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IT budgets never seem to keep pace with organisational demand for technology, and CIOs are constantly faced with having to prioritise investments while placing others onto the back burner. The CIO thus has to juggle his/her strategic vision, external drivers like legislation, and user demands. Ultimately, someone has to be the loser somewhere.

Leasing assets has long provided a means for CIOs to obtain the technology they need, ostensibly at a lower cost than an outright purchase. Needless to say, the lease versus buy debate is still raging, with financial departments wanting to know why the corporation should lease assets for a similar cost for which it can purchase them, and IT departments wanting to keep as much capex as possible available for strategic projects, for example. And while there are no easy answers, a number of factors, when appropriately considered, can help point an organisation in the right direction.   What is it?