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TCO - How low can you go?

[Posted December 3, 2002 by ris]

Here's a Yahoo article about a Microsoft funding study by IDC, which predicably finds that Windows has a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) than Linux. Thanks to Elijah P Newren

The Register examines the study, and comments on the findings.

Meanwhile, this article in ZDNet Australia finds that the TCO depends on many factors and should be determined on a case by case basis. Thanks to Con Zymaris

(Log in to post comments)

TCO - How low can you go?

Posted Dec 3, 2002 23:50 UTC (Tue) by newren (guest, #5160) [Link]

I haven't been able to find the actual IDC study--no link was provided in either the Yahoo or Register article. Does anyone know where it is? Also, the Register points out where it's likely wrong/biased, but it doesn't seem that they've actually read the report. Anyone know of any articles that respond to actual points in the IDC study?

Thanks,
Elijah

TCO - How low can you go?

Posted Dec 4, 2002 3:19 UTC (Wed) by rickfdd (guest, #4519) [Link]

I expect the study not to discuss comparative scalability. Especially for
companies like Amazon with multiple servers, the techincal staff scales much
better for Linux.

TCO - The buzzword back again.

Posted Dec 4, 2002 9:17 UTC (Wed) by libra (guest, #2515) [Link]

I did not read the article, but I always ask myself how one can speak of TCO for :
a) Something you do not own
b) Something nobody can understand (not even those who build it)
c) Something nobody can make work the right way (how often do you have the answer : "these feature is not implemented and won't be by design or because nobody is asking for it")
d) Something that do not answer the real needs of your users (how often have you been in front of a problem that would not exist with Free Software and that can not be solved with proprietary "technologie" ?)
e) Something that is so much demotivating and badly conceived that it take ages to do things that would take minutes on Free Software
f) Something that do not increase the skills of your technical staff and transform it into a bunch of vegetables at the price of monetary loss only beneficial to the unamed one from Redmond.

The real cost of not possessing the knowledge, of being tied to something that dominates you, of being prevented to evolve, of being prevented to answer the real needs of the business of your company is so enormous that figures can not take it into account. TCO is just another buzzword, one more to fight.