Thought Leadership Programme

FAST IiS look to harness the knowledge of our member base to provide “Thought Leadership” on emerging issues and technologies affecting the management and licensing of business applications and information. Sign up here to receive regular updates

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Software as a Service is being seen more and more by businesses as a viable proposition and an opportunity to reduce costs whilst still allowing for future growth. In this paper, Andrew Hartshorn, a partner at law firm Shakespeare Putsman, members of the Federation’s Legal Advisory Group (FLAG), discusses the benefits and risks of SaaS and how both can impact on your business.

Click here to download the paper ‘SaaS – Understanding the model – a legal view’

Software as a Service – Myth or Reality?

Leading IT experts shared valuable insight on how UK enterprises can use virtualisation to their advantage at the ‘Software as a Service – Myth or reality?’ event held on Thursday, 12 March 2009. The event focused on the widespread adoption of virtualisation, the development of commercial service oriented infrastructures and the incredible diversity of web services changing the IT landscape. It was organised in partnership with FAST IiS, Grid Computing Now! and Intellect. John Lovelock, Chief Executive at FAST IiS comments: “We are delighted to partner this event as it raises important issues enterprises must consider as SaaS looks set to radically impact the industry. It’s vital our members have an opportunity to learn how new software delivery models can help them add business value for their customers, and the legal and contractual issues that need to be considered in bringing them to market”.

For further information on the day and to download presentations, click here

Data Loss Prevention

Over the past twelve months the news headlines have been dominated by stories of high profile data security breaches. No sector of the economy has been unaffected by the seemingly unstoppable torrent of bad news.

These events have also drawn attention to the need for organizations to implement “Privacy Enhancing Technologies” (PETs). In the following paper Field Fisher Waterhouse, member of the Federation’s Legal Advisory Group provides an overview of the issues and regulatory framework driving “Data Loss Prevention” (DLP) technologies.

Click here to download the paper – FAST DLP Position Paper

Open Source in the mainstream: Legal Implications

Everyone agrees that Open Source Software offers exciting opportunities to businesses and that its use will only become more pervasive over time. So where does this leave legal counsel or management who must decide how best to exploit the software whilst remaining compliant with licensing conditions? To appreciate and advise on the risks fully, it is necessary also to understand something of how the Open Source Software will be used, in particular how it will interact with other Open Source and proprietary software and how that use will be perceived by activists in the Open Source movement. These are the building blocks for constructing an effective but practical strategy.

In the following paper, Kemp Little, members of the Federation’s Legal Advisory Group, provide an overview of key OSS licenses and cases, examine the knottier legal issues that frequently arise and take a practical look at OSS inside the organization.

Click here to download the paper – FAST Introduction to Open Source