PMT 4800 DAWIA Program Management (PM) Practitioner Practice Exam

Operations and support costs dominate the total ownership cost once a system is fielded. The upfront spending on development and production is important, but the ongoing costs to operate, maintain, supply, train, and support the system accumulate over its life and typically make up the majority of total costs. For mass-produced systems, that share is commonly in the mid to upper range of two-thirds to roughly four-fifths of total lifecycle cost. So the best rule of thumb is about 65-80% of total ownership costs occurring late in the life cycle due to operations and support. If you see other ranges, they either understate or overstate this share: 75-90% is a bit high for most programs, 55-65% is on the lower side, and 35-50% would imply most costs occur early, which isn’t the case for O&S-heavy lifecycles.