One simple approach is to take GartnerGroup's estimate of the yearly TCO for a $450 Palm handheld (which is more than many will need to spend). GartnerGroup estimates such a device to cost $2,690 per year. They say that the bulk of this money is spent on end-user operations and downtime, which account for 40% of the cost. Then comes capital, which accounts for 24% of the cost, administration cost, which totals 23% of the cost, and technical support, which represents 13% of the cost.

It's an interesting approach, but we here at PalmPower's Enterprise Edition don't think this is the best approach for factoring your own ROI. Instead, a great example exists on a site maintained by Edecap Services (at http://www.edecap.com/Mobile_Cost_of_Ownership.htm). Edecap put together a simple chart that identified the software and hardware necessary to equip 10 people for a field data gathering application.

They factored in the cost of the hardware, from the actual device to modems, cables, and carrying cases. They then added in the cost of software, from an enterprise license for Satellite Forms (at http://www.pumatech.com/Satellite_Forms_Enterprise.html) to 10 copies of various software applications. All told, they calculated that hardware would cost $4,370 and software would cost $1,628. They then factored in configuration and training, which they estimated would cost another $4,000. All told, their estimate of total cost of acquisition was $9,998 with a per-user TCO of $999.80.

One of the downsides of the whole TCO concept is that it tends to overcomplicate things. The acquisition of Palm handhelds is one such process that can become overcomplicated--and one where the expectation of higher cost can be overblown.

The simple fact is that you can go to the online Palm store and buy a Palm handheld starting at $99 for a refurbished unit or $129 for a Palm m100. What we do here at ZATZ is just hand our employees Palm handhelds, tell them to read the manual, and if they have questions, visit PalmPower and post on the PowerBoards. We've never had to incur any special training expense or time. In fact, these things are so simple to get started with that my retired mom and dad both have handhelds, and neither needed any special training. They're not technically illiterate, but they're not hard-core power users either.

This is not rocket science, and you shouldn't expect to budget for Palm handhelds as though it is. Here's another example. My editorial assistant, Emily, bought a Palm m100 for Julia, her 11-year-old kid. Now, Julia's a bright child, but the fact is that if an 11-year-old can grok this stuff without a substantial training budget, so can your staff.

So here are a few simple steps for figuring out how much Palm handhelds will cost:

1. Determine which Palm handheld models you'll be using (a good place to start is to decide whether you need a wireless Palm VII-series or a non-wired device).

2. If you've decided on the Palm VII solution, factor in the cost of the service.

3. Figure out the software and special systems you'll be using. Don't get carried away here. Remember, you can do a whole lot out of the box.

4. Assuming you need any special training, consulting, programming, or handholding, factor that into your formula. The trap is that this could be your highest cost area if you let yourself get carried away. A way to avoid the trap is to look for available, off-the-shelf solutions first. There are literally thousands of pre-built solutions available for just a few bucks per user, which smart buyers know to take advantage of.

5. Add in the cost of the accessories you might need, from cases to styli to mobile HotSync cables.

6. Finally, multiply this by the number of users.