The Preservation Manager's Guide to Cost Analysis

Why does a preservation manager need to know how to conduct a cost analysis? Those responsible for preservation activities, whether project-based or ongoing, often find themselves devoting considerable energy to the "how"-as they prepare budget requests for new activities, evaluate and report on existing operations, and work to improve efficiency and quality in production processes. In order to determine the most appropriate methods for accomplishing a particular task, one needs to understand the work in detail, be able to break it down into its component parts, and enumerate and quantify the resources required. For this reason, those responsible for managing preservation need to know how to analyze work processes and their associated costs.

An understanding of cost analysis methods, coupled with a clear understanding of the activity under study, will position the preservation manager to conduct cost analyses in support of a range of management objectives, including:

* developing work plans, production schedules, and budgets for new programs or projects (including those for external funding proposals),
* comparing different methods of accomplishing work (such as in-house vs. outsourced),
* improving productivity,
* reducing costs, and
* identifying the cost impact of improving quality.