Costing for the E-Government project is essential as various one-time and recurring costs are involved. Due to varied nature of E-Government project, few cost heads common to all are discussed
Software Design, Development and Maintenance Costs
One time costs
For COTS Software
- System Software for Application Server, Database Server, Integration Server
- Application Software for ERPs solutions
- Workflow automation, Documentation Management Systems.
Cost of Services
- Requirements study and finalization
- Software Design and Development
- ERP Customization and configuration
- Project Documentation
- Data digitization and migration
Recurring Costs
For COTS Software
- AMC for software licenses
Recurring Services Cost
- Training and Capacity Building
- Software maintenance and support, Software change management, Project documentation.
IT Infrastructure creation and maintenance
One time costs
For Data Center and Network Infrastructure (IT and Non-IT)
- Data centre site cost, preparation cost, supporting facilities (power, cooling, physical security, fire and environmental controls)
- Computing infrastructure (servers)
- Storage Infrastructure (SAN Switches, SAN storage, tape library, backup solutions.,,)
- LAN and WAN (Switches, Routers, Modems, VPN)
- Security (Firewall, IPS/IDS, Antivirus, IDM..)
- Cabling
For End User IT Infrastructure:
- PCs ,Printers, Scanners, LAN, UPS, generators, LAN and power cabling
For System Software
- Network/Enterprise Management Software, Storage management solution, Server Operating Systems, Antivirus gateway and end client software, email suite
Services cost
- Requirements assessment, solution design, documentation
- Installation and configuration
- Testing and go-live
Recurring Costs
For Data Center and Network Infrastructure (IT and Non-IT)
- AMC/ Warranty for system software and hardware
- Facilities Management Services
- IT Infrastructure monitoring and management services
- Insurance
- Consumables
- Leased lines/ISDN –connectivity charges
- Power, fuel
Revenue opportunities
e-Governance projects also provide various opportunities for revenue generation by providing it’s services in easy and accessible manner from the targeted stakeholders. Thus, the new service delivery channels helps in sustaining the project cost, future enhancements, operations and maintenance. Few examples of revenue generation opportunities include
- Website registration charges
- Transaction fees for the online services
- Advertising revenue from the website
- Advertising revenues from service center
- Fees for delivery of B2C and B2G services through common service centers
- Convenience fees – enhancement in the current fees/charges
E-Government project costing also involves of understanding of two widely used terms for costing purposes which are Net present value and IRR.
Net Present Value
Net Present Value or NPV for short, is the present value of the total project investments and cash flows required for the proposed e-Governance project over the entire project period. Usually e-Governance projects span for 3-5 years and requires continuous investments. NPV basis is that, a rupee today is worth more than a rupee tomorrow. NPV is dependent on forecasted cash flows for the project and expected rate of return. NPV is calculated as
Where,
Ct = Amount of Cash flow (inflow – outflow). General inflow to the government is ‘0’ but for PPP projects or in case of penalties (not a desirable inflow)
i = discount rate (or rate of return that could be earned on an investment)
t = time of the cash flow (year 1, year 2…)
Internal Rate of Return
Internal Rate of Return or IRR for short, is the rate of return or discount rate at which Net Present Value equals to zero. IRR calculates the expected rate of return for the investments required for creation and maintenance of the project. Project is acceptable if IRR is greater than the expected rate of return.
