Brush up on Your IT Business Law: Check Out CompTIA’s New Legal Resources

I’ve had the opportunity to work with many innovative business owners over the years and, while their technological and service knowledge is vast, most are quick to acknowledge their understanding of business law is limited. Recognizing this problem is the first step, with a call to a reputable lawyer the typical response when a need arises. But what about the companies that have limited resources or those that wish to learn more about legal best practices on their own? While there are websites that cater to small business, with standard forms and basic business law, none (that I have found) were created specifically for the unique challenges an IT services company or emerging vendor faces.

That’s the issue CompTIA hopes to address with the introduction of its new Legal Resources member benefit, a hub of official business documents, agreement templates and legal information developed specifically for IT companies. This one-stop shop for legal tools and forums , located inside the CompTIA Member Resource Center, was created with significant input and support from CompTIA’s advisory council, members and attorneys specializing in IT law.

While many individuals have been lobbying for this type of resource, the final product has become more comprehensive than the original plan. The Legal Resource hub allows you to select the information based on your businesses needs, with four areas of concentration: Starting your Business, Maintaining Your Business, Succession Planning, and Technology Law. Recognizing that companies’ legal needs vary at different stages of their business lifecycle, CompTIA arranged the materials into these categories to make it convenient and practical for members. In a way, it’s like having your own law office on retainer and ready to consult with at any time (but without the cost of doing so). As a matter of fact, CompTIA hired a team of legal experts to develop this program and validate the materials and tools.

CompTIA’s Legal Resources won’t replace a great lawyer, nor was it intended to do so, but it will allow you to use customizable templates to create legal documents specific to your business. Some of the most frequently utilized forms include NDAs (non-disclosure agreements), SLAs (service level agreements), non-compete forms, contracts, and consulting agreements. The templates make it extremely easy to customize the documents; you just enter your company information in the fields, hit “submit” and the result is an agreement ready for your customer’s signature.  After experimenting with custom forms on some website, this process is easier and cleaner than any I’ve come across!

These forms have been vetted by legal and industry professionals to ensure they are enforceable and compliant with regulations faced by IT businesses. I’ve seen companies spend thousands of dollars with their legal counsel creating similar documents, but the great thing about this site is that it’s free to CompTIA members.

In addition to the forms, you’ll also find a “How-To” and “Frequently Asked Questions” sections, written and monitored by attorneys with an IT industry specialization. You can see the issues your peers are interested in and benefit from the ongoing conversations. It is truly a collaborative project, and I expect to see enhancements and complementary tools added as time goes on. I’m not going to insert my favorite infomercial spiel here, but if you’d rather put your capital to use for new managed services tools or website improvements to make more money, check it out!