Determining total cost of ownership is a way of measuring, understanding, and managing IT costs. In looking at all of the costs associated with managing a business, e-mail is probably an area that is often overlooked because, even though it is something that we use every day, it seems like small potatoes.

This E-mail TCO Calculator, provided by IT Business Edge contributor Michael Stevens, helps businesses break down the costs of e-mail, which include hardware, user licensing, backup and personnel.

The Knowledge Network also has several other TCO calulators that break down parts or all of the IT business framework.

Info-Tech Research Group has uploaded a TCO Research Notes document that helps businesses define TCO and examine the most useful context for this measurement framework. It also provided a TCO Calculator that helps users determine if an IT initiative makes the most fiscal sense for the enterprise by performing a three-year TCO calculation.

Here are some of the other TCO resources available.

• True TCO Calculator
• TCO Cost Savings Comparison