Avoided Device Lifecycle Services (Annual)

Evidence and data. Each interviewee shared specific results related to elimination of support and management effort for their organization’s device lifecycle with Dell PCaaS.

• The IT group enterprise infrastructure architect in manufacturing explained that before their organization moved to Dell PCaaS, nonstandardization was rampant across the company’s wide range of geographies. This resulted in significant complications when it came to user device support, especially given the organization’s small team of six internal resources.
  
  The interviewee explained: “We had every brand and every model of every brand somewhere in our [device landscape]. The service desk actually spent more time trying to find out what the brand and model they were dealing with was than actually solving the problem afterwards. It became apparent quite quickly that we needed to standardize. Especially because we’re in 85 countries in all time zones. Support was difficult and really expensive.”
  
  After three years of device refreshes, the organization standardized on Dell PCaaS while also growing its device count by six times. This standardization led to many improvements to support times because devices are now imaged in minutes as opposed to hours. Additionally, despite the significant growth in device count, the interviewee said the same team of technicians supports users with 20% less effort than in the previous environment.

• The SVP of IT and security at an agriculture organization said: “Support [provides] the biggest savings for me and my team. Whenever we have an issue with a laptop or a docking station or something like that, it’s a Dell problem now.” The interviewee further noted that Dell enables their organization to get to and maintain a standard for devices, which greatly facilitates support over the life of the device.

• The manager of I&O services at another manufacturing organization spoke to the importance of Dell PCaaS while managing user devices across a highly distributed global company. They said that imaging machines previously required travel and time commitments for IT personnel but that using Dell PCaaS eliminated the need to travel for imaging altogether while delivering ready-to-use devices to end users two to three days sooner than before.

On aggregate, by leveraging Dell PCaaS, the interviewees’ organizations reduced or eliminated the IT FTE labor associated with specific tasks along the device lifecycle. Forrester analyzed the average amount of working time spent on each core device lifecycle activity and used this result to estimate the average monthly device lifecycle costs the composite organization avoids (measured in internal FTE resource hours) for the delivery of these services once it transitioned to Dell PCaaS.

The avoided costs in this benefit category represent each stage of the lifecycle broken down by average internal FTE labor cost (active labor) per stage on a per-device basis. These tasks include initial device procurement processes through Dell, the creation and management of a central image, and systems management. These calculations demonstrate an FTE at the composite organization saves just more than 6 hours per device during the three-year device cycle.

Each stage includes the following:

• Procurement (one-time). Interviewees said using Dell Premier Connect saved time on tasks, including vendor and catalog management, negotiations, invoice management, and device search.

• Imaging (one-time). This included:

  • Creation, testing, and application of the device image.
  • Time and costs related to warehouse devices.
  • Setup of applications and security.

• Physical device setup (one-time). This included:

  • Physical device unboxing, reboxing, and shipping effort.
  • Final preparation and testing.

• Support (annual). This included:

  • Management of device-related support tickets. Interviewees said Dell ProSupport contained proactive and automated case generation, resolutions paths, and communication between users and IT.
  • Upgrades and repairs (both proactive and reactive).
  • Replacement (if necessary). Interviewees said Dell ProSupport delivered resolution for issues requiring repair or replacement an average of three business days faster than internal support alone.

• Retirement/recovery (one-time). This included:

  • Data security and/or wiping.
  • Resale of devices. (Note: This is an option to offset costs of the program.)

Interviewees also said a self-service customer portal is available to gauge how much an organization’s current device assets are worth.

Modeling and assumptions. Interviewees said that by leveraging Dell PCaaS, their organizations reduced or eliminated the IT FTE labor associated with specific tasks along their device lifecycles. Forrester analyzed the average amount of working time spent on each core device lifecycle activity and used this to estimate the average monthly device lifecycle costs the composite organization avoids (measured in internal FTE resource hours) for the delivery of these services once it transitioned to Dell PCaaS.

For the composite organization, Forrester makes the following assumptions:

• Device lifecycle tasks are managed by internal resources exclusively.

