Cloud providers cave into more flexible contracts

26.05.2012
Combined legal and market factors may force cloud providers to offer more flexible contract terms, suggests new research from Queen Mary, University of London.

examines how and why cloud providers have begun to negotiate standard contract terms to better meet cloud users' needs, minimise operating risks and address legal compliance obligations.

The research, by the Cloud Legal Project at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies at Queen Mary, is primarily based on in-depth interviews with global and UK cloud providers, cloud users, law firms and other market players.

The report found that the top six types of cloud contract terms most negotiated were provider liability, service level agreements, data protection and security, termination rights and lock-ins/exits, unilateral amendments to service features, and intellectual property rights.

"These are the key contractual issues of concern to users in the cloud market at this relatively immature stage of cloud adoption," said professor Christopher Millard, lead academic on the Cloud Legal Project (CLP).

He said standard "one-size-fits-all" terms are often weighted in favour of the provider, and many are potentially non-compliant, invalid or unenforceable in some countries.