Commitments and Contingencies

Operating Lease Commitments

We lease office and warehouse facilities and equipment under various operating leases. Facility leases generally include renewal options. Rent expense was as follows (table in millions):



	2014			2013			2012
Rent expense	$	361		$	328		$	312
Sublease proceeds	(2		)	(2		)	(4		)
Net rent expense	$	359		$	326		$	308

Our future operating lease commitments as of December 31, 2014 are as follows (table in millions):



2015	$	328
2016	281
2017	224
2018	162
2019	117
Thereafter	826
Total minimum lease payments	$	1,938

We sublet certain of our office facilities. Expected future non-cancelable sublease proceeds range from approximately $1 million to $3 million per year for the next five years with total sublease proceeds of $9 million as of December 31, 2014.

Outstanding Purchase Orders

At December 31, 2014, we had outstanding purchase orders aggregating approximately $2.9 billion. The purchase orders are for manufacturing and non-manufacturing related goods and services. While the purchase orders are generally cancelable without penalty, certain vendor agreements provide for percentage-based cancellation fees or minimum restocking charges based on the nature of the product or service.

Guarantees and Indemnification Obligations

EMC’s subsidiaries have entered into arrangements with financial institutions for such institutions to provide guarantees for rent, taxes, insurance, leases, performance bonds, bid bonds and customs duties aggregating $125 million as of December 31, 2014. The guarantees vary in length of time. In connection with these arrangements, we have agreed to guarantee substantially all of the guarantees provided by these financial institutions. EMC and certain of its subsidiaries have also entered into arrangements with financial institutions in order to facilitate the management of currency risk. EMC has agreed to guarantee the obligations of its subsidiaries under these arrangements.

We enter into agreements in the ordinary course of business with, among others, customers, resellers, original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”), systems integrators and distributors. Most of these agreements require us to indemnify the other party against third-party claims alleging that an EMC product infringes a patent and/or copyright. Certain agreements in which we grant limited licenses to specific EMC-trademarks require us to indemnify the other party against third-party claims alleging that the use of the licensed trademark infringes a third-party trademark. Certain of these agreements require us to indemnify the other party against certain claims relating to the loss or processing of data, to real or tangible personal property damage, personal injury or the acts or omissions of EMC, its employees, agents or representatives. In addition, from time to time, we have made certain guarantees regarding the performance of our systems to our customers. We have also made certain guarantees for obligations of affiliated third parties.

We have agreements with certain vendors, financial institutions, lessors and service providers pursuant to which we have agreed to indemnify the other party for specified matters, such as acts and omissions of EMC, its employees, agents or representatives.

We have procurement or license agreements with respect to technology that is used in our products and agreements in which we obtain rights to a product from an OEM. Under some of these agreements, we have agreed to indemnify the supplier for certain claims that may be brought against such party with respect to our acts or omissions relating to the supplied products or technologies.

We have agreed to indemnify the directors, executive officers and certain other officers of EMC and our subsidiaries, to the extent legally permissible, against all liabilities reasonably incurred in connection with any action in which such individual may be involved by reason of such individual being or having been a director or officer.

In connection with certain acquisitions, we have agreed to indemnify the current and former directors, officers and employees of the acquired company in accordance with the acquired company’s by-laws and charter in effect immediately prior to the acquisition or in accordance with indemnification or similar agreements entered into by the acquired company and such persons. In a substantial majority of instances, we have maintained the acquired company’s directors’ and officers’ insurance, which should enable us to recover a portion of any future amounts paid. These indemnities vary in length of time.

Based upon our historical experience and information known as of December 31, 2014, we believe our liability on the above guarantees and indemnities at December 31, 2014 is not material.

Litigation

We are involved in a variety of claims, demands, suits, investigations and proceedings that arise from time to time relating to matters incidental to the ordinary course of our business, including actions with respect to contracts, intellectual property, product liability, employment, benefits and securities matters. As required by authoritative guidance, we have estimated the amount of probable losses that may result from all currently pending matters, and such amounts are reflected in our consolidated financial statements. These recorded amounts are not material to our consolidated financial position or results of operations and no additional material losses related to these pending matters are reasonably possible. While it is not possible to predict the outcome of these matters with certainty, we do not expect the results of any of these actions to have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition. Because litigation is inherently unpredictable, however, the actual amounts of loss may prove to be larger or smaller than the amounts reflected in our consolidated financial statements, and we could incur judgments or enter into settlements of claims that could adversely affect our operating results or cash flows in a particular period.