White Paper | October 2005 When LCD Monitors can reduce TCO
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Some additional facts and fi gures about monitors underline their importance in the overall costs
picture. For example:
• The purchase cost of an LCD monitor is often more than 50% of that of a standard PC
(see Figure 2)
• 35% of the power bill of a typical desktop confi guration is accounted for by the monitor.
The PC itself only consumes twice as much (see Figure 3)
• The theft risk of an LCD monitor is at least 3 times that of a PC. Like laptops, LCD
monitors can easily be removed and are also in great demand. The theft rate of LCD
monitors is estimated at 1% per year
• The technical lifetime of a monitor can easily be extended to more than 5 years, while a
PC is very often written-off after 3 years
• PCs are identifi ed with asset tags and managed by a central system. Monitors are often
considered as ‘consumable’ accessories
One more possibly surprising example: when employees leave or move to other departments,
their PCs are always returned to IT for a ‘sanity check’ and to reload standard settings. But
the monitor just stays on the desk, awaiting its new user. Important settings like brightness and
contrast – which are strongly related to users’ individual preferences – are left unchanged, even
though the new user will require his or her own settings.
LCD Monitor
31%
PC unit
69%
LCD Monitor
33%
PC unit
67%
Figure 2: Price breakdown of typical PC set-up Figure 3: Power consumption breakdown of a typical PC set-up
3. Defi ning Total Cost of Ownership
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is a business model to help organizations determine the total
cost of procuring, owning, using and disposing of assets over time. TCO attempts to capture all the
costs of IT-related investments throughout their life cycle. Four life-cycle phases are distinguished
(see Figure 4):
• Acquisition: needs assessment, end-user surveys, vendor evaluation, planning
and procurement
• Deployment: site preparation, de-installation of existing equipment, installation and
confi guration of new solution, on-site testing, user training and validation
• Operation: day-to-day usage, end-user support, moves & changes, hardware and software
maintenance, warranty handling, asset management, power supply etc
• Retirement: removal and disposal of equipment at the end of its useful life
Acquisition Deployment Operation
Retirement
Figure 4: The 4 phases of Total Cost of Ownership
