Companies’ use of data analytics is booming, with businesses seeking to leverage large amounts of raw data to analyze trends, make decisions, and enhance products, services, and marketing opportunities.

Picking up where we left off last week , below are some additional key issues to consider and address when negotiating source code escrow provisions.

Source code escrow arrangements can be a contentious topic in software license negotiations.

As we described in our first post on the increasing use of software robots in outsourcing, software robots are becoming more widespread because of their growing capabilities to execute business processes, such as customer service and IT service management.

A recent article by Information Services Group (ISG) partner Harvey Gluckman highlights the following trends in the global sourcing market over the last two years: Higher volumes of smaller deals with shorter contract terms An increased occurrence of "best of breed" multisourcing A shift away from the request for proposal process toward the more flexible, collaborative "request for solution" approach The emergence of new managed service markets These topics will be explored further at the upcoming ISG Americas Sourcing Industry Conference held September 29–30 in Dallas, Texas.

As part of its simplification initiative, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued a proposed Accounting Standards Update on August 20 that addresses accounting principles related to cloud computing arrangements.

New Jersey’s Opportunity to Compete Act (OTCA), which restricts an employer's ability to make hiring decisions on the basis of an applicant's criminal background, was signed into law on August 11. A recent LawFlash by Morgan Lewis's Labor and Employment Practice provides an overview of the OTCA—the latest in a wave of "ban the box" legislation that is sweeping the United States—and its implications for employers.

Outsourcing stakeholders should check out Deloitte's 2014 Global Outsourcing and Insourcing Survey . The survey results highlight what the future may hold for companies across several business functions and provide “insight into client executives' plans and perceptions related to the outsourcing industry.” Key findings include the following: Growth is predicted for outsourcing across all functions surveyed (ranging from 12% to 26%).

The Payment Card Industry (PCI) Security Standards Council recently published new guidance supporting PCI Data Security Standard 3.0 (PCI DSS 3.0). This guidance was released to help merchants reduce the risk of compromising payment card data when engaging third parties as service providers (e.g., call centers and e-commerce payment providers).

As outsourcing service providers and customers become more mature, a larger number of customers are relying on multiple service providers for services that were traditionally provided by one provider as part of a larger outsourcing transaction.