Putting The "Total" Back In Total Cost Of Ownership

By Bob Ashenbrenner, President of Durable Mobility Technologies, LLC.

TCO isn’t just about statistics. Field Service organizations responsible for everything from home repair to utility services and insurance claims to construction equipment rentals are seeing their workers quickly transform into “information workers” who expect real-time, digitally-delivered data about work orders, customer history, inventory availability and other logistical details at their fingertips all day long. And public safety agencies, manufacturers, energy producers and transportation leaders, whose operational tempo can fluctuate from one minute to the next, are finding the new necessity of fully mobilized “information workers” hard to ignore. The level of situational awareness and constant connectivity required between crew members creates an undeniable reliance on real-time data – and, thus, a reliance on high-performance mobile computers – whether coordinating emergency response actions, responding to rising oil demands, or tracking the delivery of millions of dollars of freight. Therefore, mobility is no longer a question of “if” but “when,” “how,” and – ultimately – “how much”.

Well there are statistics that address each question directly, and I will get to them. But I’ve heard some customers ask if TCO figures somehow become self-serving stats for OEMs who want to justify what seems to be a much higher cost their device? For example, one might wonder if a discount 7” tablet will suffice, or if a purpose-built rugged tablet with a larger screen and more professional-grade capabilities is worth a higher sticker price.

In my opinion, TCO stats can’t be manipulated in such a manner by OEMs. The top industry analyst firms do these studies independently, and the OEMs and end customers only learn of the study when it is published. The unbiased third-party analysts have considered a lot of the associated costs of mobility, real costs to an organization, and come up with proven TCO formulas that cover many more cost considerations than whether or not companies can replace many cheap tablets before their costs equate to that of one rugged tablet. In other words, sticker price is just one line item to consider.