• The fully burdened hourly rate for a worker who supports the device lifecycle is $31.49. This weighted rate is based on multiple levels of IT seniority (e.g., PC technician, IT systems manager, procurement administrator) and their relative involvement.

• A single device requires an average of $27.17 in IT FTE labor per year. This is the pre-risk-adjusted labor cost.

• FTEs save more than 6 hours per device during the three-year device cycle.

Risks. These avoided costs can vary among organizations based on:

• The skill and capacity of an organization’s IT resources managing the organization’s device lifecycle.

• The number and breakdown of devices in
  an organization.

• Organizational specifics that affect lifecycle costs (e.g., legal holds on data in the retirement phase.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 5%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $3.1 million.

Avoided Device Acquisition And Refresh Costs

Evidence and data. Most interviewees said that before Dell, their organizations refreshed end-user devices on an ongoing basis every three to five years on average. Several said their organization only refreshed devices on an as-needed basis, and that it could be more than five years between device refreshes. In addition, the organizations often invested in devices across several vendors and specifications to meet the needs of specific user groups, further contributing to varied device landscapes.

Interviewees said their organizations avoided the cost of owned devices as they began to refresh devices with those subscribed to through Dell. This also allowed the organizations to move capital expenditure to operating expenditure, which better aligns with organizational cost-reduction initiatives. Additionally, by sourcing devices across all types and specifications (e.g. Latitude laptops to Pro Max desktops) from Dell, organizations stand to save on a per-device basis by working with a single vendor.

• One of the interviewees from an organization that doesn’t use Dell PCaaS noted that a separate vendor along with the company’s core device provider offers specialized hardware to technical users who require more powerful hardware for tasks such as AI model development.

• Several interviewees noted their organization sources devices based on the cost at the time of need. As a result, the organizations’ device landscapes tend to incorporate devices from several different vendors, which requires some differentiation when it comes to imaging and support.

• Interviewees said a major benefit of Dell PCaaS is agreeable financing across different regions as well as competitive pricing. One interviewee noted that it was roughly 10% cheaper to deploy Dell devices across their organization than to use a competitor and that reliability is nearly identical.

Modeling and assumptions. For the composite organization, Forrester makes the following assumptions:

• Before using Dell PCaaS, the composite financed devices through various vendors with the following assumptions:

  • Residual value: 20%
  • Annual interest rate: 5%
  • Duration: 36 months

• Based on these assumptions, the composite pays the following blended costs per device based on user profiles across device class, specification, and region:

  • Desktop: $1,236.
  • Laptop: $1,339.
  • Docking station: $355.35.
  • Display: $412.

• Though not calculated for this report, the annual refresh cost for the composite organization if the devices are owned would be $2,497,380.

Risks. This benefit may vary among organizations based on:

• The number of devices in an organization.

• Whether the organization owns or subscribes to devices.

• The average cost per device for an organization (based on procurement method, bulk discounting, etc.).

• The length of the refresh cycle for an organization’s devices.

Results. Though variances exist, Forrester did not risk-adjust this benefit because it is matched in the costs section of this report, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $6.2 million.

Avoided IT Personnel Hires Through Reskilling

Evidence and data. Interviewees from organizations using Dell PCaaS and those from organizations not using Dell PCaaS told Forrester that IT talent is in short supply and high demand and that given the business-critical aspect of employee devices, IT resources were assigned to lifecycle management tasks despite the relative tedium. This forced additional hires to complete the other high-impact work for IT. But interviewees said by working with Dell to manage the device lifecycle through PCaaS, many of these IT resources were allocated to staff other IT projects, which saved on additional hires and onboarding costs

• An interviewee in manufacturing said that standardizing devices on Dell PCaaS allowed their organization to avoid hiring additional IT technicians despite growing in user and device count by nearly seven times. The same team now supports this user base with less effort than before Dell PCaaS standardization.

• The manager of I&O service management in manufacturing noted that Dell PCaaS allowed their organization to avoid FTE effort or hiring across different regions that would have needed a local support presence under past device lifecycle operating models. They explained that this may allow for budget flexibility elsewhere in the IT organization.

