ABSTRACT
Procurement professionals must understand software licensing, even though software is often not hosted on government sites but is in the “cloud,” requiring analysis that is not license-based. In addition, the high number of failures in large software integrations, so-called “waterfall” implementations, has spawned new project delivery methods, such as agile and modular procurement. Once one gets beyond purchasing off-the-shelf software, it becomes even more important that procurement professionals collaborate with IT professionals, business process owners, and legal counsel. Cloud computing has moved away from traditional intellectual property concepts toward service-oriented cloud solutions. While online subscriptions of software-as-a-service in the cloud may not permit negotiation, an understanding of more sophisticated IT concepts and related legal issues is required for assessing the relative merits and risks of those and other cloud solutions.
