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» VIEW ALL POSTS Sep 6 2007   9:00AM GMT

Authentication vendor releases TCO calculator



Posted by: Robert Westervelt
Security Vendor News, Network Security

I admit, I’m skeptical, but the folks at SSL VPN authentication vendor, TriCipher released a total cost of ownership calculator. Companies can calculate the cost based on their unique environments. TriCipher calculates the fees for licenses, server hardware, and tokens between itself, RSA, ActivIdentity and Entrust. In addition the calculation includes the cost of USB drives used by TriCipher and estimates three years of operational costs. Of course the vendor shows itself as the cheapest option. How much is cost a factor in buying decisions when choosing authentication technologies? I’m sure most firms will weigh the expense of a product with the user experience and deployment flexibility.

3YR Strong Authentication for SSL VPN Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

TriCipher

Entrust

ActivIdentity

RSA

Up Front Cost

$206,872

$140,157

$699,063

$1,093,548

Operational Cost

$166,289

$2,514,349

$2,514,349

$2,514,349

Total Cost

$373,161

$2,654,506

$3,213,411

$3,607,897

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Seth Knox  |   Sep 6 2007   1:34PM GMT

When we first started researching the TCO of OTP Tokens, we searched extensively for independent published research on the operations costs of OTP Tokens. All we could find was information about the up front prices of OTP Token and anecdotal information about the operational processes.

So, we decided to interview people ourselves that had been involved in OTP Token deployments. We were also shocked and skeptical about the operations costs that the interviewees reported in the areas of on-boarding, deployment, replacing devices, temporary access, and out of synch troubleshooting. So, we ran the numbers by industry analysts to validate the findings. We made changes to the model and phrasing of the questions based on their input, but they actually reported that the numbers we use for helpdesk call costs, replacement rates, and administrative overhead are actually conservative.

We would love nothing more than to change the default values in the TCO calculator based on independent published research or more information from OTP Token customers. If it’s more accurate its more useful to customers who are on the fence about deploying strong authentication or are finding it difficult to continue because of cost.

So, why would companies implement something that is so expensive to operate? I think it is a combination of two things: OTP Token operations costs are often hidden in general IT operations and helpdesk budgets and not necessarily associated with the OTP Token deployment from a business perspective and many companies aren’t aware that there a alternatives to OTP Tokens for strong authentication that are lower cost, easier to use, and more secure.

The TCO calculator was developed as a tool to start a conversation about the true costs of strong authentication and how we can reduce that cost. The numbers used to calculate the TCO of strong authentication solutions will be different for every company. So, we invite everyone to customize the TCO calculator by changing the default numbers and challenge our assumptions. Let the debate begin!


 
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