"I just need a number because right now because I'm completely unable to
make an educated guess. If anyone else out there has a company of around
1500 employees and has implemented a similar system, can you please
help? I just need a push in the right direction...how much do these
fully loaded systems cost?"

There are a lot of variables in determining costs and that's probably why 
you're having a hard time getting ball park figures.  I went through this 
two years ago and in my estimates erred on the high side (20% higher). Not 
only are there software costs, you have hardware costs (server, scanner 
etc), migration costs, project management costs and maintenance costs on 
both the hardware and software.

Some of the software is priced on the amount of users who will be 
accessing the system, while others have concurrent usage which is the 
number of users accessing the system at one time.  Concurrent usage is not 
offered by all vendors.  Some offer one or the other.  The one we chose 
gave us both options.  We were also able to spread the cost over three 
years as well, all built into the RFP.  Vendors were told not to submit if 
they couldn't provide this value added service.  All responded.

With concurrent access we are able to buy into a system and not spend a 
great deal of money up front.  I would recommend this approach.  We also 
have full use licenses as well as search and retrieve.  Again not all 
vendors have this available and the cost for the later is about 1/3rd the 
cost of a full license.  So you can see there are many options open.  As a 
ballpark figure, I would hazard a rough guess to be between 700k and 1 
million dollars at the low end and upwards of $2 million at the high end. 
Again this depends on whether you want concurrent or number of user 
licenses.

There are many other things to consider like collaboration with legacy 
systems and needs within the organization.  When  you do your RFP, be very 
specific as to your needs and take your time doing it as you will refer 
back to this in months to come during the implementation.  It will be the 
document you fall back on when direction of the project is questioned.

Hope this helps and good luck with your project.

 
John Annunziello
Manager, Records and Information 
Toronto and Region Conservation Authority
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"Information is a corporate, strategic asset that needs to be managed"

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