FAST 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, Grid Computing Now! and Intellect. John Lovelock, former Chief Executive at FAST 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

Free and Open Source Software

Put simply, Free and Open Source Software ("FOSS") is any software provided under a licence which grants certain freedoms to a licensee. This focus on granting freedoms is in contrast to traditional styles of software licensing, where the emphasis is more on listing the conditions and limitations that apply to the licensee's use. It is critical to note that "free software" is not software that is simply given away for free (which is sometimes called "freeware").

FOSS had its genesis in US academia in the early 1970s. It emerged into the mainstream in the 1990s and has continued to become increasingly widely used as we have moved into the 21st century. It is now an established feature of the software landscape and seems unlikely to lose its appeal. In particular, the budgetary pressures created by the recession has meant that more CIOs and CTOs than ever before are considering the adoption of FOSS as a route to lower technology overheads.

In business terms, FOSS is a double-headed creature. By using FOSS for the standard components of their products, CIOs can free up their developers to work on other projects or have them concentrate on the features that will differentiate their products from those of their competitors. Bringing a new product to market can take less time and the FOSS community may produce useful bug fixes and enhancements. However the use of FOSS carries with it certain risks to traditional "proprietary" IP strategies and the associated business models. The legal department will have a part to play in analysing the use of FOSS code and helping the business to determine whether it can be made to fit with the rest of their IP and business strategy.

Click here to download the paper – Free and Open Source Software