Painless Budget Planning

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Walter Minkel -- School Library Journal, 04/01/2003

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Anyone who has put together a school technology budget knows how time-consuming it can be. How much should be set aside for computers, digital video equipment, and printers? How much for professional development sessions so teachers can use the technology effectively? How much should you budget to maintain the network or replace software? It's not easy to calculate the sum of these expenses, or the total cost of ownership (TCO).

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.