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Gartner lays down some basic guidelines to aid the unwary.

According Gartner's IT Leasing Basics Toolkit*, a lease is a contractual arrangement by which the owner of the asset (the lessor) grants the use of his or her property to another party (the lessee) under certain conditions and for a specified period of time.

“A lease is an unconditional, absolute agreement. The main parties in a leasing transaction are the lessee, who uses the equipment, and the lessor, who owns it. However, it is important to make a distinction here; not all leases are true leases. They are really just another form of a loan or financing. In most cases, these non-true leases will be what is known as a full payout lease whereby you are paying for 100 percent of the equipment cost, plus interest. Ownership will generally transfer to the lessee at the end of term.”