We are seeing a lot of software move to the cloud, and sold as a service. This leads to a lot of uncertainty when we need that software for a mission critical part of our business. It generates a lot more lock-in than shrink wrap software, because now you not only rely on the vendor for updates, but to keep it running every day.
The problem I found is that the service providers give you heart warming stories about how much they care about you, but once you look into their terms, they absolve themselves of any responsibility to the maximum extent permitted.
As such you will need to somehow get some guarantees that the service you depend on will remain. I believe the most important ones are:
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Price and service stability
You want the provider to be unable to jack up prices after the fact, and to keep providing the service you rely on. You will need to make an allowance for adjustments in line with inflation and input costs, but otherwise your price needs to be fixed forever.
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Data ownership
You need to keep the full ownership of any data you entrust to them. It must be easy to export, and the data may not be used for any additional uses apart those necessary to serve you.
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Liability
You depend on the service to be available and your data to not be stolen. You preferably should not have to worry about because it just works. But to ensure that the provider has an incentive, there should be a significant financial penalty should it screw up. Currently this is not possible, so the next best thing might be to buy independent insurance and use the rates to compare vendors.
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Service backup
Should the service go out of business, you will need to have a viable backup. The easiest way is to use open source software, so others can take over. But this might not provide you with the best solution. In this case the contract needs a similar protection: Should the company stop offering the service, and no other company will take over the complete contract, it must provide the software and the source code with a license that allows you to host yourself, for no additional compensation.