Gartner calls for basic cloud rights

Cloud services customers should have a number of basic rights to protect them and their data, analyst firm Gartner has suggested.

Customers should have ownership and control over their data, Gartner said, and providers should make clear what they can do with people's information as any lack of clarity could lead to damaging legal battles.

Providers should also include service level agreements in cloud contracts, guaranteeing accurate turnaround times for adding capacity, and specifying how this will be delivered, the analyst firm explained.

It also called for a basic right for customers to receive notifications when changes affecting the service are implemented, as well as a choice over such alterations.

Furthermore, cloud users should be able to understand technical limitations or requirements of a service before signing up to it, as well as legal information relating to the jurisdictions in which the provider operates, the analyst organisation said.

Gartner added that customers should have a basic right to know what security their providers have in place, claiming firms offering cloud services are inconsistent when it comes to explaining what protection they use or what business continuity plans they have.

"If cloud services are commoditised, providers should offer stronger customer guarantees," said Daryl Plummer, managing vice president and Gartner fellow.

"Respecting these rights will require effort and expense from providers, but securing the rights will encourage enterprises to put more of their business into the cloud."

He encouraged companies to help establish these rights as the standard for cloud computing.

If implementation of such rights did act as a cloud adoption catalyst, it could be beneficial for the segment in light of recent research from SAP showing the shift to the cloud will be gradual rather than at a rapid pace.