White Paper | October 2005 When LCD Monitors can reduce TCO
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4.2 Deployment phase
Companies typically order their new monitors in batches, stock them at a central point and deploy
them on a department-by-department basis. Then the installation engineers go to work, often
during the weekend. They move from office to office to unpack, install, test, register and validate all
the individual monitors. A number of criteria are important to facilitate this process:
• Order to delivery time: LCD monitor deliveries may be affected by component shortages, and vendors should be
able to give reliable delivery commitments in line with the deployment schedule
• Packaging: unpacking should be quick and easy. Compact box size saves space when monitors are held in stock
before deployment. It also means more units can be loaded on a trolley, and there is less packaging material
to dispose of. Or if the company prefers to keep packaging for possible future moves, less storage space is
required
• Rapid replacement should be guaranteed for any units that are ‘dead on arrival’
• Documentation must be clear and complete, including a simple ‘quick start up’ guide
The power supply should be built-in (no external adapters). The product can then be plugged directly into a
mains power outlet, saving installation time
• Cable management should be neat and easy, with provisions to manage the routing of cables for power, PC
VGA/DVI connection, mouse and keyboard
• Plug & play options: comprehensive OSD (On Screen Display) features are recommended, including reset to
factory settings, auto-adjust and self-diagnosis to allow quick, secure installation
• Usability should be intuitive with no training required. The ‘quick start up’ procedure should be
sufficient
• Asset registration software should be provided, allowing monitor details to be registered in a central reposi-
tory rather than on paper. An integrated asset management solution will simplify both the registration process
and later access to asset data
4.3 Operation phase
The operation phase is obviously the most costly in terms of TCO. End-users are using their moni-
tors day-in day-out, and expect first-rate quality and full-time operation. In particular, monitor
downtime must be reduced to an absolute minimum as this can outweigh all other costs in case of
high failure rates and long repair cycles.
The operation phase can also involve business changes, employee turnover, closure and reloca-
tion of departments, renewal of lease contracts, theft of equipment etc. The better a monitor is
prepared to handle these frequent events, the lower the costs will be over time.
Warranty and service:
• A minimum of 3 years warranty is highly recommended. This minimizes depreciation costs and maximizes busi-
ness continuity
• ‘Double swap’ should be made available next to standard single on-site swap. This extra service reduces the
hidden costs of users complaining of not getting their original monitors back. It also saves administration costs
because there is no need to enter new monitors into the asset management system - the original monitor is
returned quickly after service
• On-site swap minimizes the cost of downtime and reduces the costs of on-site spares. Note that most companies
normally keep on-site spares stocks to allow fast response to hardware failures
• Helpdesk facilities should be available to users in their own local language
Quality:
• Pixel policy: a ‘Perfect Panel’ guarantee is recommended to eliminate possible user dissatisfaction and hidden
costs of end-users complaining about faulty pixels
