Hello, all.  We have a BI and analytics tool or application that serves as a data warehouse from which IT staff and business users can create reports and analyze data from other applications.  For instance, our general ledger's reporting tools are limited, so views to its tables exist in the BI tool so that custom reports and dashboards can be built from the general ledger data.

When calculating total cost of ownership of applications in Cost Transparency, I am trying to learn what is standard TBM practice or what other Apptio customers are doing for this type of scenario.  Do the costs of the BI tool and the servers that host it belong with the BI tool/application, or should those costs be allocated to the other applications for which it enables reporting and analytics capabilities?

@Angela Chapman-Welch,

When looking at the Application TCO, I would keep them seperate from the GL TCO.  Could you use the GL application without the BI, probably yes but it sounds like it would be limiting.  Or another question to ask, if you replaced the GL app, would you still have use of the BI tool?  While these application complement each other, for application analysis, I'd lean on keeping them separate.

Now when it comes to aligning them to services, then you may want to allocate all or a portion of the BI application to a General Account services along with the GL.  Then you can communicate that you need both tools to provide the full General Accounting services.  Then you can explain that this cost might be inflated due to lack of reporting capabilities.  

@Jeffrey Smith, these are great points that I find very helpful.  Thank you for taking the time to offer this perspective.

Our model would keep the costs of providing that BI application separate from the costs of providing the GL application.  I like @Jeffrey Smith 's suggestion of using services (or service allocation methods) to then illustrate what the BI environment is supporting.  

@George McElfresh, thank you for this additional input.  

I understand your situation here, Angela.

On one hand, the GL Application can exist w/o the BI Application; but on the other, the best way to report data from the GL is through the BI Application.

I agree with the first 2 responses from Jeffrey and George - if the BI Application is listed in your Applications List, then I would allocate its costs to that row and recognize it as it is. The typical next level in the model after applications would be Services, so that's likely where you'll have the opportunity to "group" the costs of your GL Application and BI Application.

The table below from the ATUM v3.0 Service Taxonomy seems to be where these App TCO Costs could further roll-up:

Thank you, @Kyle Castro.  I appreciate the response and the expansion on the other two responses.  I see a trend forming.  This is very helpful.