{"id":3989,"date":"2013-08-27T07:00:42","date_gmt":"2013-08-27T15:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.formtek.com\/blog\/?p=3989"},"modified":"2013-08-27T07:00:42","modified_gmt":"2013-08-27T15:00:42","slug":"saas-security-scrutinizing-the-security-terms-of-cloud-vendor-contracts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/formtek.com\/blog\/saas-security-scrutinizing-the-security-terms-of-cloud-vendor-contracts\/","title":{"rendered":"SaaS Security: Scrutinizing the Security Terms of Cloud Vendor Contracts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Numerous surveys and reports have found that the biggest worry businesses have today about adopting cloud\/SaaS technologies is security<\/em>. \u00a0For example, security is reported as a top concern by analysts like\u00a0IDC<\/a>, Gartner<\/a>, and Forrester<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With concerns around security high, it is no wonder that businesses are carefully scrutinizing the terms describing security in their cloud and SaaS contracts. \u00a0Unfortuantely, they’re usually not happy with what they’re seeing<\/a>. \u00a0Gartner found that 80 percent of IT procurement professions are not satisfied with the language that describes security in their SaaS contracts.<\/p>\n

Alexa Bona<\/a>, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner,\u00a0said that<\/a> “We continue to see frustration among cloud services users over the form and degree of transparency they are able to obtain from prospective and current service providers. \u00a0As more buyers demand it, and as the standards mature, it will become increasingly common practice to perform assessments in a variety of ways, including reviewing responses to a questionnaire, reviewing third-party audit statements, conducting an on-site audit and\/or monitoring the cloud services provider.”<\/p>\n

The Gartner report found that “nearly all contracts have a force majeure clause that excludes several forms of catastrophic incident. \u00a0If a failure simultaneously affected 1,000 customers, and each was entitled to $2 million of compensation, it would amount to a total payout of $2 billion. Ask service providers what their total liability would be in the case of a failure impacting all of their tenants, and demand evidence of adequately underwritten insurance.”<\/p>\n

What should customers look for in their SaaS contracts? \u00a0TechRepublic <\/a>reports that Gartner recommends the following:<\/p>\n