Economics
Hardware price is only one part of infrastructure cost. Processor choice can change software licensing, utilization changes AI economics, and lifecycle decisions can change what the system costs over several years.
What I work on
Getting the five-year picture in front of the configuration decision, instead of the first renewal.
The example I keep coming back to
Across 27 CPU designs and 15 licensing scenarios, a $369K hardware difference carried $1.2M of five-year software variance. The visible cost was small and the invisible one decided the deal.
It is a structural mistake rather than a careless one. The person choosing the processor is usually not the person paying for the licences, and nothing in the process asked them to be.
What that changes
Processor selection stops being a hardware comparison and becomes a lifecycle question. It also means longer and less comfortable conversations early, with a customer who came in asking for a price and is being handed a model.
kushagragoyal.com/stack/economics