Thursday, September 23, 2004

This Friday marks officially the start of the fall Technology season for those of us in the school technology business.  For anyone who knows the drill budget season is right around the corner.  In fact, vendors who have been doing this for some time will begin pitching new technology over the next three months in order to get the orders placed into the school budgets throughout the state.  Problem is, what are we going to look for?  I for one am looking at maintenance and products centered around the process of maintaining our equipment compliment.  We will be planning to really concentrate on making sure that the equipment we purchased in 2002-2003 will be in operation for the prescribed three year purchase plan.  Our obsolence program will be tested fully this year and next.  I plan on sticking to the program with getting three full years from the date of the purchase.  We need to get three full since at the price I paid per workstation, $275 per, will be fully justified since we would have kept a unit in operation for under $100 per year.  For 1400 units that cost is actually $140,000.   Tying that number to the replacement plan that is implemented each year is the trick.  Are the numbers really $100 per unti, well no there not.  You have to take the number of machines that we are currently utilizing then decide what number we need to retire.  Add back the numbers for new boxes, add that number to the cost of opeation of the existing machines, blend in the cost of the new machines that you will purchase or build and there you have it.  Do you really have it?  Not really, add numbers for printers, cartridges, cables, etc.   Will that give you a true cost of the TCO?  Not really.  What is the TCO?  I really don't know, I am still working on it.  I have been through multiple equations, formulas, books, papers and the like.  No luck, not any.  I need to combine all of the above and probably some facets that I have not contemplated yet.  How is this possible?  Why don't I know the straight answer, the reason my friend is that there is none.  Variables, variables, variables and more variables.  Here is my short concerted plan.  I am going to plan on replacing the GX1's throughout the district that are Pentium II, 350 Mhz and below.  I have a number to work with but I will refine it more as the year goes on.  What I do know is that the replacement cost is going to be $275 each.  I probably need about 200 units which will have a cost of $55,000 or so.  There will be some bargaining over price and I may get the unit price down to a low as $235 each.  Those 200 units will be dispersed to the district where we deem we will get the most bang for the buck.  The Middle School will get some and the workstations replaced at the MS will then be shipped to either the Kindergarten Centers or Colonge school for 1st through 3rd grade usage.  The GX1's will fit in for the two more years that we need them to operate at that level.  I will rotate 150 of the new units through the MS next summer and then 150 the next.  Followed by the the remainder of the workstations the third year.  So much for the replacement plan.  I will elaborate more fully next post.  Till then. 9:57:49 PM    comment []

© Copyright 2004 Gil Chapman.