SaaS contracts
Subscription terms for an online service: duration, renewal, service levels (SLA), availability, support, price, termination arrangements, data processing.
→ Contracts · Sub-expertise
IT and SaaS contracts combine contractual, intellectual property, personal data and service-level issues. Imprecise drafting exposes the company to significant risks: loss of ownership of the code, GDPR compliance breaches, SLA litigation. We structure balanced contracts for software publishers, integrators, service providers and users.
→ What we cover
Subscription terms for an online service: duration, renewal, service levels (SLA), availability, support, price, termination arrangements, data processing.
Custom software development contracts: specifications, methodology (agile, V-cycle), acceptance testing, intellectual property, warranty, evolutive maintenance.
Perpetual or subscription licences, professional licences, open-source licences (compatibility verification), enterprise packs, licence audits.
Hosting, IaaS, PaaS and cloud service contracts: availability, security, data location, reversibility, exit from crisis.
Assignment or licensing of rights over the code, over bespoke developments, over the client's contributions, articulation with the integrated open-source components.
GDPR schedules (controller / processor roles), DPA, security measures, incident management, international transfers, data-subject rights.
→ Our approach
01
Understanding the service or project, the stakeholders, the commercial and technical objectives, the level of criticality and the regulatory constraints.
02
Definition of the structure of the documents (GTC, general service conditions, SLA, DPA, technical schedules) and of the respective roles (publisher, integrator, host, client).
03
Drafting of bespoke contracts, negotiation with the counterparty, adjustment of SLAs and intellectual property undertakings.
04
Monitoring of performance, handling of incidents, management of changes, support in the event of litigation or reversibility.
→ Who we help
Drafting a publisher's SaaS GTC: subscription, SLA, intellectual property, data processing, termination terms and evolving pricing policy.
Bespoke development contract for an industrial client: specifications, agile methodology, structured acceptance testing, assignment of rights, warranty and third-party application maintenance.
Assisting a large account in negotiating a cloud contract with a hyperscaler: SLA, location, reversibility, security, GDPR compliance.
Negotiating an enterprise licence for an international group: scope of use, audit, multi-entity deployment, articulation with foreign subsidiaries.
→ Q&A
By default under French law, it is the developer who holds the rights, unless they are expressly assigned to the client. A clear and explicit assignment clause, covering all modes of exploitation and the entire duration of protection, is essential to transfer ownership.
Service Level Agreement: a contractual commitment to measurable service levels (availability, response time, incident-resolution times). It provides for penalties or credits if the thresholds are not met. Its drafting must be precise (measurement method, exclusions) to avoid litigation.
Yes, as soon as the SaaS processes personal data: the DPA (data processing agreement) formalises the processor's obligations under Article 28 of the GDPR. In particular, it must frame sub-processors, international transfers, security measures and incident management.
Through a reversibility clause providing for: the return of data in a standard format, assistance with migration to another solution, the duration and arrangements for the transition, and the fate of the backups. It is a key element in avoiding excessive dependence on the provider.
→ Go further
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