Total cost of a computer asset throughout its life cycle, from acquisition to disposal. TCO is the combined hard and soft costs of owning networked information assets. 'Hard' costs include items such as the purchase price of the asset, implementation fees, upgrades, maintenance, contracts, support contracts, disposal costs, and license fees that may or may not be up-front or charged annually. These costs are considered 'hard costs' because they are tangible and easily accounted for.