The ShoreTel UC solution was built from the ground up for IP networks, helping to eliminate the complexity typically associated with other solutions, which results in high maintenance and management costs. The company says that by designing a powerful yet brilliantly simple solution from the start, ShoreTel drives down the TCO, helping organizations realize dramatic cost savings year after year.
For the ShoreTel Lowest TCO Guarantee Program, ShoreTel uses independent third-party data to compare the actual costs a business incurs for its UC system over time. If the TCO analysis shows that ShoreTel’s TCO is higher than a competitor’s, ShoreTel will lower its prices to beat the competition.
On average, upfront costs for a UC system typically represent only 25 percent of its TCO. Based on data compiled from independent third parties as well as ShoreTel customers, operating costs such as hardware replacement, training, support, software upgrades, moves, adds and changes, system management, power consumption, and other ongoing charges comprise approximately 75 percent of a system’s five-year TCO.
ShoreTel say their architecture delivers an intrinsically lower TCO and dramatically greater value than the more complex and less reliable solutions offered by other vendors.
The ShoreTel Lowest TCO Guarantee combines independent research firms’ data with a comprehensive and easy to use TCO tool to analyse TCO for each customer’s exact requirements.
To achieve a fair comparison, the ShoreTel reseller and customer are fully involved in the TCO analysis, and have the opportunity to use their own data.
TCO calculations are based on a like-for-like configuration and feature set, over a five year or more time period.
The Lowest TCO Guarantee program supports ShoreTel’s resellers’ efforts to provide solutions that deliver the full financial benefits of UC throughout an enterprise, rather than simply offering commodity hardware and support agreements.
Irwin Lazar, vice president of communications and collaboration research, Nemertes Research
"According to Nemertes Research, 80 percent of organizations have flat or declining IT budgets, and 85 percent of IT expenditures require a pre-approved business case, therefore minimizing TCO is an essential requirement for a successful UC implementation. IT executives interviewed by Nemertes Research for Nemertes' annual PilotHouse Award program, rate ShoreTel tops in value, primarily due to ShoreTel's lowest annual total operating cost."
Mark Arman, vice president of business development, ShoreTel commented, “For years, customers of all sizes have demonstrated that ShoreTel has the lowest total cost of ownership. Based on independent third party data as well as feedback from ShoreTel customers, ShoreTel’s ongoing operating costs are typically 50 percent to 75 percent less than most alternative solutions. This fundamental advantage is driven by ShoreTel’s brilliantly simple design that results in significantly lower costs for implementation, training, maintenance, moves, adds and changes, system management, long distance charges and energy consumption.”