ITBusinessEdge "Writing the Smarter Business Case"
This instructional report for the chief technology officer is not focused on K-12 but very nicely covers the steps needed to build the successful business case for an IT-based project. Included are:
• Why IT Should Care About Business Cases
• Identifying the Problem
• Recommending a Solution
• The Cost/Benefit Analysis
• Presenting the Business Case
• Reporting the Results

VOI fits nicely into the Cost/Benefit Analysis, where the need for measurable benefits is stressed.

ProjectSmart: Calculating TCO When Evaluating a Project by Curt Finch
This brief U.K. publication does a nice job of describing the desirability of evaluating the anticipated project total cost of ownership when looking at IT solutions for an organization's needs. This is the approach recommended by CoSN's VOI Leadership initiative.

Digital Learning Now: Funding the Shift to Digital Learning: Three Strategies for Funding Sustainable High-Access Environments is first in a series developed in collaboration with Getting Smart, and looks at three strategies for investing in student access: state and district-provided funding, subsidized parent pay, and a mixed model, which includes bring your device (BYOD) policies.

Aberdeen Group White Paper: TCO Benchmarking Study for Unified Communications
Prepared for ShoreTel, this whitepaper explores the initial and ongoing costs of implementing and maintaining unified communications solutions, reviewing several vendor solutions. ROI over maintaining separate systems is not covered.

EducationSector Reports Whitepaper on “Measuring Skills for the 21st Century”
The intellectual demands of 21st century work, today’s leaders say, require assessments that measure more advanced skills, 21st century skills. Today, they say, college students, workers, and citizens must be able to solve multifaceted problems by thinking creatively and generating original ideas from multiple sources of information—and tests must measure students’ capacity to do such work.

techLEARNING news, Does Technology Pay? Investing wisely takes discipline by Michael Simkins, February 15, 2006

Partnership for 21st Century Skills, Results that Matter, March, 2006

School CIO, Measuring Value, One Dollar at a Time

IT Whitepapers. The ROI of Cloud Computing
This Forrester Research report discusses cost considerations when evaluating SaaS applications vs. in house hosting. While business oriented, it has good info for K-12.

GeSCI, TCO Tool and Guide (a Technology Project Evaluation Toolkit)
The electronic tool here presented is derived from a framework for identifying and assessing technology options, their benefits, feasibility and total cost of ownership (TCO). Created primarily for developing nations, this framework uses a scorecard type of approach to technology projects, looking first at the educational objectives, and includes an Excel workbook tool for calculating initial and ongoing costs.

Thomas B Fordham Institute, The Costs of Online Learning
In this paper, the Parthenon Group uses interviews with more than fifty vendors and online-schooling experts to estimate today's average per-pupil cost for a variety of schooling models, traditional and online, and presents a nuanced analysis of the important variance in cost between different school designs. These ranges—from $5,100 to $7,700 for full-time virtual schools, and $7,600 to $10,200 for the blended version—highlight both the potential for low-cost online schooling and the need for better data on costs and outcomes in order for policymakers to reach confident conclusions related to the productivity and efficiency of these promising new models.

IT Business Edge - Info-tech Storage Acquisition TCO Comparison Tool
Total cost of ownership (TCO) is an important consideration when deciding on consolidated networked storage. Comparative analysis of TCO can help you decide whether to move forward with a project or go back to the drawing board. A careful TCO analysis can also help you to justify your proposed project to secure funding.

Gartner Resources

Recommended Garter Education Research
may require subscription

• Number: G00126261
  A TVO Approach Can Support Education IT Projects
• Number: G00125929
  TVO Portfolio of Frameworks Process Can Pinpoint the Value of IT in K-12 Education
• Number: G00124929
  How to Define the TRV for K-12 Education
• Number: G00124928
  How to Use the TRV to Support High-Priority IT Initiatives
• Number: TU-21-6810
  Introducing the Educational Technology Opportunity Matrix
• Number: TU-22-2913
  Using the Educational Technology Opportunity Matrix