While TCO was a buzz word back in the 90s for complete business infrastructures, it looks like Asus is planning to bring the idea front and centre for the 21st century – any it's not stopping at the ‘system level'. We caught up with Ellina Webb, Asus PR Guru and serious history buff, to find out more about how ‘A little Extra Can Save a Lot'.
The idea is interesting, but what is all about?
Ellina explained, “When you look at the total cost of owning modern technology, the price you pay at the till is only one aspect. You also need to look at energy costs, reliability and whether the component you choose actually makes your overall experience better”.
Interesting argument to make, overall, for components.
.
“For example, in a design environment, you need to be sure that you can deliver on time for your customers”, she said. “Your number one priority becomes reliability – which is something that Asus works very hard on”.
“Then you have the energy efficiency of a component and how that impacts the overall cost of running a system for many years. It all adds up”.
“Finally, if the components you choose allow you to work faster, then that means you can be more productive – which impacts cost of ownership in a completely different way”, Ellina told us.
Fair point. Using her example, if you chose wisely, then a set of components can add ‘%' increases to your performance which, in a design studio, would allow you to choose between (a) making more profit in the same time or (b) reducing your rates because you finished early and moved onto another task.
If you don’t want to enter, but you still want to be involved, you can vote for your favourite user created storyboard – which automatically enters you in a secondary prize draw to win a pair of Asus headphones.
Remarkably, in her spare time, Ellina is a history buff with a special interest in historic military encounters – centring on the Cold War from 1947 to 1991. While some of us struggle to distinguish Pasta from a Panzer, Ellina knows chapter and verse on the 115mm smoothbore gun fitted to the Soviet T-62s at the height of the tensions.
.
.
Full life pricing and full life environmental impact is the way ahead. There’s strong moves in the construction industry to make the latter law for materials, so why not? Information is power.