.KEYWORD tco
.FLYINGHEAD PALMPOWER ANALYSIS
.TITLE Palm beats competition in TCO analysis
.FEATURE
.SUMMARY Handheld devices have become critical corporate infrastructure assets due to an increasingly mobile and widespread workforce. As such, many corporate executives have begun looking at mobile solution costs the same way they would any other corporate infrastructure investment. Palm, Inc. has addressed this concern by retaining Gantry Group to analyze the Total Cost of Ownership associated with enterprise mobile solutions. In this report, Steve Niles takes a look at some of the results of this fascinating study.
.AUTHOR Steve Niles
When handheld devices first entered the workplace, they were brought in by early adopters as Personal Information Management tools. Today, however, handheld devices have become critical corporate infrastructure assets due to an increasingly mobile and widespread workforce. Appropriately, then, many corporate executives have begun looking at mobile solution costs as they would any other corporate infrastructure investment.
To address this concern, Palm, Inc. retained Gantry Group (at http://www.gantrygroup.com) to profile, probe, and quantify the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) associated with enterprise mobile solutions. The results of this fascinating study are spelled out in detail in a new White Paper available at http://www.palm.com/pdfs/TCO_wp.pdf.
According to the paper, "Typical medium-to-large enterprise mobile solutions now involve over 500 mobile devices, synchronized to a centralized server to enable multi-user data exchange and unattended, transparent updates." With mobile solutions running on a scale like this, it’s no surprise that the commensurate costs have begun to register with those in charge of corporate finances.
.H1 The set-up
Gantry Group chose the two leading mobile solution platforms for the study: Palm OS and Pocket PC. Forty enterprise sites with deployed mobile solutions were researched, recruited, and interviewed for the study. The enterprise sites were chosen to evenly represent each platform (i.e., 20 Palm OS solutions; 20 Pocket PC-based solutions).
Gantry Group then had to develop a methodology that captured the many facets of mobile solution TCO, seeing as how there was no preexisting methodology framework for a mobile solution TCO study. The organization then designed and tested a TCO measurement tool that captured multiple cost components associated with buying, deploying, managing, and supporting handheld devices.
.H1 The findings
The study findings showed that there’s about a $320 difference in annual handheld TCO between Palm OS and Pocket PC devices. What accounts for the difference? Gantry Group lists the primary cost components for the Pocket PC solution as:
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET Higher unit base cost;
.BULLET Greater need for IT services;
.BULLET Higher software distribution and management costs;
.BULLET Increased need for training.
.END_LIST
According to the study, the annual lifetime amortized TCO for a Palm OS mobile device was $456. This compares to $776 for a Pocket PC mobile device, as shown in Figure A.
.FIGPAIR A The annual total cost of ownership per device is shown here.
According to the paper, "These figures represent the annual total cost of ownership per device amortized over the mean lifetime of the unit and includes the per unit costs of add-on hardware and software (not in-house developed software), IT services, help desk and support, training, airtime charges, adjusted for average annual replacements due to loss and breakage."
.H2 Base unit cost
The report states that the base unit cost of a Palm OS handheld was on average 52% less than a Pocket PC device. Fully loaded with add-on software and hardware accessories, Palm OS devices were 40% less than Pocket PC devices.
When it comes to hardware and software add-ons, Palm really came out on top on the software side. While the difference in the cost of accessories was pretty small, the average cost of software add-ons for Pocket PC devices was nearly twice that for Palm OS devices. This is shown in Figure B.
.FIGPAIR B Software and hardware add-on prices are compared.
In this study, add-on software was considered to be any additional third party package not part of the standard handheld configuration.
.H2 Need for IT services
The study reported that for both types of device, the average lifetime was about the same, as was the annual replacement rate from loss, theft, and breakage. However, Pocket PC mobile solutions were found to require more frequent reinstallations/set-ups, data recovery, and general service depot requests.
.H2 Software distribution and management costs
Software distribution costs were found to be lower for Palm OS solutions due to the higher frequency of operating system and application updates, in general, performed for Pocket PC mobile solutions.
.H2 Need for training
On the one hand, users of Pocket PC solutions remarked to Gantry Group that their applications running on Pocket PC devices were complex, sophisticated, and data intensive. On the other hand, Gantry Group points out, these attributes are consistent with the greater need for IT services for set-up and orientation, trouble-shooting and data recovery, and time to become proficient. Gantry Group also reported that, "Some Pocket PC users noted frequent needs for application updates due to highly advanced functionality which would tax the IT services group for software distribution and version control."
.H1 Other study findings
The White Paper also listed some other interesting findings in regard to corporate purchasing guidelines, synchronization policy, and centralized server synchronization. Over 70% of the enterprises participating in the study reported having corporate purchasing guidelines and mandates in place, over 75% of the enterprises in the study had plans for or deployed a formal corporate synchronization policy, and over 85% of enterprises participating in this study used a centralized corporate server as the means for collecting and disseminating business knowledge.
Also, PalmPower’s Enterprise Edition recently ran an in-depth study of TCO and ROI (Return on Investment). Read all about it at http://www.palmpowerenterprise.com/tocs/issue200109.html.
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There’s a lot more to learn in this fascinating study. If you’ve had questions about TCO for your enterprise, then you should definitely take the time to read through the White Paper for yourself. It’s available in PDF format at http://www.palm.com/pdfs/TCO_wp.pdf.
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
For the White Paper, "Enterprise Handheld Mobile Solution TCO," visit
http://www.palm.com/pdfs/TCO_wp.pdf.
Visit our series of articles on TCO and ROI in the September 2001 issue of PalmPower’s Enterprise Edition at http://www.palmpowerenterprise.com/tocs/issue200109.html.
For more information on Gantry Group, visit at http://www.gantrygroup.com.
For more information on Palm handhelds, visit http://www.palm.com.
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.BIO
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