The document summarizes some of the key legal challenges of cloud-based enterprise computing. It discusses issues around data storage locations, security, data portability between providers, service level agreements, liability limitations, and pricing models which are often subscription-based. While these issues could potentially impede cloud adoption, particularly in regulated industries, the document concludes that greater transparency and trust-building efforts could help address many of the challenges.

3. What is Cloud Computing? “ Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.” The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing Enterprise 2.0 study

5. Conceptually Seductive? From Flickr user tipiro Enterprise 2.0 study

6. Enterprise 2.0 study

7. Legal Complications “ In the real world national borders, commercial rivalries and political imperatives all come into play, turning the cloud into a miasma as heavy with menace as the fog over the Grimpen Mire that concealed the Hound of the Baskervilles in Arthur Conan Doyle’s story.” From Storm Warning for Cloud Computing by Bill Thompson http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7421099.stm Enterprise 2.0 study

8. Why is this relevant to Enterprise 2.0? Enterprise 2.0 study

10. Where is my data? Enterprise 2.0 study

11. Finding: Very little public information about data location and jurisdictional issues Enterprise 2.0 study

13. Finding: Data Centre Security most tightly managed, providers adhering to quality standards Enterprise 2.0 study

14. Finding: Data encrypted in transit but not in storage Enterprise 2.0 study

15. Finding: Status of data deletion on contract termination unclear Enterprise 2.0 study

16. Finding: Access control provisions more limited than in on-premise software Enterprise 2.0 study

18. Finding: Customer has limited period of time after contract termination in which to retrieve data Enterprise 2.0 study

19. Finding: No attempts to address issues of service continuity Enterprise 2.0 study

20. Finding: Transferring and translating data between providers remains non-trivial Enterprise 2.0 study

22. Finding: Provision of information on SLAs was patchy Enterprise 2.0 study

23. Atlassian Hosted Services “ ATLASSIAN AND ITS LICENSORS MAKE NO REPRESENTATION, WARRANTY, OR GUARANTY AS TO THE RELIABILITY, TIMELINESS, QUALITY, SUITABILITY, TRUTH, AVAILABILITY, ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE SERVICE OR ANY CONTENT THEREIN OR GENERATED THEREWITH. ” From Atlassian Hosted Services Terms of Use Section 12 http://www.atlassian.com/hosted/terms.jsp Enterprise 2.0 study

24. Google Apps Premier “ Google Apps Covered Services web interface will be operational and available to Customer at least 99.9% of the time in any calendar month (the "Google Apps SLA"). If Google does not meet the Google Apps SLA, and if Customer meets its obligations under this Google Apps SLA, Customer will be eligible to receive the Service Credits described below.” From Google Apps Service Level Agreement http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/terms/sla.html Enterprise 2.0 study

25. Finding: Liability limited to amount paid in service fees by customer over a set period of time, redeemable only in the form of service credits Enterprise 2.0 study

27. Finding: Services operated on a monthly subscription basis with a price per user and a minimum number of users Enterprise 2.0 study

30. Greater clarity and greater trust Enterprise 2.0 study

31. Enterprise 2.0 study

32. Enterprise 2.0 study

33. Salesforce 2008 “ Salesforce.com shall not be responsible or liable for the deletion, correction, destruction, damage, loss or failure to store any customer data.” From Clouded in Uncertainty: The Legal Pitfalls of Cloud Computing by John Salmon http://www.computing.co.uk/computing/features/2226701/clouded-uncertainty- Enterprise 2.0 study

34. Salesforce 2010 “ [Salesforce.com] shall maintain appropriate administrative, physical and technical safeguards for protection of the security, confidentiality and integrity of your data.” From Salesforce Master Subscription Agreement Section 8.3 http://www.salesforce.com/company/msa.jsp Enterprise 2.0 study