Modeling and assumptions. For the composite organization, Forrester makes the following assumptions:

• Three IT FTEs are reallocated from device lifecycle tasks to other value-adding IT projects. This is a conservative estimate.

• The average fully loaded annual salary for an avoided IT FTE hire is $73,000.

Risks. This benefit will vary among organizations based on:

• The level and rate of the organization’s IT personnel who work on device lifecycle tasks.

• The skill and capacity of the organization’s IT personnel.

• The scope and complexity of the organization’s fleet of devices as it relates to the magnitude of IT resource avoidance on Dell PCaaS.

• The organization’s need for IT talent as it relates to required hiring.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $654,000.

Avoided User Productivity Losses Due To Device Access

Evidence and data. Interviewees spoke to the impact of device issues or failures that required replacement. In many cases, remote users were without their device for several business days as it was sent off for repair or replacement. Interviewees at organizations with Dell PCaaS said the user productivity benefit of flexible repair or replacement options for devices that experience issues, the value of improved support, and the avoidance of issues altogether through a newer fleet of devices.

• The IT group enterprise infrastructure architect in manufacturing noted that before investing with Dell PCaaS, cost constraints for their organization required it to purchase refurbished PCs for users. They said these devices were from different brands and were different models, and that they were an average of three years old. The interviewee said: “Then they would stay in the company for maybe five to seven more years. It didn’t help from a support perspective.”
  
  The interviewee also said the older devices were more prone to issues and therefore led to user downtime. They concluded that with Dell PCaaS, their organization’s users are happier and more productive with their devices.

• The same interviewee also provided several examples of Dell PCaaS replacing devices that were damaged due to user error. For instance, they spoke of a sales representative who dropped his device off a boat while vacationing a few days before an important sales meeting. Due to Dell’s global reach, a Dell technician was able to meet the representative at the nearest port with a replacement. The interviewee said, “In the old days, if you were traveling and your PC broke, the solution was to get to the closest store and buy a new PC.”

• Interviewees also noted that new functionality from Dell’s 5G and Pro PCs led to productivity enhancements for users. They said employees in the field gained the ability to stay connected much more easily than before and that Dell’s Pro PCs allow users — especially those dealing in AI workloads — to manage more of their work from their own device without relying on outside resources.

• Interviewees also cited having the ability to keep users connected more consistently through 5G-connected devices as a productivity enhancement, especially for executives, hybrid workers, and field workers. The SVP of IT and security at the agricultural organization added: “Our executives and sales staff on the move have 5G connectivity no matter where they are and no matter what they’re doing. Our greenhouse workers have connectivity where Wi-Fi can’t reach them since we could never cover all of our space with Wi-Fi. Now, they’re always able to communicate back to the home farm.”

• The manager of I&O service management in manufacturing explained that repair or replacements the next business day through Dell ProSupport works well for their organization across different regions, saving users days of downtime when these support issues arise.

Modeling and assumptions. For the composite organization, Forrester makes the following assumptions:

• Of the organization’s 4,000 devices, 4% experience a critical issue that requires a physical repair or replacement.

• Before using Dell PCaaS, an end user with a device issue would go without that device for an average of four business days. This time is reduced by 75% with Dell PCaaS.

• Forrester conservatively assumes that an end user operates at 50% effectiveness without their primary device.

• The average fully loaded daily rate for an end user is $280.

Risks. This benefit will vary among organizations based on:

• The rate at which the organization’s devices experience critical failures.

• The organization’s support and/or replacement processes as they relate to the average time to replace a device.

• The effectiveness of a user without a primary device.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 5%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $159,000.

Avoided Shipping Costs

Evidence and data. Prior to adopting Dell PCaaS, interviewees’ organizations faced many situations that drove shipping costs up, including:

• Shipping to and from a central location for provisioning tasks.

• Expediting shipping both ways for remote workers with devices experiencing critical issues.

• An increasing reliance on shipping as more of the workforce transitioned to hybrid roles.

Interviewees said using Dell ProDeploy gave their organizations the ability to image and provision devices without a central IT location for device provisioning, which reduced at least one shipping instance versus the before state. Having fewer issues requiring repair or replacement resulting from a newer device fleet drove additional savings because the organizations spent less on off-cycle shipping.

