Cloud Computing is a new technology, where scalable information technology capabilities can be provided as a service to multiple customers commonly using the internet (but also, much less likely, completely locally.) The market impact of Cloud Computing growth is staggering.

The US analysts Gartner estimates that, over the course of the next five years, businesses will spend $112 billion cumulatively on Cloud Computing. This practice-focused dissertation (PFD) promotes the need for the provision of clear legal advice to a business client wishing to implement pay-per-use  Cloud Computing facilities within his or her business. This PFD will focus on its use on legal and commercial considerations of small- or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) concerning “SaaS”, one of the most popular ? deployment methods?  of Cloud computing. However, the PFD is of potential relevance of the whole of the Cloud Computing industry.

Gartner suggested in July 2010 that Cloud customers should aspire to six rights in their use of SaaS. The components of the transaction are important. The service level agreement (SLA) can become potentially a legally-enforceable contract which cover an array of other relevant legal concepts. Identifying and controlling the commercial and tactical factors can then lead the lawyer to deliver strategies which directly promote the needs of the client and profitability of the law firm. The major driver of market uptake of Cloud Computing has been in business the SMEs; therefore it seems sensible to investigate attitudes regarding SMEs towards Cloud Computing in detail.

This PFD presents findings from an original online survey from November 2010 of the business and legal attitudes of thirty-two SME Company Directors, predominantly resident in the UK, regarding the six Gartner rights towards the purchase of SaaS. Through analysing an extensive range of legal sources (including established case law and recent statutes particularly), this PFD submits evidence that the practitioner can address a number of different issues in the agreement to provide expert legal solutions. However, this novel approach necessitates lawyers to gain an accurate picture of those problems perceived by clients as the most important in the first place. As these issues are all common to all Cloud deployment methods, to varying degrees, this research should provide a foundation for further research into other classes of clients and deployment methods, to see if the findings extrapolate more widely.

To download this dissertation, click here.