Definition
Total cost of ownership is the broader financial view buyers should use when comparing IBM i software, hardware refresh, cloud hosting, managed services, or modernization paths. The visible quote is only one layer. TCO also includes implementation effort, ongoing administration, monitoring, recovery testing, outside support, training, and the cost of operational failure if the tool does not perform when needed.
This matters on IBM i because lower-priced options often shift hidden cost into staffing, testing discipline, integration work, or outage risk. A quote without TCO context is only a partial answer.