Savings Potential Over Time

If one considers the different areas for the non-recurring costs in the categories of hardware (computer for the WMS server and database), software (server licence, user licences, interfaces, individual programming), and implementation costs (project management, specifications, migration/test, training, start-up assistance/acceptance) and for the recurring costs in the categories of maintenance, personnel, and usage fees (hardware and software), the potential for savings is as follows:

In the first year, the hardware costs decrease by approximately 65% because with a cloud-based operation the only costs are for renting the required server capacity. As full software licences also no longer need to be purchased before using the software, the software costs are reduced by half. Implementation costs drop by approximately 32% because the software is tailored to the company’s processes and the scope of the creation of the specifications is greatly reduced. The total savings for the one-time investment costs is at about 52% in the first year.

In the following years, there are no costs for maintenance because the mall operator and the software vendor are responsible for maintenance work. The use of outsourcing means that personnel requirements are cut in half. However, monthly usage fees have to be paid to the operator so the total savings for the recurring costs is approximately 48%.