Topic Teasers Vol. 85: Figuring COST, Not Cost

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Topics: Cost Management, Outsourcing, Procurement Management

We are in financial trouble. Even though my team carefully researches costs for new hardware and software with multiple vendors, somehow as time goes on the expenditures on each implementation always costs up to three or four times what we budgeted. Is it us?

A. You are being “taken” by sales people from your hardware vendors who are behaving like used car salesmen. They quote you a low price to get your management’s approval, but when it comes time to actually install you have to add on many necessary extras you really need that they never revealed.

B. It is probably you and your team if you are only figuring initial hardware costs in your project budget. The total cost of any new installation should be calculated both in immediate costs and in long-term costs over the life of the equipment, including non-tangible expenses. Only then can vendor offerings be fairly compared and evaluated.

C. Management should not expect project teams to be pricing hardware. This should be done exclusively by someone from the purchasing department. Your only role is to install whatever arrives on the dock. In this way, if the costs go up you and your team escape the blame.

D. Since recent costs for information technology (IT) items …

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