Need to justify new hardware

[tct70]

Hi,

I need to write a report justifying the benefit to our business in replacing my current hardware. I currently have a three year old 2 processor PC running xp pro 32bit with 2 gig of ram.

I've also just got approval to move from Viz2008 to Max2009design.

I have issues at the moment with the lack of ram and can wait 30 minutes for an AO pass on a single house. I have discussed animating (not done at the moment) with the sales director (my main client), and more internal views to which he seems keen.

I want to go 64bit as there is also the chance of inheriting a number of blades to use as render nodes as our main network servers are upgraded this year.

I know this sounds straight forward, but putting it on paper for someone who is not computer literate is harder than I thought. If anyone has been thru a similar process recently I'd appreciate any pointers.

Thanks,



Trev

[joconnell]

It's pretty simple - the quicker machine means more responsive feedback to the operator which means you can either do more work or buy yourself more tweaking time to enhance the standards of what you're doing now. It's either you push through a bigger volume of work (Dangerous since fickle clients will always use up time needlessly) or you can keep improving the work and get further ahead of competitors. The expensive part of a 3d setup over the course of a business year is always the operator so the more you can get from him for a small investment the better.

[Clifton Santiago]

Well, in terms of justifying the cost, its pretty simple. Any work that you can't do because of time constraints gets outsourced, right? On speculative work, you end up paying a minimum of twice as much as if done in-house. And if the work is billable, you can charge at minimum 100% profit on top of office cost for your hours, and still remain competitive with smaller viz offices. Explain this, and get a couple invoices from external companies, and you should be able to convince the right people.

[MoonDoggie]

Let 'em know that you need minesweeper to run faster and you heard it runs best on a intel dual quad xenon 3.0ghz processor with 8 gb of ram.

[jujubee]

Tell them you're gonna quit otherwise. Problem solved unless you suck.

[jujubee]

Oh. And if they call you on your bluff you're screwed too.

[thablanch]

Number talk, not computer talk...
If you are waiting 10minutes instead of 30min., paid at whatever $ per hour = How long for your boss to get the investment back and start making money with new equipment.

[Clifton Santiago]

Also, when you discuss your cost vs. outsourcing, and profit margins, explain the cost of the computer vs. how many renderings to pay for it.

For example, consider you might do three renderings on a speculative job in 2 weeks, that an external company might charge say, £8000. Lets say the office cost for your hours in 2 weeks is £3000. Your office has just saved £5000, the cost of a very nice workstation from Armari.

Or, conversely use another example, but in terms of profit on a billable job. Should be similar numbers...

Basically, you can easily pay for a new workstation in 2 or 3 weeks, and even less time for high-end render nodes (about £2K each)