Modeling and assumptions. For the composite organization, Forrester makes the following assumptions:

• One-third of the organization’s devices ship on-cycle each year as they are refreshed. When a user receives a new device, their old device is retired.

• The composite ships 200 devices (5% of the organization’s 4,000 devices) off-cycle as they are repaired or replaced.

• The average two-way shipping cost for a device is $110. This includes the cost of expedited shipping for devices shipped off-cycle.

• The composite avoids 50% of the per-device shipping cost with Dell PCaaS because fewer devices ship to and from central IT hubs, different offices, or user addresses.

Risks. This benefit will vary among organizations based on:

• The organization’s device lifecycle management processes as they relate to the number of times a device ships during its lifecycle.

• The average device failure rate as it relates to the costs of repair/replacement and off-cycle shipping.

• Any organizational-negotiated shipping terms as it relates to the average shipping rate per device.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 5%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $212,000.

Increased Profit From Better Device Connectivity And Performance

Evidence and data. Interviewees said that with Dell’s AI PCs with 5G available as a subscription through Dell APEX PCaaS, their organizations saw the benefits of better connectivity across several subsets of their user groups that resulted in better business outcomes.

• The SVP of IT and security in agriculture noted there were significant benefits associated with 5G connectivity via Dell devices for their organization’s growers in the field. The interviewee explained that limited connectivity in the field previously resulted in unreported or late-reported signs of crop damage, resulting in suboptimal reactions to these situations. The interviewee noted that by enabling these users with Dell 5G-connected devices, they were able to report these issues as soon as they were discovered, and that more quickly deploying corrective measures improved crop yields and revenue directly attributable to bringing these devices into the field. They attributed a 0.5% annual improvement to crop yields to using Dell 5G devices in the field alone.
  
  The interviewee summarized: “Our growers connected with us in very ad hoc ways. One person would use pen and paper, the next person would make a hotspot off their phone, and the next person would just wait until they got home that night. It really caused us a big challenge in information-gathering. And then more often than I’d like to admit, we just weren’t relaying important information from the field at all because growers didn’t have a connection, didn’t write anything down, or just didn’t want to be late getting home.”

• The same interviewee also described the value of using Dell AI PCs for their organization’s grower analysts working on AI modeling to improve operations and outcomes at their farms. They noted that by providing Dell Pro devices to these users, models affecting operations (e.g., crop watering, fertilization, utilities) can be updated on a more frequent basis. The interviewee said this regular iteration leads to better optimization of resources, better crop yields, and more profitability, all without requiring external compute resources: “Our grower analysts can update their models closer to real time. So, instead of us having to reserve server time that has the AI nodes, they can update them on a whim.” Ultimately, these model improvements contributed to better crop yields, less water and fertilizer consumption, and an estimated 10% to 12% reduction in overall energy consumption.

• Several interviewees noted that using Dell’s 5G-connected devices allows their organization’s executives and decision-makers to remain better connected while travelling.

Modeling and assumptions. For the composite organization, Forrester makes the following assumptions:

• Of the organization’s $150,000,000 annual revenue, 3% is influenceable through real-time decisions made with better connectivity.

• The composite attributes 15% of the resulting revenue increase to better connectivity.

• The composite has a 15% net margin, which is measured in profit.

Risks. This benefit will vary among organizations based on:

• The organization’s business as it relates to the potential impact of better connectivity.

• The organization’s before state for users’ connected devices as it relates to the potential for improved connectivity.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 5%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $239,000.

Avoided Cloud Consumption Costs For AI Modeling

Evidence and data. Interviewees told Forrester that Dell’s Pro and Pro Max devices purchased as a subscription through PCaaS for select subsets of AI developers and power users enabled them to use their own devices to complete some tasks that previously required public cloud consumption resources. Tasks such as AI model development and iterating or updating these models became locally manageable for some users. In addition, some interviewees noted that the ability to manage these tasks locally allowed more frequent model development and iteration, leading to more optimized models and better business results.

