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CIO Magazine: Mac Has Best TCO

by , 4:25 PM EDT, August 1st, 2007

The Macintosh, over time, has proven to have the best total cost of ownership (TCO) compared to other operating systems. In fact, there are eight financial components that suggest why corporations should be using Mac OS X, according to CIO Magazine on Wednesday.

The debate regarding the total cost of ownership has been around for a long time. It started about 15 years ago when the Gartner Group launched the concept. Since then, many studies have been done. Recently, computer security expert Winn Schwartau created a well known tool to assist companies measure their own TCO of Macs versus Windows PCs.

What's emerged from the study is something that's been suspected all along, namely that the security issues surrounding Windows is a significant part of the TCO and makes it twice as great as the Mac's.

Looking at the TCO in more detail, there are altogether eight major components that corporations should look at in the TCO calculation.

  1. Macs cost about the same as PCs, but they are more scalable.
  2. Mac servers don't have Microsoft's Client Access License (CALs) fees.
  3. Macs generate fewer calls to the help desk.
  4. Mac users are more productive.
  5. Macs last longer.
  6. Macs are more secure.
  7. Macs are easier to administer.
  8. Macs allow retention of investment in other OSes via virtualization.

What sets this article apart from others that discuss similar topics is the research behind it. Each of the eight components of the Mac TCO is backed up by contributions from experts who have industry experience. The fact that it was was published in CIO magazine gives it even more credibility, and Mac IT managers may be bookmarking and referring to this article by Jacqueline Emigh for some time to come.

  

Observer Comments

Show: Subjects Only | Full Comments
Close Name:Tiger Posts: 1018 Joined: 17 Jun 2003
Subject: correction

He should correct #4 to be semantically correct.

replace the word productive with efficient.

Close Name:coaten Posts: 3071 Joined: 10 Oct 2001
Subject:

You think?

In other news, NASA enacted a policy of using the word "floating" instead of the phrase "zero gravity efffect" and suddenly everyone knew what the hell they've been on about all these years.

Close Name:jbruni Posts: 105 Joined: 14 Jul 2006
Subject:

Quote
Tiger wrote:
He should correct #4 to be semantically correct.

replace the word productive with efficient.


Naw. Users are more productive if their tools are efficient.

Close Name:Guest
Subject:

productive does not equal efficient

more productive = alot of output
more efficient = less effort for the same output

work smarter. not harder

Close Name:gslusher Posts: 2088 Joined: 13 Nov 2002
Subject:

Quote
Anonymous wrote:
productive does not equal efficient

more productive = alot of output
more efficient = less effort for the same output

work smarter. not harder


As I recall, "productivity" measures output per unit of labor (e.g., hour or day), not total output. One difference is that productivity should refer to people, while efficiency could refer to people, processes, machinery, etc.

Close Name:Biff Posts: 1479 Joined: 08 Apr 2004
Subject:

TCO! Wow I haven't heard that one in a while. Let's party like it's 1999.

Close Name:Guest
Subject: You didn't notice the other side of the story?

That's part of a larger package of articles about the Return on Investment of different OSs; see <a href="http://www.cio.com/article/127101">Seven Reasons to Think Twice About Macs in the Enterprise</a>. The rest of the pro/con on Linux and Windows is <a href="http://www.cio.com/article/127552">here</a>

Close Name:Neil Anderson Posts: 16 Joined: 24 Jun 2007
Subject:

It's taken a long time but the tide does seem to be turning. Leopard will spur the migration even faster with Boot Camp built in.

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