How much will it cost to set up and run a WARP?
Costs will vary from one organisation to another depending on whether the WARP is starting from scratch or can take advantage of existing infrastructure and resources. In some instances a WARP can be setup and run at no cost by using volunteers and manual processes. At the other end of the scale, where full time resources are used with dedicated IT infrastructure, the business case section of the Toolbox contains an exemplar where the costs of setting up and running a WARP have been calculated to be £90k in the first year (circa 2004). If a virtual team can be used where manpower costs are covered elsewhere, then the costs can be reduced to around £26k in the first year, with ongoing running costs of £15k/ year. Within the Toolbox is an Excel spreadsheet which will enable you to calculate the costs for your own organisation, by varying the component costs depending on your own situation.
