In Part 1 of this article I covered what Windows Intune was and some of the features. In this concluding article I would like to go over the financial benefits or non-benefits of Intune.
So financially let’s see what we have, Intune cost $132 per year per computer. If you don’t pay you cannot access your computer(s), when you replace your computer, the old one will no longer have an operating system so any resell or trade in value is gone. Three years of Intune would be $396 and the common five years would be $660.
If you purchase a new computer with Windows 7 Professional it cost about $179, one time. You would need an anti-virus, as explained earlier and in the article on Office 365, three years of ESET would be about $85 for a combined cost of $264 out of pocket. This is equivalent to only 2 years of Intune service. The difference of $132 per year per computer could be divided out by the cost of a server such as SBS 2011 or a WHS, however if you already need a server, you should not figure that in.
If you use the free version of LogMeIn (LMI) for some remote management, then that does not add to your computer cost. Let’s say you want to use the LMI Central control panel, it cost is $200 per year for unlimited computers, if you only had 2 computers, in your office you are still ahead. If you added the LMI Pro version on each computer and purchased in bulk 10 licenses it would cost as little as $500 for all of them or just $50 per computer, you are still ahead by not using Intune.
Based on 10 computers you would pay $1,320 per year for Windows Intune and based on a 3 year life that would be $3,960.00. If you purchased the PC outright with Windows 7, used ESET for your antivirus and LMI Central and Pro your cost would be $3,340, a savings of $620 by not using Intune.
Why would you install LMI Pro if your computers are new? Good question. The storage server, real server and “main” computers need it for the remote monitoring features not available in the free version. Other computers might not need it.
If you use the free version of LMI on 9 computers and get 1 license of Pro for your data server, your cost would be about $70 (no discount for bulk) per year for one LMI Pro license for a total of $2,710 (no need to use LMI Central). By not using Intune you win by saving $1,250 over the course of three years. Bonus, you have the operating systems (OS) and anti-virus on working computers when you dispose of them.
If instead of LMI Central you purchased a Windows Home Server (WHS), which would be a one time cost (excluding setup) of about $1,200 you could save more. Each WHS can run up to 10 PC’s and laptops. So if you had 10 computers, you would break even in less than 1 year with years 2 and 3 as “extra money” compared to using Intune.
Knowing that Intune would cost $3,960, a Windows Home Server with 10 computers would run about $3,840, a savings of $120 over three years. Bonus, you have the operating systems (OS) and anti-virus on working computers when you dispose of them as compared to Intune leaving you with the need to purchase or reinstall the original OS.
In conclusion, the negatives are the cost as compared to using other programs, the positives are all software is in one package. I will let you decide.
Until we meet again, have a virus free week.