Modeling and assumptions. For the composite organization, Forrester makes the following assumptions:

• The composite organization’s users who transition to Dell AI PCs (Dell Pro and Pro Max devices) historically spend $5,000 per month on external compute resources to carry out AI-modelling related tasks.

• The composite avoids 50% of these costs by deploying Dell AI PCs for these users.

Risks. This benefit will vary among organizations based on:

• The amount of resource-intensive AI modeling work that is required of users who will be equipped with Dell Pro and Pro Max devices.

• The nature of this work as it relates to the ability to avoid external compute resources and to carry out these tasks locally on Dell devices once deployed.

• The number of users who work on AI modeling or resource intensive tasks and the associated number of Dell Pro and Pro Max devices deployed.

Results. To account for these variances, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $67,000.

Unquantified Benefits

Interviewees mentioned the following additional benefits that their organizations experienced but were not able to quantify:

• Improved sustainability. Interviewees noted that Dell PCaaS helps their organizations achieve sustainability benchmarks related to hardware.

• Improved security posture. Interviewees said that with the device consistency of Dell PCaaS, there are inherently fewer variables for IT and security operations teams to watch for across device fleets, which improves security postures. They noted that with antivirus and security applications included along with security features at the hardware level, their organizations improved their security postures. The IT group enterprise infrastructure architect explained: “Now that we are standardized on [Dell] devices, we have fewer possibilities of unknown things suddenly showing up because we can test, and because we replace the PC every three years. We don’t have any ancient BIOS (basic input/output system) versions that can easily be hacked. We have Dell SafeBIOS, so we know if the bios has been [tampered] with, [and] the PC is not allowed to connect to our network. We’ve also standardized all of our PCs to a single standard image on every single PC. It’s a huge advantage when we talk about security. It makes life a lot easier because decisions can be based on facts about our devices. We know exactly what’s on our devices and how old they are.”

• Budget flexibility. Interviewees from organizations using Dell PCaaS spoke about the benefit of a monthly payment model as opposed to up-front capital expenditures on cash flows. Several said a lack of budget flexibility before adopting Dell PCaaS led their organization to purchase refurbished devices for users and that this would potentially lead to more support issues in subsequent years.

• Improved end-user experience. Interviewees said that with Dell PCaaS, users receive their devices faster, receive support resolution an average of three days sooner, operate on hardware that is one to two years newer, and can work with Dell to procure the support or devices they need. They explained that this allows their organizations to enable users with high-end devices refreshed more often with a higher support standard from Dell. And beyond the productivity implications, interviewees also highlighted improvements to user experience through access to better-performing devices that cause fewer issues during their lifespans. This suggests that successful deployment of DaaS offerings such as Dell PCaaS may improve employee onboarding, reduce frustration associated with device breakdowns, and enable additional experience innovations. Furthermore, interviewees said Dell PCaaS allows users to subscribe to the devices that best fit their needs to do their jobs optimally, be it 5G-connected devices for executives or staff on the move or power AI PCs for users whose job responsibilities require more computing power or external computing time via a public cloud.

Flexibility

The value of flexibility is unique to each customer. There are multiple scenarios in which a customer might implement Dell AI PCs with 5G and Dell APEX PCaaS and later realize additional uses and business opportunities, including:

• Improved connectivity. Each interviewee noted their organization plans to expand the number of AI PCs with 5G and said the improved connectivity and functionality will enable end users to be more productive and positively influence the business. The SVP of IT and security at the agriculture organization said, “So far, we’ve been able to enable our users to do AI jobs on the spot, and we will continue to allow them to do that in the future.”

• Continuous customization of deployment. As organizations refresh devices leveraging Dell PCaaS, they have the option to choose devices that best match the current working needs of users. Interviewees expressed optimism about their organizations having the ability to evaluate their device choices every few years as opposed to becoming locked into an owned fleet of devices or long-term subscriptions. This may positively affect user effectiveness and therefore business results down the road as working models continue to change.

Flexibility would also be quantified when evaluated as part of a specific project (described in more detail in Appendix A).