How much does messaging cost you?

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: MICHAEL OSTERMAN ON MESSAGING
06/28/05
Today's focus: How much does messaging cost you?

Dear networking.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* When you need to know the cost of messaging
* Links related to Messaging
* Featured reader resource
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LICENSE TO KILL

Mainstream companies are starting to reap benefits from
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Today's focus: How much does messaging cost you?

By Michael Osterman

Most organizations don't know how much it costs them to provide
messaging services to their users, based on the findings of a
survey we completed last week.

For example, we found that only about two in five organizations
can get within 10% or better of the actual cost of providing
messaging services, including the cost of licenses, maintenance
and support contracts and the like. Most of the remaining
organizations could determine these costs, but it would take
some work for them to do so. As a result, many organizations
significantly underestimate the cost of providing messaging
services.

That said, not knowing the cost of providing messaging services
to your users is really no big deal on some level, since you
absolutely must provide these services no matter how much it
costs. For example, you might not know how much it costs to
provide electricity or plumbing for your users, but no matter
what it costs you'll do so anyway.

But what happens if your IT department is swamped with a variety
of initiatives that will provide you with an advantage relative
to your competition? Do you really want these talented people
managing e-mail when they could be adding value to your
organization in other ways?

If not, then knowing the cost of providing messaging services
becomes very important if you want to evaluate providers of
hosted messaging services to replace or supplement some of your
internal activities. For example, let's say you want to want to
use a provider of managed e-mail security services that will
clean your incoming e-mail of viruses, worms, spam, etc. If you
don't know how much it costs you to provide these services using
internally managed servers or appliances, as well as the labor
that you invest to provide these capabilities, it will be more
difficult to evaluate whether a managed service provider is
going to be a bargain or will add to your costs of providing
messaging.

Bottom line: If you need to determine whether a managed service
provider is a better value than managing capabilities internally
- a classic make-or-buy decision we were all taught in school -
then you need to know how much messaging costs you.

RELATED EDITORIAL LINKS

They welcome wireless spam?
Network World, 06/27/05
http://www.networkworld.com/nlmsg2877
_______________________________________________________________
To contact: Michael Osterman

Michael D. Osterman is the principal of Osterman Research
<http://www.ostermanresearch.com/>, a market research firm that
helps organizations understand the markets for messaging,
directory and related products and services. He can be reached
by clicking here <mailto:michael@ostermanresearch.com>
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Hewlett Packard
Choose the Best Architecture

Learn how controller-based architecture for tape libraries best
meets reliability and interoperability requirements in
enterprise storage area networks. Details include how the
introduction of the HP StorageWorks Extended Tape Library
Architecture defines the next generation of tape libraries in
enterprise SAN environments. Download the white paper now!
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=107254
_______________________________________________________________
ARCHIVE LINKS

Archive of the Messaging newsletter:
http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/gwm/index.html
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technology category. Deadline: July 8. Enter today:
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