After shifting from lease to purchase of IT infrastructure and software licenses, an enterprise has to pay for unexpected lease extensions causing significant cost overruns. The BEST direction for the

An end-of-life program is about asset disposal, not preventing financial miscalculations in acquisition decisions.

Budget cuts are a reactive measure to address current overruns, not a proactive solution to prevent their recurrence.

Annually reviewing financial policy on overruns is a good governance practice, but establishing a policy to proactively consider TCO in all investment decisions is a more fundamental preventative measure.

The unexpected lease extensions indicate a failure to fully account for the long-term financial implications beyond initial acquisition costs. A policy to consider Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) comprehensively evaluates all direct and indirect costs associated with an asset over its entire lifecycle, including acquisition, operation, maintenance, and disposal, thereby preventing similar future cost overruns.