Imaging — Lenovo savings estimate: varies
Based on this out of box environment, initial costs for imaging a system are not included in our savings calculations. Though Lenovo believes that there are considerable savings to be had from consolidating multiple software images and simplifying your environment, many customers of this size do not consider their environments complex enough to warrant deploying this capability. If you believe your environment can benefit from this capability, we invite you to visit our Lenovo Business Estimator which will detail how Lenovo can help you save money with your imaging process using our ImageUltra Builder software.

Data migration — Lenovo savings estimate: $61 per PC2
When new PCs arrive, there is a need to migrate user data and settings from old systems to new systems. In our experience, many customers have a manual process which uses Microsoft’s Windows User State Migration tool to move their documents and basic Windows settings. However, the tool has limitations and does not have the capability to move more advanced settings often needed by other non-Microsoft programs as well as buried data files. Thus, even with a tool like Windows User State Migration, there is a lot of manual IT and end work to “fix” the migration and make a new PC look and act like an old PC. Consultant Group TBR estimated based on customer Osler Hoskins that using automated migration through Lenovo’s System Migration Assistant reduced migration time from 6.5 hours to 2.5 hours.
Saving Dollars and Improving Productivity Through the PC Lifecycle

Lenovo estimates that this largely manual migration process costs $71 per PC in IT labor and lost productivity once per PC lifecycle. Using Lenovo’s System Migration Assistant, we estimate that there is a savings of $61 per PC over the most commonly used “manual” process described above. (There is no charge for Lenovo System Migration assistant as long as the “new” hardware is a Lenovo PC.) If you are using a “transplant” tool that offers more functionality than the included Windows tool, then you should adjust this assumed amount accordingly taking into account the purchase price of the tool plus hands-on IT time and lost user productivity from a migration. If you purchase System Migration Assistant to use on non-Lenovo hardware, the list price for a software license is $25. For more information or to test different scenarios applicable to your own environment, use the ThinkVantage Business Estimator.

Data destruction — Lenovo savings estimate: $10 per PC
After a PC has been migrated and the old PC is no longer useful, security best practices dictate that the data on the old hard disk drive is destroyed using a U.S. Department of Defense (or other locally recognized governmental authority) approved data destruction method. Using a method that simply reformats the hard disk drive is not a secure way to remove old data from a PC. Many customers recognize this and are using a third party data destruction tool.

Based on a survey of licensing costs for commonly available third party data destruction tools, the average cost is $15 per PC in software costs plus IT time required to access the PC to destroy the data. Lenovo’s Secure Disk Disposal Tool is included with the purchase price of Lenovo hardware, so there is no additional software cost for use on Lenovo PCs. On third party equipment, our list price is $15 per PC. Due to the simple yet powerful security and ease of use provided by Lenovo Secure Disk Disposal, our savings calculations assume a savings of $10 per PC to securely destroy its data. For more information or to test different scenarios applicable to your own environment, use the ThinkVantage Business Estimator.

Connectivity management — Lenovo savings estimate: $50 per notebook PC
Connectivity is extremely important for a mobile worker to remain productive. There are a myriad of ways to achieve data connectivity ranging from hard-wired Ethernet to Wi-Fi hotspots, cellular networks and even emerging technologies like WiMax. In addition to providing for basic connectivity, companies must also enforce secure methods of accessing and protecting company data through the use of VPNs, firewalls, and other security practices. Default Windows tools offer limited advanced functionality, and as a result, many connectivity devices have their own interfaces and tools to enable their full range of features.

By switching to a centrally managed profile based system, automatic network switching can save money and enforce security policies by reducing connectivity-related help desk calls. Lenovo’s Access Connections software is included in the purchase price of Lenovo hardware and costs $25 for an OEM license to use on non-Lenovo hardware. By using this software, Lenovo estimates avoiding one help desk call per notebook PC per three year lifecycle at the cost of $50 per call.  For more information or to test different scenarios applicable to your own environment, use the ThinkVantage Business Estimator.

Restoring corrupted systems — Lenovo savings estimate: $57 per PC
Our assumed 100 person small business does not have significant help desk resources to draw on when system software gets corrupted. As such, many customers decide that the easiest way to deal with software corruption problems is to reimage their systems to a known working state. The Windows Backup tool makes this a costly step, both in user time required to manage the backup as well as the required price of external media in order to backup on a regular basis.

