Software is a notoriously difficult category for ROI calculations. So rather than build a “one size fits all” model that wouldn’t really fit any, Cardwell has decided to lay bare its findings for customers to make their own calculations.

Based on a mid-2004 survey of Cardwell’s installed user base conducted by an outside marketing firm, Connections Online delivered significant value to organizations. Cardwell measured survey results along the following axes: Organization Effectiveness, Time Savings, and Quality Results.

Taken as a whole, Cardwell estimates that companies can easily pay back their initial investment in Connections Online in the first year from their executives’ and senior managers’ time savings alone--which would total some 200 hours per active user per year, according to survey results. The additional benefits of organizational effectiveness and improved Return on Investment would significantly strengthen these results.

Companies also reported that active users of Connections Online on average saved four hours per week by spending less time hunting down project information and in attending fewer and shorter project-related meetings. This could result in annual savings of $10,000 or more for each typical senior executive who comprises the initial Connections Online user base.