Despite what your Cloud provider may suggest, there’s room for you to negotiate – and plenty of reasons to do so.
Have you been thinking about moving some, maybe all, of your services or data to the Cloud? The push to get you to do just that is on, spurred by Amazon, Google and various other providers whose advertising is designed to convince us all that Cloud-based operations are an essential element of any sane 21st Century business.
They may be right – but what they often don’t tell you is that their Cloud Customers (i.e., possibly, you) can put themselves at substantial legal and business risk by signing on to the boilerplate, provider-friendly service agreement drafted by, and for the benefit of, the provider. Such agreements invariably include vendor-favoring provisions that can and should be modified through negotiation.
This is a matter of particular concern for broadcasters, telecommunications companies and other businesses operating in a regulated environment. Provider-friendly service provisions can, and often do, hinder – and possibly prevent – the Cloud Customer from complying with regulatory and other legal requirements to which they are subject. At a minimum, prospective Cloud Customers should conduct an initial review of all Cloud-related contract documents to identify and mitigate, to the extent practicable, such potential problems.
The following is intended to provide a cautionary glimpse of key issues and pitfalls businesses face when negotiating contracts for Cloud services.