The I.T. industry has a language and unique set of business practices of its own. That means in order to assist with commercial agreements, a good understanding of what is actually being delivered, why, and to what qualitative and quantitative measureable standards is necessary.
Hughes Krupica has worked on several I.T. based projects as legal adviser and has also witnessed what happens in litigation when things go wrong. Hughes Krupica used that experience to assist from the outset of negotiations as to the scope and costs of an I.T. project, through to the detailed provisions of the contracts specifying key deliverables and handling variations and other common aspects of a project.
Protection practices for code back ups and for storage of data change every year and therefore any law firm advising on I.T. contract provisions must know what an I.T. company can and can’t comply with before embarking on marking up and modifying contracts.
Additionally, general sweeping catch all provisions for protection of intellectual property will not work adequately in situations where third party software is licensed and adapted in larger projects combining multiple sources of software and applications together. Hughes Krupica’s team understood these parameters very well and ensured that pragmatic and realistic provisions were placed in the agreements.
Finally, I.T. companies and employers of their services worry that if there is a dispute it can interfere sometimes with critical ‘live’ maintenance and support relating to a business operation that is directly linked to revenues. Any interruptions can cause significant financial damage. Therefore, it is important to separate certain maintenance services from the overall obligations of development of a project, and ensure provisions are inserted into the agreements whereby leverage cannot be exacted upon an employer through deliberate downtime of an operation.
We would recommend Hughes Krupica’s team to any I.T. project supplier or to any company considering embarking upon engaging an I.T. company to design and implement a project.
