Planning any mobile solution upgrades? It may be necessary to hold follow-on training sessions annually to get the user base acquainted with the new mobile solution capabilities and policy changes.

Help desk costs
Depending on the complexity of the mobile solution, the intuitiveness of the user interface, and the cooperativeness of the handheld, users can become stumped and run into problems. So users turn to the technical support group, or help desk. Help desk staff may be fully dedicated to fielding mobile solution calls, or they may prorate their time, while servicing other solutions.

If you have dedicated technical support staff to the mobile solution help desk, count their entire loaded salary as an annual expense. If they are supporting multiple solutions, estimate the expected call load for the solution and prorate their time. Most help desk groups track calls on a per solution basis. By tracking the calls attributed to the mobile solution and accounting for average call length to resolve the problem, you can achieve a fairly accurate snapshot of the mobile solution's support costs.

Pulling it all together
Ok, that's it! We have just dissected the major TCO components of any mobile solution. Add 'em up! We recommend that mobile solution TCO be calculated over a 3-year Net Present Value forecast for the entire mobile solution within the enterprise -- and per handheld. A fully-loaded handheld cost is a helpful metric to consider as you scale your mobile solution within the company.

Expanding the perspective a bit, TCO is really just the investment side of the ROI equation. Remember, ROI equals total benefit less total investment. So you are halfway into the process for calculating your mobile solution ROI -- but that's a topic for a future Keeping Score column. So stay tuned.

Dale Troppito and Dawna Paton are managing partners of the Gantry Group. Troppito has guided Gantry's rigorous ROI best practice models based on a 25-year career in the technology sector as a CEO, product development executive and chief marketing officer. You can reach her at dtroppito@gantrygroup.com. Paton believes that the technology leaders of the future will be those that understand the crucial role that a market-validated, value delivery strategy and compelling ROI play in shaping corporate competitiveness and customer satisfaction. You can reach her at dpaton@gantrygroup.com.