e-Business With deep business experience and advanced technical backgrounds, Vascoe Valdes LLP's attorneys effectively assist clients in developing and implementing their e-business and information technology initiatives. Our e-Business & Information Technology Practice attorneys are knowledgeable in virtually all areas of the global economy. We have expertise in all aspects of the procurement, development, and use of technology in business.       Experience and Knowledge to Achieve Your Business Objectives   Our attorneys' practical business experience and technical knowledge provide them with the understanding required to guide our clients through the process of purchasing and implementing complicated information systems and business partner relationships to achieve their business objectives, including outsourcing, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), financial knowledge management, and technology infrastructure systems. We work closely with each client's in-house team and technical consultants to articulate the organization's business objectives, clearly define all contract terms, negotiate meaningful warranties and remedies, and minimize hidden technology costs and risks.   For our clients that create, sell, or license technology, we understand the value of their intellectual property and how to both protect and leverage those assets. Our knowledge of licensing, outsourcing, patents, professional service, maintenance and support, and related transactions, from both the vendor and user perspectives, enables our attorneys to effectively negotiate custom transactions, and to advise on improvements to existing standardized agreements. We also understand the technology sales process and methods vendors can use to shorten their time to sale and reduce transaction costs.   We also utilize our internal best practice tools to effectively and efficiently assist clients in the development of policies and procedures that address legal risks and operational issues that arise from the use of technology in the workplace, including policies on employee technology use (including e-mail and Internet use), security, and privacy and confidentiality.       Addressing Your Acquisition and Implementation Issues   The acquisition and implementation of information systems raise numerous contractual and legal concerns, particularly when the technology serves multiple facilities. Acquisition issues include vendor representations on system performance and integration; ownership of custom programming; acceptance testing; scope of warranties; vendor liability, indemnification, and insurance; and remedies for varying degrees of breach of warranty or system failure.   Implementation issues include security; balancing the need for access to information with confidentiality requirements; antitrust compliance; disaster avoidance and recovery; and meeting regulatory, licensure, and accreditation requirements. The sooner legal counsel is engaged, the more satisfactorily these issues can be resolved.   Once acquisition negotiations are concluded, we help develop policies and procedures that address legal operational issues.       Trust in Our Outsourcing Experience   Our skill set includes knowledge of total and selective outsourcing programs and outsourcing the following functions: network operations, desktop management, data centers, systems integration, legacy application production support, application operation, help desk, device procurement and maintenance, custom application development and maintenance, telecommunications and data transport, disaster recovery, Internet and e-commerce services, security, and business process outsourcing (i.e., billing, pension management, customer call centers and service, employee benefits management, training and development, materials management, and telemarketing).       Sustaining an Ever-Evolving Relationship   Whether representing a vendor or a customer, in creating or renegotiating an outsourcing transaction, our skill and value lie in our ability to create relationships designed to achieve our clients' business objectives. We use our expertise to help clients identify and document those objectives, but we also recognize that the key to a successful relationship lies in its ability to adapt to the changing needs of the parties and to withstand the inevitable problems that arise during such relationships. We work with our clients to identify the risks that are inherent in outsourcing these transactions, and ensure that those risks are both mitigated and fairly allocated between the parties.   In addition, we have business processes that facilitate the complex and sometimes time-consuming negotiation process. Our processes have been developed with an understanding of the need for outsourcing customers to advance important technology initiatives and focus on their business's core competencies, and that all parties seek to limit the transaction costs of outsourcing. Vascoe Valdes LLP attorneys use a structured process to facilitate negotiations, including establishing a negotiation work plan, ensuring critical issues are identified at the outset and resolved or escalated to avoid surprises or delays in the process or pursuit of a relationship that will not work, structuring negotiation sessions to be productive and focused, and providing document turnaround that is prompt and complete.   Our firm also provides assistance as needed in related areas such as financing, intellectual property protection for proprietary systems and data, and litigation.