SaaS and the legal cloud made simple
A SLA forms part of a SaaS agreement. The SLA can be contained in a separate schedule to the SaaS agreement, or included in the main terms and conditions of the SaaS agreement. An SLA sets out:
Details about the availability of the software and services;
Technical details about hosting; and
Details about support and maintenance services for the software.
SaaS is the abbreviation for “software as a service”. You may know this under another name, for example subscription agreement, software on demand, software subscription agreement, cloud computing or ASP services (application service provider). These names all refer to the same thing – software being made available via the Internet to users.
Continue readingUnder the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) UK SaaS suppliers currently have limited obligations to SaaS customers when processing personal data as part of their SaaS services. However, from the 25th of May 2018 the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will impose numerous new data processing obligations on SaaS suppliers. In particular, the obligation for SaaS suppliers to enter into a written data processing agreement with SaaS customers and sub-contractors.
Continue readingThe above is a general guide to the terms to include in a SLA for a SaaS agreement. The degree of detail that you provide will largely depend upon the following:
The type of SaaS products and services you are supplying;
How much the customer pays for the SaaS product and services;
Whether the SaaS product is business critical i.e. online banking;
What is standard in that particular business area.
When providing SaaS services you must specify in your SaaS agreement who is responsible for the backup/loss of customer data. The extent of your backup duties should be included in the service level agreement (SLA) and these will be dependent on a number of factors set out below.
Continue readingAs a SaaS supplier you will have noticed the increasing concerns about security voiced by SaaS customers. Your SaaS agreement should provide comfort to your customer by including security provisions in the service level agreement (SLA). The specifc matters covered will depend on a number of factors set out below.
Continue readingIf things go wrong, your data is lost and your customers start to move to your competitors – making a claim for breach of contract will not repair the damage already sustained to your finances and business reputation. These issues should be dealt with upfront, as part of the commercial negotiation process, with the assistance of an experienced specialist SaaS lawyer. Thereby your interests can be adequately covered to minimise the risks of the above scenario occurring.
Continue readingWhat data security provisions need to be included in a SaaS agreement? Customer’s Security Obligations – These should be set out in the software licence. Access to the software and services should not be permitted to third parties without prior authorisation from the supplier. The customer should provide the following warranties:
– existence of adequate security measure to ensure access to the software and services does not breach the terms of the SaaS agreement
Customers thinking of purchasing software delivered via the Internet (SAAS) are often unaware of what terms should be included. Jargon in the SLA can seem like a foreign language. Customers often tend to simply accept the SLA provided by the supplier, rather than struggle to understand it.
Continue reading