Business Cases

Background

The purpose of the following is to document the origin of the numbers contained within the Blacksburg Electronic Village Business Case. While some of these figures are estimations, they are not without support.

One-Time Costs

The prices for the computers in Schedule A were obtained from several locations. First, office supply catalogues were used. Also, Andrew Cohill provided some prices based upon state-wide negotiated contracts with vendors. The price for the disk duplicating machine reflects a current purchase (Joe Kelly).

Schedule B contains prices on office software and Schedule C for printers. The software prices are from the Virginia Tech bookstore, assuming BEV would be able to purchase this software at educational prices. The printer's prices were obtained from a computer catalogue.

Schedule D (cubicles/furniture), Schedule E (common area), and Schedule F (classroom) were, basically, determined through the use of office catalogues. The exception is Schedule D in the Low-End case, where the furniture would be acquired through donations or a second-hand furniture store. The displays listed in the Furnishings section are from an office supply catalogue.

The Network Connection information comes from several sources. First, the prices on the 10-base T hub and equipment come from a Department of Information Technology (DIT) list, which is a series of contracts of computer equipment (John Pollard). The servers and equipment were taken from two separate price lists (Luke Ward, Judy Poff). The Ethernet/ISDN (installation) cost is based on current Bell Atlantic rates available in Blacksburg, VA.

Continuous Costs

In the Equipment section, prices for the copier, telephones, and accessories in the High-End case were taken from direct quotes from local distributors. In the Middle and Low-End cases, the telephone prices are taken from an office supply catalogue while the copier price is from the local distributor. Notice the Middle and Low-End telephone cost is now located with One-Time Costs. The office rent was a quote from the Real Estate Management group at Virginia Tech (Mitzi Lee). The operations and maintenance cost was taken from the current spending of the BEV staff and the Computing Center (Andrew Cohill).

The continuous costs associated with the Network Connection are Ethernet/ISDN (installation) and the maintenance of the 10-base T hub and equipment. The installation costs are from current Bell Atlantic rates in Blacksburg, VA, and the maintenance is a percentage of the cost of the materials. This was based on 10% of the cost of materials.

The salaries are based upon local salaries for comparable positions, as are the figures for the wage employees. The benefits are 39% of the salaries, and this percentage was obtained from the CNS Business Office and is fairly indicative of Virginia Tech (Carol Cornish).

The cost for Schedule I (office supplies) was taken from office supply catalogues. The cost of computer supplies is based on estimates of current BEV management group expenses. The cost of the diskettes is from bulk purchases of 500 diskettes of more. Notice that the diskettes cost more in the Middle and Low-End cases than the High-End case. This is because of the disk duplicating machine located in Equipment in the High-End case only. Thus, the cost for supplies is higher in the Middle and Low-End cases. Also within Supplies is the cost of brochures, determined by local printing costs.

The publications expense in Miscellaneous Expenses is an estimation based on the current cost of books, magazines, etc. Notice the difference in the travel expenses through the three cases. This is based estimations of travel funds available through revenues and grants. Office maintenance was determined as a percentage of the possible rent.

Several expenses throughout the Business Case were determined only after estimating the number of first year customers. These include the cost of brochures and diskettes and local mailing expenses.

One-Time Costs

Continuous Costs