Painless Budget Planning

To streamline this process, the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), a nonprofit education organization, has created the CoSN/Gartner Total Cost of Ownership program. The free online tool (available at www.classroomtco.org) works like a calculator. Users input information about the school's network, computers, software, and professional development costs, says Keith Krueger, CoSN's CEO. After entering the requested information, technology planners can then compare the overall cost-effectiveness of various purchasing decisions—such as whether it's better to buy a fleet of carts filled with new wireless laptops or keep the school's desktop computers. The TCO tool emphasizes the importance of careful long-term planning.