Justifying the cost.
WHAT TO COMPARE
The total cost of the current arrangement The total cost of the proposed one
WHAT TO INCLUDE FOR THE CURRENT ARRANGEMENT
Hardware, amortised Power and cooling Maintenance and support Administration time Replacement cost approaching Downtime experienced
THE HIDDEN COSTS
Administration time and downtime are usually omitted, and usually substantial.
WHAT TO INCLUDE FOR THE PROPOSED ONE
Subscription or usage cost, annually Migration cost, including your time Training Increased connection requirements Running both during transition
WHAT TO PROJECT
Three years, not one.
WHY
Cloud costs recur. A purchase does not.
The comparison changes over time.
WHAT ELSE TO WEIGH
Benefits that are real but hard to price: access from anywhere, resilience, removal of hardware risk.
WHAT NOT TO DO
Compare a subscription against only the hardware price.
WHAT TO CONCLUDE
Whether the move pays, honestly, including if it does not.
