What is TCO and why do I care?
A. Technology is an increasingly essential K-12 resource. As budgets tighten, however, districts are coming under pressure to articulate the costs and benefits of existing and planned technology expenditures. Increasingly, educational policy makers are seeking evidence that their highly visible investments in technology are meeting educational needs and that these information technology (IT) investments are closely monitored and well-managed. Because of these issues, adoption of total cost of ownership (TCO) and return on investment (ROI) tools to measure the cost and effectiveness of technology initiatives are becoming more common. Gartner, a leading information technology research firm, defines Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) as a comprehensive set of methodologies, models and tools to help organizations better measure and manage their IT investments. If you don’t understand your current technology costs (equipment, software, external service providers, direct labor, and indirect labor
