The Total Cost of Administration Champ: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 or Oracle Database 10g?

As platforms continue to evolve in the technology industry, a central concern for IT executives is implementing the right systems to maximize the return on each investment. Since labor costs and equivalent outsourced services dominate most IT budgets — over 56% of IT spending on average — selecting platforms with lower implementation and ongoing management costs can significantly improve overall IT efficiency. More important, since innovation is only 10% of the typical IT budget today, reducing ongoing management costs can help you reallocate precious resources and budgets to more innovative tasks and projects — delivering true business value.

One of the most important infrastructure investments is a database platform. Two of the leading choices are Microsoft SQL 2005 and Oracle Database 10g. So, for those seeking to reduce overall costs and reallocate labor investments to more innovative tasks, the obvious question is, "Which has the lower total cost of administration (TCA)?"

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