Proposed Guidance for Firms Outsourcing to the ‘Cloud’ and Other Third-party IT Services

Citation
Financial Conduct Authority, Proposed Guidance for Firms Outsourcing to the ‘Cloud’ and Other Third-party IT Services (Guidance Consultation 15/6) (Nov. 2015) (full-text).

Overview
The purpose of this draft guidance is to clarify the requirements on firms1 when outsourcing to the ‘cloud’ and other third-party IT services. This guidance is broader than, but includes issues covered in, ‘Considerations for firms thinking of using third-party technology (off-the-shelf) banking solutions’, which we published in July 2014 as part of our barriers-to-entry work for firms entering, or considering entering, the banking sector. While the July 2014 publication focused on banking solutions, this guidance is intended to help all firms to effectively oversee all aspects of the life cycle of their outsourcing arrangements: from making the decision to outsource, selecting an outsource provider, and monitoring outsourced activities on an ongoing basis, through to exit.