Cloud Computing and Commercial Risk
Most discussions I encounter on Cloud services or SaaS are about the products or technology. Can I suggest he primary issue is not the technology. It’s the commercial arrangements.
Have you been involved in negotiating contracts with Cloud/SaaS providers? How are you addressing commercial risk? Have you attempted to include things like liquidated damages in your agreements? What reactions have you encountered to protecting your commercial interests?
If you have moved your infrastructure to a cloud based implementation, have you notified your business insurer? How has the insurer reacted to the changed risk conditions? Has this resulted in higher insurance premiums?
For those developing proprietary intellectual property and storing your work on cloud services eg. hosted office applications, wiki’s, Platform-as-a-Service etc. what measures are you taking to ensure your IP is protected? What does your investor think given they probably have a fixed and floating charge over the IP assets of your company? If you are a company director what kind of due diligence have you undertaken in moving your company infrastructure to a Cloud/SaaS provider?
I suggest we should all be asking these questions first when considering Cloud/SaaS services especially if you are in fact one of those providers. How exposed are you as a Cloud/SaaS service provider to the commercial foibles of your own supply chain?
I would be very interested in any good or bad experiences or interesting solutions to the above issues and questions. I look forward to hearing from you.
Best..
Richard.
