and these individuals are also employees. If workers wish to use such technology to communicate, create presentations, access files or documents, or conduct any other working task, they have the option of doing so. This in turn can help engage and motivate employees, boost their morale and drive increased productivity. Turnover increases as a result, the risk of staff attrition falls, and the business bottom line benefits as a result.
Case study: The ROI of cloud computing
As businesses move into the cloud, they should give serious thought to the TCO and ROI implications of hosted services. Over the years, businesses have made a significant investment in legacy IT, spending large sums building up their in-house IT infrastructures. But innovation is ongoing, and in order to keep up with their rivals, firms need to continue investing – responding to new solutions and product releases as they materialise. Where firms are required to spend on both hardware and software, on an ongoing basis, the costs quickly mount – adding to the TCO. This is where cloud computing can make the difference.
Cloud vendors are providing businesses with a viable alternative to the traditional on-premise IT model, by absorbing the investment burden. They look after every aspect of enterprise IT – including servers, software, backup, databases, operating systems, power, cooling and migration. Client users do not need to buy, deploy or maintain infrastructure themselves, meaning the TCO is reduced significantly. Even, where licence and subscription fees are factored in, businesses can achieve an ROI from a lower cost base.
According to the Hurwitz Group, the TCO for a 52-user cloud deployment is 55 per cent lower than in-house IT over a four-year period. The firm reported that average infrastructure costs are approximately 11 per cent of the total cost of deploying IT on-site. Using cloud services, companies move into the black far quicker than they would through on-site IT. And purely on the basis of reduced IT costs, businesses may witness an ROI – even before intangible benefits such as improved flexibility and functionality are considered.
Making the case for Software Assurance
The case software licensing investment becomes far stronger when the ROI intangibles are taken into account. Licence agreements – which define the way in which software can be used, and where it can be installed – can initially appear costly to the purchasing businesses. As a result, some businesses may be tempted to cut corners, either by failing to upgrade their software, or seeking non-legal alternatives such
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as pirated solutions.
End users need to consider the wider benefits of incorporating Microsoft Software Assurance for Volume Licensing into their licensing solutions. This offers an upgrade path, technical support and employee training. As a result, companies are able to increase services revenue, build stronger customer relationships and develop business opportunities. So while there are costs involved initially, businesses know they can look forward to returns in the future, as a result of their investment.
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