StillSecure has announced another new product to add to its PCI Compliance package — the PCI Compliance Cost Calculator. The PCI Compliance Cost calculator is intended to help level 1-4 retailers predict and possibly cut the cost of becoming PCI compliant. On the one hand, MSPmentor realizes online “calculators” can be gimmicks designed to get customers to spend more on various IT services. But on the other hand, well-designed calculators can help MSPs to show customers the value of specific services, the hidden cost of inaction, and other financial considerations that some folks overlook.

StillSecure’s PCI Calculator allows organizations to compare their current PCI compliance expenditures with other merchants of similar size, while also informing them on steps to reduce the costs of compliance, the company says.

Gartner Inc., the technology research group, played a large role in the development of the StillSecure PCI Compliance Cost Calculator. Gartner’s Retail Security & Compliance Survey 2011 found the average cost of becoming PCI compliant was reaching new highs. Here’s how much different customers are spending on becoming PCI compliant, on average, over 2.35 years:

StillSecure Chief Technical Officer James Brown said: “The calculator is going to give clients several options to look at and find places to cut costs, whether its saving money on hardware protection or on firewall software.” Brown noted that StillSecure has offered the calculator to clients before, but this is the first time the calculator is live, free of charge on StillSecure’s website.

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