Gartner Research

Use the TCO of Your Solution to Drive Product Strategy and Differentiation

Published: 08 June 2023

Summary

Many tech CEOs struggle to demonstrate the potential economic advantages of their SaaS offerings without enough knowledge of the total cost of ownership. Tech CEOs that understand their solution’s TCO and reduce costs wherever possible can use it to build competitive advantage.

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Overview

Key Findings
  • Tech CEOs that don’t know the total cost of their solution can be put into a reactive defensive position when buyers realize their total cost of ownership (TCO) becomes noticeably higher than that of their competitors.

  • Tech CEOs for SaaS-based solutions incorrectly assume solution costs are mainly the recurring subscription fees. They overlook the software costs related to administrative, integration and training requirements, and maintenance.

  • SaaS providers often focus solely on the product and ignore the implementation needs, an approach that can have a significant impact on TCO.

Recommendations

As tech CEOs seek to improve their product and service strategy, they must

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