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From: jpd@kepler.UUCP (John Donovan)
Newsgroups: net.cse
Subject: Re: A slightly different topic...
Message-ID: <518@kepler.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 4-Mar-86 12:21:15 EST
Article-I.D.: kepler.518
Posted: Tue Mar  4 12:21:15 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 7-Mar-86 05:48:47 EST
References: <393@ur-tut.UUCP> <24@gilbbs.UUCP>
Reply-To: jpd@kepler.UUCP (John Donovan)
Organization: MicroPro Int'l Corp., San Rafael, CA
Lines: 35
Keywords: Billing Computer time
Summary: There *is* some excuse for being business-like

Distribution:net.cse

This topic seems to be taking a political direction and missing
the point.  I have worked in and directed non-profits and found
them to be among the worst run operations immaginable.  Even
though their goal is to deliver services to their clients (students/
the public/et al) and not to just make a profit, they have some
responsibility to use their scarce funding in the most efficient
manner possible.  In this way they can extend their services to
the greatest number of persons.

Businesses use cost accounting procedures to help them allocate
scarce resources in the most efficient manner.  If you don't
know what your costs are and your resource drains, you can
hardly plan for the most effective resource allocation to
accomplish your goals.

Big computers are scarce and expensive resources.  You need to
know how to allocate the real costs of running and maintaining
them.  this fact isn't altered by the fact that you've decided to
eat the costs involved because you're nonprofit.  If you want
to make a policy decision to allow Johnny to develop computer games
on your Cyber 760 and that crowds out some comp sci research,
you need to know you are doing that.  Without account billing
information, you con't realize that is what is happening.

The billing can be made painless if it is keyed to account
numbers that register when you log in.  The billing information
can be handled in a manner that is transparent to the user.

Well...that's too many words about a tiny topic.  Just
couldn't let it pass...!

-- 
----
... John Donovan, MicroPro Technical Communications
{ill-crg,dual,pyramid,ptsfa,hplabs}!well!micropro!kepler!jpd