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taking TCO to the classroom
Winter 2005 Newsletter
Table of Contents
Understanding the full range of costs associated with technology investments will assist school leaders in planning for the future. The TCO Tool is
designed to help schools and school districts make sound budgetary decisions, conduct technology planning in an organized way, establish a baseline
for future analysis and maximize benefits from their investments in technology.
2005 K-12 School Networking Conference
CoSN's 10th Annual K-12 School Networking Conference is coming soon. It will be held on March 22-23 at the Renaissance Washington DC Hotel,999 9th
Street, NW, Washington, DC. For more information on this conference and related activities, link to
www.k12schoolnetworking.org.
Personalized District TCO Analysis Support from CoSN
A step-by step walk-through of the TCO process using your own data
CoSN presents a three-part session designed to help school leaders through the TCO analysis process. These sessions allow participants to actually
complete an analysis and interpret the results using their own data. School leaders can sign up for all three parts if you wish to perform a TCO
analysis over that timeframe, or just the first part by itself as a general means of getting started with TCO analysis. This offering starts on
March 9.
Watch www.classroomtco.org for more information on this offering. Also, those who have
registered to use the CoSN-Gartner TCO tool will receive an announcement by email in the next couple of weeks.
2004 CoSN Compendium Highlights TCO
The 2004 CoSN Compendium looks at eight issues of vital importance to education technology leaders today. A key question that runs throughout --
from the opening article on the essential skills of a K-12 CTO through the final monograph on building bridges between the special education and
technology worlds -- is "What do we, as technology leaders, need to know and do in order to support our schools and districts in today's changing
world?" The compendium articles offer answers to these and other questions with help from case studies, interviews with experts, and an in-depth
review of the latest legislation, policy and research findings.
"Rational Spending: Taking a Closer Look at Total Cost of Ownership" by Sara Fitzgerald and Rich Kaestner is included as one of eight monographs.
See www.cosn.org/resources/compendium/2004.cfm
Mailing to Superintendents
A CoSN mailing has gone out to District Superintendents, inviting them to join as Institutional Members of CoSN. A brief on CoSN leadership
initiatives, including TCO, was included in this mailing. The brief on leadership initiatives can be found on the CoSN main site:
www.cosn.org.
Have You Completed a TCO Analysis?
Those of you who have looked closely at the CoSN-Gartner TCO tool realize that collecting the required input data requires effort on your part and
cooperation from others. If you have completed a TCO analysis and don't mind talking with others about it, please let Rich Kaestner, CoSN's TCO
Project Director, (k12tco@alyrica.net) know.
Have You Seen the 2004 TCO Case Studies?
Four additional case studies were performed by CoSN and districts in Missouri, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin, providing a total of eight case studies.
These 2004 case studies differ from the original four by the inclusion of user surveys for collecting indirect labor data and focus on TCO implications
of wireless networks, e-learning technologies and voice/data integration. All eight case studies can be found at
classroomtco.cosn.org/gartner_intro.html
Utah Leverages TCO Training
The Utah State Office of Education recently sponsored training for Utah districts to guide them through the TCO data collection and analysis process.
Over 30% of the Utah school districts participated. Much of the required input data was provided from a state database. This three part session was
much the same as the personalized TCO analysis mentioned above. If any other state organizations would like to sponsor a similar session, they should
contact Rich Kaestner.
Open Source Software
The use of "free" open source software such a Linux on servers, Open Office for personal productivity, and various network and Web management offerings
allows school districts the opportunity to save considerable money on software purchases. This is the topic of a recent EdWeek article by Andrew
Trotter (www.edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=05linux.h24), which is
well worth reading.
Some concerns about the pervasive use of open source software include:
- Availability of applications to run under/with the open software offering
- Availability of support technicians
- Robustness of security
- Lack of formal support, as would be provided by a vendor
Selective use of open source software can provide savings (when looking at all costs from a TCO perspective). A district should review open source
software opportunities by application area, but with the understanding of support, training and integration implications of adding yet another
application or operating system.
To see how one small district implemented Linux and Open Office, look at CoSN’s Missouri district TCO case study
(classroomtco.cosn.org/missouri.pdf).
