[R] How to Describe R to Finance People

[Marc Schwartz]

On Fri, 2004-06-04 at 12:47, Tamas Papp wrote:
> On Fri, Jun 04, 2004 at 11:06:59AM -0500, Marc Schwartz wrote:
> 
> > I agree that quality and value are important, but I think that the issue
> > of cost should not be discounted out of hand. Value (for both company
> > and client) is directly tied to cost.
> >
> > [...]
> > 
> > The bottom line is that cost is a non-trivial issue. If a company is
> > willing to pay more for a functionally equivalent product, because the
> > training and support is (or is perceived to be) superior so be it. That
> > may enable managers and other decision makers to sleep better at night.
> 
> I agree with your points.  However, as far as I remember, the original
> poster wants to give a 2-3 minute summary about the benefits of R.  I
> would not open such a complicated issue (the total cost of ownership)
> in such a small timeframe, but focus on the more "technical" benefits
> instead.

Actually, Kevin indicated 1 to 2 minutes...  ;-)

My response was clearly more detailed than what Kevin could incorporate
into the presentation structure. It was more a response to Paul's
comments on cost not being an issue. My experience indicates otherwise.

The TCO issue is clearly a subject of much debate, especially when
fueled by widely disseminated "studies" funded (overtly or otherwise) by
a certain large software company based in the northwestern U.S....that
tends to introduce a certain 'a priori' bias.

I agree that you cannot adequately address the issue in such a short
talk. However, I think that it can be raised briefly, with supporting
comments, such as those made by Frank Harrell regarding reproducible
analyses, which also supports cost reduction via improvements in quality
and productivity. Something that point and click based tools cannot
offer effectively.

Thanks for raising the clarification Tamas.

Marc