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To improve this situation in the short‐term, it is integral for Cloud vendor's
quality systems to support and complete security testing, making it available
for customers before Cloud adoption. This is visibly one of the most awaited
improvements in Cloud computing evolution, since it might be able to
answer questions regarding data security and protection issues, a breaking
point for improving the slow take‐off of Cloud Computing market.
3.5.8
Licensing in the Cloud
The focus of public attention in the Cloud is primarily on the revolutionary
strength of new business models enabled by the Cloud, as well as the
technical developments that, in turn, enabled the Cloud. Compared to this,
correct licensing has played a more subordinate role in previous discussions.
But as Cloud services and their production use become more widespread,
this topic is becoming increasingly important. A growing number of
publications on this topic, such as the licensing guide by EuroCloud
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demonstrate this development. Licensing is a significant issue in Cloud
computing, especially in terms of risk assessment and as a cost factor for
commercial evaluation.
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From a commercial point of view, users will always strive to minimise license
costs. Very few companies can afford the luxury of over‐licensing, just to be
on the safe side. On the other hand, under‐licensing entails significant legal
risks with possible economic complications. Users will thus seek to be
properly licensed as far as possible, that is, to have exactly as many licenses
as are necessary for a specific service.
However, the correct licensing is not always easy in the Cloud environment,
as this often requires an adaptation of existing license agreements.
Amazingly, the licensing models of some renowned software manufacturers
clearly lag behind the current Cloud development. This leads to decisions for
or against the use of a particular software product being increasingly made
on the basis of a manufacturer's licensing model being “Cloud‐ready". For
this reason, Open Source products are increasingly being considered as an
alternative.
Contrary to the frequently expressed view that this is an internal topic
between Cloud providers and software vendors, the topic of licensing can
assume a major economic and legal significance for Cloud providers and
consumers.
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Cloud Computing Guide "Licenses in the Cloud Agreement", Eurocloud Austria, 2012
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An expanded version of this chapter can be found under
