How would you define total cost of ownership (TCO)? What costs should be included in a TCO estimate?

What will be an ideal response?

In addition to direct costs, the company must consider indirect expenses that contribute to the total cost of ownership (TCO) of the new inventory system. You can point out that some costs might be hidden, and a system that seems inexpensive initially actually might turn out to be much more costly. Microsoft found that indirect costs have tripled over the last 10 years and now account for almost 50 percent of total costs. Microsoft also points out that most indirect costs, such as end user peer-support, self-support, and downtime productivity losses, typically were not included in IT department budgets and unaccounted for in most companies.