Avoiding lock-in effects through obtaining all necessary licences before use of a SaaS solution in a public sector organisation: a case study

Authors

  • Bjorn Lundell University of Skovde
  • Jonas Gamalielsson
  • Andrew Katz
  • Mathias Lindroth

Abstract

With increased adoption and use of cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions from international providers many public sector organisations expose themselves to a dependency on specific providers and a range of different lock-in effects. The article reports from a case study which investigated how a large Swedish public sector organisation addressed licensing issues and lock-in effects during adoption and use of a SaaS solution (Microsoft 365). The study identifies problematic licensing issues and presents a legal analysis related to the organisational implementation of the SaaS solution in the specific organisation. Findings show that the organisation has failed to successfully obtain all necessary licences and all necessary rights which would allow for long-term maintenance of all its digital assets independently of the SaaS solution currently in use.

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Published

15.05.2023

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 1 (2023): BILETA Special Issue

Section

Refereed Articles

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