On 26 June 2014, the European Commission
("Commission") published standardised guidelines
("Guidelines") on cloud computing service level
agreements ("SLAs"). The Guidelines outline
essential terms that should be included in SLA's concluded in
the European Union ("EU"). An SLA details the nature and
level of services provided by cloud service providers to
customers.
The Guidelines were developed by a sub-group of the Cloud Select
Industry Group ("CSIG") which comprised of
representatives from expert groups such as the European Union
Agency for Network and Information Security
("ENISA") and industry experts such as Amazon,
Google, IBM, Microsoft, SAP and Salesforce.
The Commission will now trial the Guidelines with cloud service
users, specifically targeting Small and Medium Enterprises
("SMEs"), to see if amendments are necessary. If
successful the Guidelines could enhance the popularity of cloud
computing in Europe, as well as contribute to the formulation
