Continuing on with operational  efficiency sales tactics from yesterday’s post, the problem comes in when the product or service does not directly relate to a business issue.  This is common with efficiency gains when considering products that relate more to infrastructure. However TCO numbers can play a strong supporting role here; where product doesn’t necessarily require a tight connection to a business function.  Virtualization and data center consolidation are good examples, where a true ROI might be hard to prove, but TCO may be apparent.  If you’re going down this road, make sure your numbers make sense.  Always best to get numbers from the client – at a level above those charged with system administration.

© 2011, David Stelzl