SANs (storage-area networks) are a perfect example of a technology that demands structured chargebacks. They're a shared resource that, if not meted out carefully, can be hogged by a single department at the expense of all the organization's other departments.
A sys admin told me recently about a software vendor that, upon realizing that a client's server was connected to a SAN, started requesting extra space constantly for the department that had hired him.
It turned out the employees in that department didn't want to take the time to clean out their files, and the vendor didn't want to do database maintenance. So wham!--80 GB, 90 GB, 100 GB of costly storage space was allocated for temp files and database backups, and the IT department was left holding the bag.
Of course, chargebacks aren't appropriate for all technologies; you have to determine case by case whether they make sense. Remote access, for instance, might seem to lend itself to a chargeback system. Let the departments with the largest number of remote users pay their fair share, and let everyone else off the hook. But is it really worth doing all that tracking just so you can charge back for the use of switch ports? There it may be time for professional help.
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