So I just built this Microsoft pricing chart, and it really got me thinking about ways to slim down the enterprise desktop as a financial burden.
It occurs to me that when business start btheir inevitable PC and software refresh, they'll end up with a standard build that includes something similar to this list of products:
- Vista Enterprise Edition: $279 (which is a volume license upgrade price; this leaves out the cost of the OEM-loaded OS that came with the PC)
- Office 2007 Standard: $400
- Exchange CAL: $67
- Server CAL: $40
- Assuming 200 users per file/print server, $5. $999/200
- Assuming 200 users per Exchange server, $8.50 ($699 + $999)/200
- Assuming 1000 users per AD domain controller, $1 $999/1000
- Total cost: $800.50
These are your basic captial costs for software alone.
I think we pretty much need to leave Outlook/Exchange in the mix. Zimbra is starting to 'get there', but still doesn't cannot deliver the experience people get from Outlook. Which means Active Directory is basically a must, so we keep that.
And we could blow off the Windows file/print servers, but it's only costing us $5 per user (the W2003 Server CAL is already paid for by the AD), and the benefits of file replication might appeal to us someday, so we keep that.
What's left? Half of the cost of outfitting a new user today: Office 2007, at $400. I think we feasibly can take this off of more than 60% of the desktops, and replace it with web-based apps.
First, wordprocessing. Do we really need it on the desktop anymore? I think that for most users, it could be replaced with a good wysiwyg wiki. This would not only save the cost of the software, but improve productivity as you're no longer sending documents round-robin to all users and trying to determine who has the out-of-date version. Why not make Word an *optional* program, which the employee would have to request and his manager approve? Yes some people still need it, but does *everyone*?
The same goes for excel. You have some hardcore employees who need large or many featured spreadsheets, but most employees never create or manipulate spreadsheets. Of the few who do, most create sheets with maybe 20 columns and 200 rows. Can't that be done in an online spreadsheet like googledocs provides?
Powerpoint? Again, the wiki can probably do a great job.
Can we put Windows SteadyState to use as a way of keeping all desktops uniform? In combination with Folder Redirection, so people can still personalize their bits ..
Backups via Dirvish?
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