Talk:Total cost of ownership/Archive 1

TCA
This article mentions "TCA" without any definition. I tried it as a link, but the only apparently related option on the corresponding disambiguation page is "Total Cost of Acquisition" which is not connected to any actual page. Could at least a real expansion of the acronym be added along with at least a little info about it?

I'm sure anyone who knows in detail TCO would also know about TCA, but I'm not one of them, which is why I went to the TCO page to begin with.

Bill Smith 01:36, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Biased
This article seems overly biased. It definitely needs to link and address some of the critiques of TCO as an economic instrument. -- per

Agree...I have added a link that discusses the limitations of TCO: http://www.odellion.com/pages/online%20community/TCO/financialmodels_tco_limitations.htm --JC

I also agree that there is a bias in the article. The entire "Total cost of ownership" versus "total cost to use" section seems to imply that Windows and Microsoft have a rediculous TCO by saying you'd have to buy the whole company. Those statements are both incorrect and irrelevant. The reference even points to a pretty obviously biased article about choosing open source software. I would propose that that section ("Total cost of ownership" versus "total cost to use") be deleted, or possibly moved to another article about TCO of software. I don't think the Windows vs. Linux (or, proprietary vs. open-sourced) debate adds to this article about the concept of TCO. Blakejr 15:22, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

copyright?
http://search390.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid10_gci342316,00.html

I noticed the above is word-for-word at places... it looks like someone copied someone here.


 * Well, if it appears to be a closely paraphrased version, just insert it as a source at the bottom. If it is completely copied, replace the article with and list it on the copyright problems page. But that depends on your judgment. JFW |  T@lk  07:36, 21 July 2005 (UTC)

Overly restrictive scope
TCO is a concept that is not even remotely unique to computing. This article should be rewritten to talk about TCO in its general sense as a financial management tool, without specifically focusing on its use in information systems management.

-- Kelly Martin (talk) 14:20, 11 November 2005 (UTC)

As article implies, this is synonomous with life cycle cost analysis which goes way back. I'd suggest Gartner claim of invention extends only to the buzz words and some expanded articulation, not to the general concept it covers as defined in this article. If nothing else, need link to life cycle costs.

-- Costengineer (talk) 01:25, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

For anyone who is studying project management topics, having this as a separate topic is extrememly valuable. If it is merged, it needs to include both terms.

-- 68.2.140.222  20:03, 23 June 2006

I agree that life cycle cost analysis should be merged with total cost of ownership to avoid confusion with life cycle assessment and life cycle analysis. The latter two, very similar terms are used more in the context of environmental analysis. I think a merge would help clarify the distinction between the two.

-- Mwarren us 06:50, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

I concur that life cycle analysis (LCA)is inexplicably linked to TCO and as such, should be embedded into this article. In my opinion, all articles should start with a generic introduction before progressing to specific examples of a concept in practice.

Peter Leighton-Jones 14:50, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

I think the entry told me what I wanted to know: the meaning of the three letter abrv. I do not see that it needs to be merged with anything, but the similar term or concepts could be linked to it. 82.155.5.180 07:17, 5 January 2007 (UTC)David Crofoot 5 Jan 2007

"Therefore TCO is sometimes referred to as total cost of operation"
The statement made in the article "Therefore TCO is sometimes referred to as total cost of operation" is misleading.

Total Cost of Ownership is only a part of total cost of operation. Total Cost of Ownership is by definition derived from the direct and indirect costs for purchasing, shipping, importing, commissioning the equipment ready for operation and finally decommissioning the equipment. These cost include those lump-sum and temporal expenditures (i.e initial purchase-lumpsum and loan interest-temporal). Total Cost of Ownership is then depreciated over the standard life expectancy of the equipment to derive a temporal based cost i.e. $/day or $/hr. The temporal based cost of ownership takes in to account factors such as equipment performance (failure downtime, maintenance time etc.) and effective life expectancy (technology redundancy, efficient maintenance, industry support etc.)

In addition to the Total Cost of Operation are the maintenance and support direct and indirect costs to keep the equipment in operation (i.e. spares, consumables, labour, licenses, rent, electricity, insurance etc). These costs are distinctively different to ownership costs as in some cases when the equipment is taken out of operation earlier than expected (i.e. project closure) the cost of ownership is the only financial burden related to the equipment.

In summary, the Total Cost of Operation is the sum of direct and indirect ownership and operating costs.

Saludos....

TCO --> not only costs
What I miss in the article is that a TCO is often used to show savings. It mean that if you do this or invest in this, this will be your saving in the future. RdV —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 213.71.133.254 (talk) 13:59, 29 January 2007 (UTC).


 * Yes, TCO is often used to show savings...if it is a reduction in TCO. But it doesnt actually attempt to capture benefits like better business decisions, better quality of information, etc.  It also does not include anything like risk (in an actuarial sense).  A competitor of Gartner, Giga Information Group (started by the same Gideon Gartner and since purchased by Forrester Research) came up with an alternative called Total Economic Impact.  It attempts to capture risk and flexibility in a somewhat more quantitative way, but it is still rudimentary. TEI is, in effect, an extremely simple Monte Carlo method.  There are even more quantitative methods out there that have a great foundation in theory and empirical research but they seem to be outshown by all the fluff out there.74.93.87.210 01:22, 11 June 2007 (UTC)

de site?
one of the sites at the bottom links to a german site. should it not be an english site? 84.66.58.220 15:24, 9 September 2007 (UTC)


 * Done. Mayfly may fly 15:33, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

Does TCO include acquisition and/ or survey costs? main guidelines for calculation, an example maybe?
In reading the article, I understand what it means, but I am unable to do even an estimation of such a cost, because I don't see what should be in or out of the cost. Can someone knowleadgeable edit some of this into the article?

thanks

Links are broken
Links to external resources are broken when they point to a Gartner Group's website that apparently does not exist anymore. Because the source is quite important historically, can somebody find references more up to date, or change the ref with something independent? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kipitis (talk • contribs) 13:04, 4 May 2010 (UTC)

Idea.dude (talk) 15:20, 21 January 2009 (UTC)