Homework: Cost Comparison of Web Conferencing
The two owners of Spinner Media Services Inc. wanted to cut travel costs and productivity losses (wasted time) and maintain the benefits of person-to-person collaboration. They decided to use Web conferencing internally for collaboration and externally for sales demonstrations to customers. Their two options were (I) a pay-per-use basis or (II) a per user licensing plan based on the number of seats or participants. The decision would depend on cost comparisons based on these data estimates:
a) Approximately 400 meetings per year
b) An average of 12 participants per meeting
c) Each meeting lasting about one hour, which takes into consideration the need to get the meeting set up at least 15 minutes in advance and meeting for 45 minutes
d) 250 unique participants, consisting of 50 employees and 200 customers
o Research the costs of a pay-per-use plan vs. a per user licensing plan based on the number of seats or participants for Microsoft's Zoom and Cisco's WebEx. Or evaluate two other pieces of web-based meeting software. Precise cost comparisons are difficult because there are so many variables, but a general cost analysis between Zoom and WebEx or other software is feasible.
o Design a spreadsheet that shows cost comparisons of the vendors' licensing options and the pay-per-use option using the data estimates.
o Identify other criteria that should be taken into account when making such a decision (for example, vendor support or the ability to integrate with Outlook).
o Based on your analysis, make a fully documented recommendation to the owners.
Format your homework according to the following formatting requirements:
o The answer should be typed, using Times New Roman font (size 12), double spaced, with one-inch margins on all sides.
o The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the homework, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
o Also include a reference page. The Citations and references must follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.