Law firm urges businesses to get tough with cloud service providers

Law firm DLA Piper urges companies to secure step-in rights when entering contract negotiations with a cloud service provider.

These rights would allow a company to step in at any point and reclaim the data that had been under the service provider's control, if that provider has breached clauses within the outsourcing agreement.

Its report, entitled Shifting Landscapes: Cloud Computing, the firm provides companies with a check list of what to look out for when negotiating cloud contracts.

DLA Piper insists that although this is likely to be very unpopular with a service provider, step-in rights are necessary for the end user, especially on discovery of a limited backup system.

"Some suppliers admit that they are still working out how to price virtualised and cloud offerings and this is reflected in the variety of contractual terms on offer," reads DLA's research.

"A number of providers are emulating their previous application service and software-as-a-service terms but often these feature service provision on an ‘as is' basis, offering insufficient data security provisions and limited remedies for breach of obligation."

Companies should also insist that the service provider's staff be vetted to certain standards, while imposing standard warranties regarding security, virus protection and authenticity, according to the law firm.

Securing audit rights, including the ability to check the security of the data and system, is also a must for companies entering into a contract of this sort.