Why you should attend this course

Cloud computing has long (in IT industry terms) since ceased to be a buzz expression and is now a reality for many businesses. Indeed, after the hand-wringing in the early days when few businesses trusted the amorphous cloud, nowadays many businesses depend, at least to some extent, on cloud computing. Some even run their businesses on it.

In the early days, there was little experience of the potential pitfalls and lawyers were uncertain in their approach to drafting – with many users especially opting for full-blown outsourcing terms. Since then, it is clearer what commercial considerations apply and both providers and users should now be aware of the contracting pitfalls and what points are to be negotiated.

Obviously, a negotiation will not necessarily yield everything either party wants, it comes down to a compromise, but a knowledge of what are the desirable points to negotiate is an essential starting point for both parties.

Who should attend?

This course is aimed at both lawyers and commercial managers. As for the lawyers, it would be ideal for junior lawyers who are starting out in a department where they will encounter cloud contracts or for more senior lawyers who are approaching cloud contracts for the first time.

Commercial managers will all benefit, especially when they are acquiring cloud services for the first time and are looking at a contract and not sure of what they should be negotiating.

What is the course outcome?

Delegates will come away with a knowledge of the different types of cloud service and the different types of contract used for each of them. More importantly, delegates will appreciate the commercial risk areas and what are consequently the key terms for each side to negotiate and what the ideal outcome is for a negotiation.

What is the agenda?

There is much to cover and the agenda for this half-day session is as follows:

• Understanding Cloud services – getting some definitions and TLA’s out of the way
  • SaaS vs PaaS vs IaaS
  • Cloud models in practice
  • Cloud deployment types
    • private
    • community
    • public
    • hybrid
  • Pro’s and con’s of using Cloud – the basic commercial risks to understand
• Going into a Cloud contract – due diligence
  • What issues should a user typically want to subject to DD?
  • Standard terms – when are they ever acceptable and when should a user seek to negotiate? What impact does the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 have?
• Terms that need special attention – and what to negotiate and where each should party should try to end up
  • What is the relationship to outsourcing
    • is TUPE a relevant consideration?
  • Charging models
    • usage-based vs periodic
    • indexation
  • Service description
  • Service levels
    • going for gold – or should it be silver or bronze?
    • availability
  • Security
  • Audit
  • Data protection (NB: this is not another GDPR course, only the essentials will be considered)
  • IPR and licensing
    • what needs to be included in the licence
    • the IPR indemnity
  • Liability clauses
  • Jurisdictional issues

This course will also consider key clauses taken from a Cloud contract and provide opportunities for discussion as well as the chance to consider further more detailed drafting points.

To access the special Digital Leaders price on any of the training, please enter the code ‘DL2019‘ at checkout in the techUK booking portal.

Fees:

Digital Leaders and techUK Members – £295.00 + VAT

Non Members – £495.00 + VAT