Wireless LAN ROI / Cost-Benefit Study conducted
by the Wireless LAN Alliance (WLANA)

SUMMARY OF RESULTS

This Wireless LAN Cost of Ownership study was focused on the results of a detailed end-user survey to identify cost of ownership and tangible and intangible gains in using wireless LAN technology. This study was conducted with wireless LAN users in the following industries:

• Education (In-building K-12 and University/College connectivity)
• Healthcare (Point of Care)
• Manufacturing
• (Production/Distribution/Maintenance/Shipping/Receiving)
• Retail (Point of Sale)
• Financial/Office -Automation (Stock Exchange, Banking, Consulting)

MAJOR FINDINGS

It is apparent that the technology is taking its place as a viable alternative and/or complement to wired LANs and for new strategic applications.

• 89% of the companies experienced a successful implementation.
• 92% of respondents interviewed believe there is a definite economic and business benefit after installation.
• 92% of respondents reported that they would continue to deploy wireless technology in their network through 2000 because of the benefits experienced by end users and/or IT staff.
• Payback was less than one year, across all industries surveyed.

COST OF OWNERSHIP

On average, the total cost per user was found to be $4550 for a wireless LAN solution. This includes the costs identified below (Note that the WLAN Hardware/End User Devices category includes the computing platform used, which was generally a handheld or laptop computer.) The percentages for wireless LAN expenses, by category, were as follows:

• WLANA Hardware/End User Devices: 50%
• Monthly expenses: 1%%
• Management expenses: 16%
• Application development expenses: 16%
• Outsourcing: 16%
• *Downtime: 1%

ECONOMIC BENEFITS

With large investments in wireless LAN technology at approximately $300,000 to $4.2 million dollars per year, we clearly realize and sympathize with the managers that have been struggling to quantify the benefits that derive from wireless LANs. Organizations implementing an average of 300 client cards reaped annual savings of up to $4.9 million, which translated into per user savings of $15,989.

PAYBACK

Across all industries, the wireless LAN paid for itself within 12 months time. This is with all economic benefits considered. The payback period of this investment is the period of time required for the cumulative cash flows due to increased productivity, organizational efficiency and extra revenue/profit gain to equal the initial investment.  

	Retail	Manufacturing	Healthcare	Office Automation	Education
Benefits per company(mil $)	5.6	2.2	0.94	2.5	0.5
Costs per company(mil $)	4.2	1.3	0.90	1.3	0.3
Payback (# of months)	9.7	7.2	11.4	6.3	7.1

SURVEY RESPONDENTS

The breakdown of participants by industry was:

• Education: 23% (8)
• Healthcare: 23% (8)
• Manufacturing/Warehouse: 21% (7)
• Retail: 15% (5)
• Financial/Office Automation: 18% (6)

This study primarily features customers who have wireless LANs installed at one or more sites and had completed deployment or were still in the process of upgrading.

ABOUT WLANA

The Wireless LAN Alliance (WLANA) is a non-profit industry trade association formed to increase awareness and encourage the adoption of wireless LANs products and technologies.

The Alliance maintains an educational web site at www.wlana.com with industry white papers, end-user case studies and links to related topics and member web sites.

Members

The Wireless LAN Alliance membership is comprised of 11 leading worldwide suppliers of wireless local area networking products and technologies.

3Com Corporation	www.3com.com
Aironet	www.aironet.com
Bay Networks	www.netwave-wireless.com
BreezeCom	www.breezecom.com
Cabletron Systems, Inc.	www.cabletron.com/wireless
Harris Semiconductor	www.semi.harris.com
Intermec Technologies, Inc.	www.intermec.com
Lucent Technologies	www.wavelan.com
Proxim, Inc.	www.proxim.com
Raytheon Wireless Solutions	www.raylink.com
Symbol Technologies	www.symbol.com