Network administration encompasses many
responsibilities, including cost analysis. This means
determining not only the cost of network design and implementation,
but also the cost of maintaining, upgrading, and monitoring the
network. Determining the cost of network installation is not a
particularly difficult task for most network administrators.
Equipment lists and costs may be readily established; labor
costs can be calculated using fixed rates. Unfortunately, the
cost of building the network is just the beginning.
Here are some of the other cost factors
that must be considered: Network growth over time; technical and
user training; repairs; and software deployment. These costs are much more
difficult to project than the cost of building the network. The
network administrator must be able to look at historical and company growth
trends to project the cost of growth in the network. A manager must look at new software and hardware to determine if the company will need to implement them and when, as well as staff training needs to support these new technologies.
The cost of redundant equipment for
mission critical operations should also be added to the cost of
maintaining the network. Think of running an Internet based business
that uses a single router to connect to the Internet. If that router
fails, your company is out of business until that router is replaced
which could cost the company thousands of dollars in lost sales. A
wise network administrator might keep a spare router on the premises
to minimize the time his company is offline.
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