The Price of Passwords

Members of the ISP-Marketing list scoff at research that says that password problems cost companies hundreds of dollars per user per year. Members say that other problems are far more expensive for ISPs.

[January 3, 2002]

On the ISP-Marketing list in December, JS observed,

"Forrester Research says that password problems account for 40-80 percent of all help desk calls. The Gartner Group says resetting forgotten or compromised passwords can cost as much as $340 per user annually; I've read other estimates that say it's more like $600 to $800 annually. Do you experience similar numbers?"

Some respondents said the numbers sounded right:

[JB recalled] "I read an article about a year ago that said a corporation with an employee not fully trained on the PC they are using, increases the cost of that desktop from $1,000 to $4,000 in the first year alone. So those numbers certainly sound accurate."

[EA added] "A client of mine sells computer-based training programs to companies, to help them reduce help desk calls. ISPs really should use that kind of software to 'train' their users, so as to reduce tech support calls."

Others felt that the stats were vastly inflated:

[MH scoffed] "Those numbers sound way off. From the several tech support companies we deal with, the top three reasons are:

• Connectivity problems (from DUN configuration to the machine not being plugged in)
• E-mail problems (most are related to client configuration)
• General account management (user name changes and forgotten passwords are included here)

The number of forgotten password calls are less than one percent, and a quick call at that."

[MS added] "Those numbers sound right for IT helpdesks, but not for ISPs. IT helpdesks are very costly. I know that, from an outsourced perspective, resetting passwords for ISPs costs maybe $2 per incident, if that. It depends on how quickly the tech identifies the problem."

[JS agreed] "Those stats are way overblown. From what I hear from our tech support people, 40 percent would be an abnormal high. It's a quick fix, too: a simple reset takes so little time. I'd say those numbers are probably based on super-sized corporate structures where everything takes 20 minutes to fix."

MS noted that research companies often seem to miss the point:

"Look at the message again. If it really did cost $340 per user annually on password problems alone, no ISP could survive."

—End