Cloud Contracts

Last week Helix Nebula - The Science Cloud (HNSciCloud) launched a €5.3 million tender for the establishment of a European hybrid cloud platform. The purpose of the platform is to support the deployment of high-performance computing and big-data capabilities for scientific research.

The award decision for the first Call for Tender for Cloud Services (CLOUD I) was signed. The European Commission received 20 offers from 12 tenderers

Digital transformation is absolutely crucial to any organisation whether public or private. It is at the very core of the digital single market to ensure Europe reaps the socio-economic benefits of new technologies. Cloud computing has the potential to reduce IT expenditure and boost organisational agility while at the same time improving the scope for delivering flexible high-quality new services.
This document describes the experience of ten public sector organisations across Europe who have either carried out a process to procure cloud services, or are considering doing so. The experiences vary in terms of success and offer insights into how the procurement of cloud services is impacting on their current processes. Read more...

Interesting article by James Mitchell, CEO at Strategic Blue, financial cloud broker & PICSE Task Force member. The article focuses on how cloud computing is affecting the IT sales channel, and how the way that a cloud service provider structures its distribution and reseller contracts profoundly affects the behaviour of the channel...with knock-on effects on whether the cloud buyer is better off going direct, or continuing to work with the IT resellers who make a business out of understanding the IT needs of their customers.

The Cloud Standards Customer Council has just released the guide " The Practical Guide to Cloud Service Agreements". It provides a practical reference to help enterprise information technology (IT) and business decision makers analyze cloud service agreements (CSAs) from different cloud service providers. The paper informs decision makers of what to expect and what criteria to use as they evaluate CSAs from such potential suppliers.

The present comparative law Study, encompassing the European Member States (excluding Croatia) and the U.S., has been conducted by the international law firm DLA Piper UK LLP. The Study has been coordinated by a multinational Core Team, with representatives from countries pertaining to the various legal traditions across Europe. The input for each of the countries under investigation was provided by a dedicated team of specialized IT contracting lawyers from local DLA Piper law firms or preferred partner firms.