Final conclusion

Reviewing the above, the final conclusion is:

$ The storage costs per hour of information are marginal for analogue recording tape in relation to other costs of the archive.
$ The storage costs per hour of information are, when using R-DAT, even more marginal in relation to the other costs of the archive.

Taking into consideration all other aspects of both types of information carriers and compared to the eventual financial effects, the conclusion has to be:

$ The technical and operational aspects of the type of information carrier used are important to the overall functioning of the archive.
$ In contrast, the economic aspects of the type information carrier used are - when considered as part of the overall cost of running an archive - marginal for the overall continuity of the archive.

Other companies producing software-like products, such as radio and television programmes, have, in many cases, reached the same conclusions.

In other words:

Looking at a very narrow range of parameters we came to the conclusion that the calculation of the relative storage costs is, of course, useful. However, for the complete functioning of an archive including its management, we have to watch the total amount: not the storage figures alone.

If there is a real need for saving costs, looking at the “personnel costs” and the “remaining costs” can be more effective.