Overview

“In the cloud, contracts are dictated, not negotiated”

Cloud is consumed as a service. The contracts and SLAs that apply to these services differ from the ones that organisations used to deal with. Hyperscale CSP allow themselves to change SLAs unilaterally and releases are done according to the CSPs regime. Functional updates and changes to APIs, allowing services to be accessed, are implemented on a set date and time, with prior notice through email. CSPs make pricing changes as well as adjustments to data processing agreements without consulting you as a customer. Fortunately, cloud allows for building highly available and self-healing cloud-native solutions resulting in limited impact of the way SLAs are used by hyperscale CSPs. ​

Control decreases when services are provided outside of your own data centre. Cloud service providers do not provide tailor-made solutions anymore and a one-size-fits-all service is the new normal, and organisations have limited influence on the performance of the cloud service provider.​

When using SaaS providers, bankruptcy or similar impacting events can mean a sudden cessation of services. Exit strategies per application are necessary to be able to switch partners with as little disruption of service or loss of data as possible. It is up to the organisation to respond adequately to all these changes.​

During the contract term, ‘contract governance’ must be implemented and performed to ensure, on the one hand, the proper exploitation of the contract and SLA fulfilment, and on the other hand, to let the cloud service provider think along and move towards the strategic objectives of the organisation. One way to do so, is through multi-level contract governance. Establish communication lines between C-level, mid-managers and technical staff to discuss how to continuously improve on contract execution, joint roadmap development and day-to-day performance.

Activities checklist

Initial:

• Mapping relevant partner documentation regarding SLA, security, costs, etc.​
• Creating exit strategy per application / platform​
• Setting up a process for multi-level cloud contract management​
• Defining reporting requirements

Recurring:

• Identifying changes to SLA, costs, security, business continuity​
• Preparing impact analysis of changes​
• Influencing partners where possible in line with the interests of the organisation​
• Performing multi-level contract governance

RASCI