Google’s Chromebook Value Proposition

We know that minimalist thin client computing can save money for schools but reducing hardware and maintenance costs, but exactly how much? That’s the question that a recent IDC report answered by tabulating the actual dollars and cents costs of 12 schools and districts using Chromebooks. Google paid for the survey, but its results can’t be ignored. All told, thousands of children use Chromebooks and districts save thousands of dollars every day.

There are Chromebooks from Acer and Samsung starting at $350, and according to IDC’s calculations, they can lower the annual cost of ownership to $311 a year, a huge savings compared to traditional notebooks. More to the point, Chromebooks require 69 percent less labor to install, 92 percent less labor to support and increased usable time for the systems by 82 percent. This can either lead to a reduction of needed staffing in a district’s IT department or free them to do needed and often ignored maintenance, upgrades or installations.