CLIAMS:1. A method for evaluating total cost of ownership (TCO) associated with a target system, the method comprising:
identifying a plurality of system elements of the target system, wherein the identification of the plurality of system elements is based on user inputs and relationship between each of the plurality of system elements;
identifying demand characteristics associated with each of the plurality of system elements;
determining a cost for each of the plurality of system elements throughout a lifecycle of each of the system element over a lifetime thereof, wherein the cost is determined based on the identified demand characteristics, and wherein the cost comprises a direct cost and an indirect cost; and
evaluating the TCO associated with the target system by summing up the direct and indirect cost associated with the each of the plurality of system elements.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising determining at least one alternative design for the target system, based on the identification of the plurality of system elements.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2 further comprising generating solutions to make the at least one alternative design comparable with a design of the taregt system.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the providing solutions comprises at least one of :
identifying missing elements in the at least one alternative design;
adding materials to compensate the difference in characteristics of elements in the at least one alternative design;
widening scope of comparison to identify a common function performed by the at least one alternative design; and
widening the results of the comparison to capture the difference in business value and risk from the solutions.

5. The method as claimed in claim 2 further comprising determining TCO for the at least one alternative design, wherein the TCO for the at least one alternative design is comparable with the TCO of the target system.

6. The method as claimed in claim 2 further comprising identifying a risk associated with the at least one alternative design.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the associating the cost comprises:
assigning the direct costs to each of the plurality of elements; and
apportioning the indirect costs amongst shared resources and overheads.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the TCO of the target system is updated automatically upon change in the plurality of system elements.

9. An evaluation system (102) for evaluating total cost of ownership (TCO) associated with a target system, the evaluation system (102) comprising:
a processor (110);
a recommendation module (118) coupled to the processor (110), to,
identify a plurality of system elements, wherein the identification of the plurality of system elements is based on the relationship between the plurality of system elements; and
identify demand characteristics associated with the plurality of system elements; and
a costing module (120) coupled to the processor (110), to,
determine a cost for each of the plurality of system elements throughout a lifecycle of each of the plurality of system elements over a lifetime thereof, wherein the cost is determined based on the identified demand characteristics, and wherein the cost comprises of a direct cost and an indirect cost; and
evaluate the TCO associated with the target system by summing up the direct and indirect cost associated with each of the plurality of system elements.

10. The evaluation system (102) as claimed in claim 9, wherein the recommendation module (118) further determines at least one alternative design for the target system based on the identification of the plurality of system elements.

11. The evaluation system (102) as claimed in claim 10, wherein the recommendation module (118) further provides solutions to make the at least one alternative design comparable with the target system.

12. The evaluation system (102) as claimed in claim 10, wherein the recommendation module (118) further identifies risk associated with each of the alternative design.

13. The evaluation system (102) as claimed in claim 9, wherein the costing module (120) further,
assigns the direct costs to each of the plurality of elements;
apportions the indirect costs amongst shared resources and overheads.

14. A computer readable medium having embodied thereon a computer program for executing a method for evaluating total cost of ownership (TCO) associated with a target system, the method comprising:
identifying a plurality of system elements, wherein the identification of the plurality of system elements is based on user inputs and relationship between each of the plurality of system elements;
identifying demand characteristics associated with each of the plurality of system elements;
determining a cost for each of the plurality of system elements throughout a lifecycle of each of the system element over a lifetime thereof, wherein the cost is determined based on the identified demand characteristics, and wherein the cost comprises of a direct cost and an indirect cost; and
evaluating the TCO associated with the target system, wherein the TCO is computed by summing up the direct and indirect cost associated with the each of the plurality of system elements.
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