Extensive experience
Technological innovations and transitions may bring great benefits, but may also completely disrupt existing business operations. We are no stranger to issues surrounding the use of AI, information security or the digital resilience of your business processes.
Having extensive experience with complex IT-related projects, our team engages in very diverse activities ranging from negotiating and drafting IT agreements to resolving or settling IT-related disputes. In that respect, we adopt a pragmatic, targeted approach by always ensuring a healthy balance between representing your interests and complying with contractual and legal obligations. Our clients appreciate our in-depth knowledge of the IT industry and the latest technological developments.
Software licences and SaaS
When concluding software licensing and SaaS agreements, you have to buy enough rights for your short-term needs as well as for your needs in the longer term. We can help you understand the licensing model and what you can do to avoid paying more than necessary even in the longer term. Furthermore, we can protect your interests in the context of the terms and conditions offered by suppliers. Our knowledge of the market enables us to improve your position to the maximum extent possible while keeping intervention to a minimum. This increases the chances of your suppliers complying with the arrangements made without you having to resort to your legal position. If, after an audit, a supplier claims that you need many more licences, we can help you reduce such a claim to realistic proportions. Finally, we can help you with practical solutions to additional risks associated with SaaS agreements, which may relate to data protection, continuity or lock-in, for example.
Implementation and development processes
While many implementation and development processes run smoothly, some of them are not proceeding according to plan. In some cases the process has failed completely; in other cases there are substantial schedule and budget overruns. The contractual arrangements then largely determine how much money you will lose and how much you can recover from your supplier. We have experience with efficiently negotiating agreements that help reduce the chances of failure and protect your position should things turn out wrong. For example, did you know that it takes much less time to negotiate with two potential suppliers at the same time than with one, while the outcome will also be better if you conduct parallel negotiations?
IT disputes
Unfortunately, IT collaborations do not always bring what the parties expected from them at the start, and sometimes they even lead to disputes about the performance of an agreement and/or the quality of services provided. That is why we regularly act in IT disputes. We may be engaged in out-of-court dispute resolution, which includes assistance in mediation and settlement negotiations, but we are also happy to defend your interests in court proceedings and in arbitration.
Healthcare and IT
The healthcare sector is a specialist area within our practice. Our clients operate in such fields as hospital care, mental healthcare and disability care, but we also serve scientific research centres and other civil society organisations in the healthcare sector. We have extensive experience with the procurement of critical IT facilities, such as EHR and ERP systems, customer portals and infrastructure services, and with disputes that sometimes unfortunately arise in that regard. We are also happy to support you in issues concerning the responsible use and reuse of health data, in keeping a grip on the ever-growing number of applicable laws and regulations governing digitisation and data use in healthcare, and in making sound contractual arrangements on data in your supply chain from procurement to collaboration.
IT in the financial sector
The financial sector represents another specialist area of practice of our team. We assist both financial institutions and key IT suppliers in the sector. Drawing on our specific knowledge of the strict sector regulations on outsourcing by financial service providers and their digital resilience and stability, we help you gain an understanding of the measures you need to take within your own business processes and of contractual relationships within your value chain.
