work. When you find one of them, hold on tight and don’t let go. They are nuggets of gold in the sand. The majority of inexpensive PCs are cheap PCs. The preinstalled applications and even the operating system are often missing their installation CDs. Software Piracy isn’t uncommon so make sure that you have valid license certificates for your programs. Are the components name brand or 3^rd party knockoffs and emulators? This will matter when an updated driver is needed to run a new program. Can you afford to buy new hardware, wait to get it in and have it installed for each PC? Who are you going to count on to perform the needed installation in a timely and professional manner?

DOWNTIME

When a PC fails in any way, the user is forced to work at a lowered level of effectiveness. Their expected output and skills drop in direct relationship to the degree they use the computer. Downtime on the network or on a network resource such as printer, fax server or Internet connection compounds matters and may even force a critical shutdown. Mission critical business applications and data needs to be run on a stable and reliable platform. A careful evaluation on the total cost of ownership needs to be done when using a PC for serious network application serving. In mission critical areas, a midrange platform should be considered as the server. An excellent platform to consider is the IBM AS400 midrange server. With a documented 99.9% reliability rating for uptime, the AS400 serves to lower the TCO over the course of its use. In such a case as this, the data and server programs are secure and available to the users. The one single point of failure has been addressed. Are there any disaster recovery plans prepared? Are they tested and updated or just paper dreams? Who should the users turn to for help and is there a person assigned to backup the administrator if they are unreachable?

A GOOD WAY OF LIMITING RISKS

"Prevention is the best cure", and experienced professionals apply this to their PC systems. These basic measures can eliminate potential headaches:

• Backup your valuable data and applications. Store a copy offsite and test the recovery procedures periodically.

• Have a maintenance agreement or a repair shop that you can trust.

• Purchase from a vendor with a good track record. Establish a business relationship that goes beyond that of customer-vendor. Ask for advice and see what answers you get. Good initial design with top of the line components might cost more up front but it is well worth it in the long run.

• Look into "uptime agreements" for the network and PCs. Several large vendors are offering service agreements to support your network in order to keep it up and running. While the cost of these agreements isn’t cheap, a company without an on-site LAN administrator should look into this option to save on the TCO of the network.

• Have updated disaster recovery plans for a variety of disasters. What if you need to replace most of the network hardware due to a fire or flood? How about a massive amount of corrupt or damaged data and applications? Several key employees are out of the office. Who can do their jobs?

While not all of this advice will fit your system to a T, it shouldn’t be ignored either. Take a few minutes now and maybe you’ll have a few less gray hairs later.

Since 1979 Software First, Inc. has provided Property Management and HUD software solutions to the New York area. Solution/2000 software integrates accounting, property management, HUD tracking, work orders and inventory. For additional information contact Fred Seltzer: 800-227-7038 or Email: seltzer@sfisolutions.com — Home Page:www.sfisolutions.com

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