Everyone knows that TCO is a useful metric for capturing the costs of an IT decision over time. But how does your server OS platform contribute to the total cost? And where do the bulk of costs creep into your business?

Together, the costs of ongoing management and maintenance, as well as downtime, typically represent 75 percent or more of your total cost of ownership. To successfully reduce TCO, focus on improving system manageability by using mature management tools and consistent processes, and by having well-trained resources.

Here you’ll find best practices for thinking about and managing TCO as well as resources to help clarify how Windows and Linux-based solutions impact your budget in terms of upfront costs, ongoing management costs, and more.