On Wed, 23 Nov 2005 23:47, Ian Cheong wrote: > Has anyone done or seen total cost of ownership analysis of thin > client solutions for GP land???
Long term cost of ownership is vastly different from short term ownership in this particular case, and the maximum saving is obtained in working hours and maintenance, and there the costs of labour differ vastly too. > Alternatively, anyone prepared to report on their real total costs > (per seat) for setting up and maintaining thin client solutions. This I can do. I'll assume that the costs of keyboard, mopuse and screen are identical for both thin and fat client, so I'll leave them out of the equation Since passively cooled thin clients with no moving parts have virtually indefinite lifespans and rarely become technically obsolete (it is usually only the graphics adapter that advances technically), I have bought all my thin clients second hand, e.g. on ebay. The average cost per thin client so far was A$110 In 4 years, I had to repair or replace exactly 0 (zero) thin clients, and since I use only two types (IBM NetVista and NeoWare Capio) all I had to do installationwise was configuring a suitable boot image once for each model on the server side, and that's it - no matter how many clients I deploy, there is zero set up cost beyond putting the device on the desk, and plugging power+keyboard+mouse+screen into it (+speakers and microphone if you use it). NO software installation at all, no configuration at all. Switch the device on after plugging it in, and if you have a login account on the server, you are done. For the following I assume labour costs of $1/minute for the average techie hand For power costs I assume 23 cents per kWh It follows: Cost per seat NeoWare Capio Thin Client: $110 (if bought second hand) or $380 (if bough new) expected life span without failure or obsolescence >= 10 years Labour: $5 (for unpacking, putting on desk and plugging in) =A$115 / A$385 when first bought Power costs per year: 0.025kW x 24h x 365 days = A$ 219 (max. if no power saving features used and running 24 hrs a day) Maintenance: A$ 0 (zero) cost for 10 years: A$385 + 10 x A$219 (assuming new devices only) = A$2575 = A$257.50 running costs /year over a 10 year period per seat Desktop computer: cheap model starting at A$380 expected life span without failure or obsolescence <= 2 years Labour (assuming operating system comes pre-installed): 2 hours for initial software installation and configuration = A$120 1 hour every 3 months for software upgrades and maintenance = A$240/year 5 minutes daily for backup on 240 working days = A$720/year Power costs per year: 0.15 kW x 24h x 365 days = A$1313 costs for 10 years = A$380x5 + A$120x5 + A$240x10 + A$720x10 + A$1313x10 = A$25,230 = A$2523 running costs /year over a ten year period per seat These conservative estimates suggest about a tenfold cost if not using thin clients The server side: The average server hardware I have seen used in surgeries is more then plenty to run it as server for thin clients, but let us assume you want a bit more grunt and a bit more RAM, and make that server A$1000 more expensive Expected life span: 3 years Let's also assume you'll need 10 hours more for the initial setup and configuration until everything works as it should: A$600 - this is a one off cost since you can simply restore those thin client settings onto new servers should the server hardware change as long as the thin client hardware remains roughly the same The difference on the server side would then be over 10 years: A$1000 x 3.3 + A$600 = A$3,900 = A$390/year regardless of number of seats It follows that a thin client solution is already substantially cheaper from the very first thin client on!!! > At least fat clients have some disposal value at end of life, since > they are still usable as standalones. Total cost of ownership > analysis should include that. And so are thin clients: - firstly, their hardware does not become obsolete as soon - secondly, since they have no moving parts their MTBF can be measured in decades rather than years - thirdly, they make beautiful print servers, MP3 servers, VoIP terminals, NAS servers etc when you don't want them as thin clients any more; they are eminently more reusable than decrepit obsolete PC hardware, and also have a constantly higher resale value than PCs To me, it is an absolute no brainer. Even if the hardware and power costs weren't cheaper at all, the savings in support and maintenance are already more than worth it. Consider: a desktop breaks down. Typical disruption is measured in hours unless you keep costly preconfigured (and regularly updated!) replacements on site. With a thin client, you grab one form the drawer, plug it in, and finished. Hardly any disruption at all. Also consider security implications which are considerably less with thin lcients! Desktop PCs in GP land are just for people who never could do math nor understand technology. Horst _______________________________________________ Gpcg_talk mailing list [email protected] http://ozdocit.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gpcg_talk
