ROI and TCO of Virtualization - Same Difference?

The hits to this blog are running at 98% of visits are looking for ROI information about Virtualization. Must be budget season...

Anyway, in a discussion I was having earlier this week it struck me that people are looking for TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) for their environments almost as frequently. Why is this?

Is it because they've already virtualized and need to know where to spend their savings in next year's budgets?

Are they trying to be more responsible in their budgeting process?

I believe it is very simple and is boiled down to the Quest of data. Not generic, data like - what does Gartner or Burton, or the Uptime Institute say, but what does this mean to ME vs. what does it mean.

So companies in the absense of ME Data try to bend what is out there to what they need. I have offered up a framework in a previous post and I will be hitting the road to offer up an ROI workshop. First stop is Boston. Keep an eye on the blog - I will post up all pertinent data when I get things nailed down.

It should be fun, you're all invited, and they'll be free.