Module 3 · Chapter 10
IP, IT and Data
A software business is worth its code and its data. The review asks who owns the code, whether the systems will keep running, and whether the data is used lawfully.
In this chapter
- Why code a contractor wrote may not belong to the company that paid for it
- Why every link between group companies needs a document
- What the data protection review checks, and why a quick fix still leaves a finding
10.1IP, IT and data in one paragraph
Most of what Solaris is worth is not physical. It is the Helia platform, which runs custody and settlement, and the customer relationships that run across it. This workstream covers the intellectual property (IP: rights in software, brands and data), the IT systems and the personal data. It asks three questions:
- Ownership. Does the group own its code, in the right company, with a document on every link?
- Continuity. Will the systems keep running if a key supplier leaves?
- Lawfulness. Is the personal data used and shared as the law requires?
Key point
Every finding in sections 7 and 8 of the report answers one of these questions. On Sunrise there were three gaps: a contractor who never assigned his code, a platform with no licence to its users, and a data processor with no contract.
Also in this chapter
- Contractors keep their copyright unless they assign it
- Fixing the gap before signing
- Every link inside the group needs a document
- Open-source code and trade marks
- Checking that the systems keep running
- Every data processor needs a contract
- A fix during the review still leaves a finding
- Setting each fix by whose help it needs
- Your job
Preview
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