Accurately estimating the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for a Microsoft Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solution, such as Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD), is crucial for budget planning. Use this calculator to model your annual VDI expenses based on key variable components.
Microsoft VDI Cost Calculator
Estimated Total Annual VDI Cost:
—Microsoft VDI Cost Calculator Formula
Formula Source: Modeled on standard IT Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) principles for cloud and on-premises virtualization environments. Azure Virtual Desktop Pricing | Gartner TCO Model
Variables Explained
- Number of Concurrent Users (U): The total count of users or simultaneous user sessions. This drives licensing and compute needs.
- Monthly User Cost (C): The monthly cost per user for compute resources (VMs) and relevant licensing (Windows E3/E5, Microsoft 365, etc.).
- Annual Shared Infrastructure Cost (H): Fixed annual costs for shared services like storage, network egress, VPN Gateways, management tools, and centralized infrastructure components.
- Annual IT Management Cost (M): The fully-burdened annual cost for IT personnel dedicated to maintaining, patching, and supporting the VDI environment.
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What is Microsoft VDI Cost Calculator?
The Microsoft VDI Cost Calculator is a specialized tool designed to estimate the full Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for deploying and operating a virtual desktop infrastructure, typically using Microsoft technologies like Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) or Windows 365. This calculator moves beyond simple pay-as-you-go compute charges to include the crucial, often-overlooked elements of licensing, shared infrastructure, and operational support.
Understanding the comprehensive TCO is essential for making sound business decisions regarding desktop delivery. While cloud-based VDI offers flexibility, the costs are split between consumption-based usage (compute, storage) and fixed costs (annual support salaries, specialized licenses). This tool helps finance and IT departments consolidate these factors into a single, predictable annual expense.
How to Calculate Microsoft VDI Cost (Example)
Follow these steps to calculate the cost for a mid-sized deployment:
- Determine User Compute Cost: A company with 100 users estimates their average monthly Azure compute and licensing cost per user (C) is $55.00. The annual user cost component is: $100 \times \$55.00 \times 12 = \$66,000$.
- Identify Shared Infrastructure Costs: The company identifies annual costs (H) for shared resources like the AVD gateway, storage pool, and dedicated networking components totaling $24,500$.
- Estimate Management Overhead: The IT team dedicates the equivalent of one full-time employee (FTE) at an annual cost (M) of $90,000 to manage the environment.
- Calculate Total Annual Cost: Summing all components: $\$66,000 + \$24,500 + \$90,000 = \$180,500$.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Is this calculator only for Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD)?
While the model is highly relevant to AVD, it uses generalized components (compute, infrastructure, management) that apply to any VDI solution, including Windows 365 or on-premises solutions using Windows Server and Hyper-V.
What is typically included in ‘Annual Shared Infrastructure Cost’?
This includes elements that don’t scale directly with user count, such as the initial setup of domain controllers, core networking services, specialized monitoring tools, backup infrastructure, and reserved instances for minimal running resources.
Why do I need to include IT Management Cost?
The biggest oversight in TCO calculations is often labor. The IT Management Cost (M) accounts for the staff time required for maintenance, patching, user support, image management, and scaling, which is a significant, ongoing expense.
How accurate is the result?
The result is an estimate based on your inputs. Accuracy depends heavily on the precision of your ‘Monthly User Cost’ (C) and your ability to correctly attribute staff time to ‘Annual IT Management Cost’ (M). It is a planning tool, not a final invoice.