Cost of Ownership

In addition to maintenance, administration, and support, analyze other factors that affect the cost of ownership. Hardware and software upgrades might be necessary, the impact of the solution on the power grid, telecommunications cost, and other factors influence out-of-pocket expenses. Service level agreements specifying availability levels for the solution also affect the cost of ownership by requiring increased redundancy.

The implementation of a solution should provide a return on the investment into the solution. Analysis of return on investment typically involves measuring the financial benefits gained from the expenditure of capital.

Estimating the financial benefits of a solution involves a careful analysis of the goals to be achieved in comparison with alternate ways of achieving those goals and with the cost of doing nothing at all.