Donated Computers
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal discusses the relative merits of recycling versus disposing of older computers. A suggested recipient for
these recycled computers is schools.
CoSN takes the stance that schools and districts should be cautious about accepting donated computers; while capable used computers provide a needed
source for additional technology, K-12 schools should not be the dumping ground for other’s hazardous waste.
When considering donated computers:
- Be sure that they meet your configuration standards to minimize hardware, software and integration support problems.
- Understand what will be necessary to commission them in your environment, including new user training and network requirements.
- As these systems will have a relatively short useful life, be sure to have a replacement strategy.
You can read this article at:
www.emailthis.clickability.com/et/emailThis?clickMap=viewThis&etMailToID=1923495801
Controlling Technology Costs
e-School News has pulled together a collection of news, information, and resources that will help you discover the most cost-effective solutions to
your technology needs. You can find this list at:
www.eschoolnews.com/resources/reports/CostConscious/index.cfm
TCO and Site-Based Management
School technology leaders recognize the value of Total Cost of Ownership analysis in identifying cost-effective ways to manage networks and technology
purchasing across a school district. But what about in school districts with a strong culture of site-based management, where individual schools can
make their own decisions on how much they will spend in support of technology?
One such district is the Beaufort County School District in South Carolina. The school district has been a pioneer in laptop and staff development
programs, and its superintendent, Herman Gaither, has been recognized with CoSN’s Withrow Educator of the Year award.
Technology leaders at the district level were concerned because they felt principals were not sufficiently sensitive to the need to support their
hardware purchases with adequate funding for staff development, tech support and software purchases.
The district requires individual schools to prepare technology plans every other year as part of the district's overall technology planning. This
year, the district is requiring schools to specifically address TCO as part of their individual plans.
District leaders introduced school principals to TCO through a day-long, summertime workshop that presented materials from CoSN's "Taking TCO to the
Classroom" project, including an introduction to the CoSN-Gartner TCO assessment tool, which was created with support from the U.S. Department of
Education. The principals were told that they were not required to use the TCO assessment tool when they made their analysis, but to consider using
it when they considered how their dollars were being spent and to assess how effectively they were using the infrastructure in which they had invested.
District leaders hoped the exercise would also help building-level leaders understand those costs that were being borne at the district level as they
monitored their own contributions to the funding mix. District leaders said they would continue to work with their building-level counterparts to pull
together the data points that are supposed to be inputted into the CoSN-Gartner tool to provide a complete analysis.
One area that many of the participating principals focused on quickly were the rising costs of printer supplies. In the school districts that served
as case studies for development of the tool, CoSN and Gartner found that few districts were monitoring the costs of printer consumables when evaluating
the most cost-effective way to deliver printing functionality. Several of the principals indicated they would take a fresh look at whether it made
sense to continue to buy low-cost desktop printers that might actually have higher long-term costs than operating a printing server.
Sara Fitzgerald
Vice President, Communications
Funds For Learning, LLC
TCO and the E-rate Program
Seven years after the E-rate program started, the program’s administrators are taking new steps to make sure that applicants focus on all the costs
associated with using technology effectively.
Beginning with the 2005 application season, the Form 471 application , the form that provides details of specific E-rate funding requests, will contain
new questions related to technology funding, at least according to draft versions of the form that have been publicly released. Schools and libraries
will be required to tally, not only the total of their expected contribution to their E-rate-supported projects across all their applications, but also
"the total budgeted amount allocated to resources not eligible for E-rate discounts." Through this question, the Schools and Libraries Division hopes
to highlight the requirement that schools and libraries provide adequate support for their E-rate purchases, including such non-eligible items as
staff development, desktop computers, software and infrastructure improvements, if required.
Applicants sometimes express concern that program rules may force them to accept the lowest bid, without consideration of a long-term, Total Cost
of Ownership approach. However, the program's rules only require that applicants give the greatest weight to cost when developing the criteria for
awarding their E-rate-supported contracts. Applicants must then be able to demonstrate how they made their choice, if the program administrators
request an explanation.
The questions are designed to help address instances in which applicants were ill-prepared to make effective use of their E-rate discounts because
they did not have the other necessary equipment to use their purchases effectively.
Sara Fitzgerald
Vice President, Communications
Funds For Learning, LLC
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