When users have access to local support, our consultants and customers have indicated that it costs approximately $200 per system every time it must be reimaged. If support is off-site, then that cost jumps to $260 per system. Lenovo’s Rescue and Recovery software is included in the purchase price of Lenovo PCs and is available as an OEM license for non-Lenovo hardware for $60 per PC. It is a one button data recovery software tool to restore operating systems, applications, and system files in case of a software crash or virus.

It is important to note that not every PC will have software problems that require reimaging over its three or four year lifecycle. Lenovo has experienced that a typical customer will reimage one third of its install base over a four year lifecycle and estimates a $57 savings per PC in productivity and reduced support costs when averaged over our 100 user hypothetical install base we used to calculate our savings estimates. Your environment will certainly vary. For more information or to test different scenarios applicable to your own environment, use the ThinkVantage Business Estimator.

Power management — Lenovo savings estimate: varies, but “reasonable” power management can reduce electricity consumption up to 69%5, 6
Before the advent of modern power savings improvements, an organization wanting to save power usually had one simple decision: to turn machines off or leave them running 24 hours per day. Prevailing wisdom suggested that the power savings benefit of turning machines off was far outweighed by the disadvantages, namely, increased wear and tear on hardware. Furthermore, many organizations have a policy to patch and remediate systems overnight while they are not in use. In addition, users often did not want to turn off their machines because of lengthy boot up and shutdown times.

Put simply, it was just easier to leave everything on. Combining old, non-power efficient hardware with no power management can significantly increase electricity costs. Lenovo Power Manager is exclusive to Lenovo and is not available for non-Lenovo PCs. It provides additional power management capability not available with Windows that can significantly reduce electricity consumption and therefore costs. Using our Lenovo Energy Calculator, Lenovo compared a system from approximately three years ago, a ThinkCentre M52 Tower with 17” model ThinkVision C170 display and no power management enabled vs. a current generation ThinkCentre M58 Tower PC with 19” model ThinkVision L1940w display and power management enabled with Lenovo Power Manager. Using Lenovo Power Manager can reduce your electricity usage by up to 69% compared to not using Lenovo Power Manager on the same hardware. Power savings for desktops assumed a four year lifecycle and for notebook PCs assumed a three year lifecycle. Your environment will certainly vary. For more information or to test different scenarios applicable to your own environment, use the Lenovo Energy Calculator and read our Best Practices in Desktop and Notebook Energy Efficiency White Paper.
Best Practices in Desktop and Notebook Energy Efficiency White Paper.

Password management — Lenovo savings estimate: $25 per avoided password reset help desk call
Many customers consider good security a cost, not a savings. Anything that makes a system more secure often makes it less convenient for the end user. For example, you can enforce password complexity rules, but you’re guaranteed to increase help desk calls for password resets from end users.

Even with increased security, there are still ways to help reduce this complexity and therefore costs. With Lenovo’s Client Security Solution, users can reset their own system passwords without a help desk call through a set of three predetermined challenge questions. Additionally, our ThinkVantage Client Security Solution Password Manager helps you consolidate the multiple passwords a user may have down to either just one or down to a single swipe of their finger when using Client Security Solution password manager with a fingerprint reader. Find out more about all of these technologies including all of the necessary details you need in order to make these solutions work at our innovation security center.

End user self help enablement — Lenovo savings estimate: $50 per avoided help desk call
Whether you have your own help desk, use your PC vendor’s support phone line, or even contract with a third party business partner, getting technical support is a real and direct cost to your business. Work stops. Productivity plummets. Yet most help desk calls can be easily avoided if users can access the right information to help themselves.

Lenovo ThinkVantage Productivity Center guides you and your end users to a host of information and tools that help set up, understand, maintain, and enhance your Lenovo PCs. More importantly, you can customize Productivity Center with your own links, data, and information about your business. It helps your end users help themselves, without having to spend their valuable time on the phone. Learn more about Lenovo Productivity Center.

Quality hardware with high quality service and support — Lenovo savings estimate: peace of mind
Today, more than ever, you need productivity, not downtime. Lenovo’s Support Services provide qualified, localized and personalized expertise to meet your needs, regardless of the size of your business. Whether it is self help installed on each system, Web based support in 9 languages, phone support in 17 languages, or our worldwide support relationships with 3000+ Lenovo-authorized service providers, Lenovo is able to provide our customers with a broad portfolio of skills and experience to reduce downtime and minimize support costs. Learn more about Lenovo’s Service and Support.