L1 ESCROW
Software Escrow
Simplified
What is Software Escrow?
If you’re reliant on a custom application to run your business - say a custom CRM to keep track of customers or a logistics application to keep track of shipments and orders. You’ll be in a bit of a pickle if that application stops working because the Software Developer is unable to support it.
As the Software Escrow Company, we’ll mediate a tri-party agreement between you - the Licensee, the Software Developer - the Licensor, and us - The Software Escrow agent. This agreement allows us to secure a copy of your application’s source code (essentially its building blocks), in Escrow.
The ideal scenario is that the agreement sits in the background and is never called upon. However, if something does happen, your Software Escrow agreement gives you the source code for the application and the confidence that your business can continue.
For what purpose is Software Escrow most commonly used?
Software Escrow delivers business continuity - That is its primary purpose.
Continuity is at the top of every business’s agenda. We all want our business to continue forever, and Software Escrow puts your business continuity back in your hands.
Software Escrow gives you guarantees that whatever happens to the developer of your most critical applications, whether they face financial difficulty, cease trading or withdraw support for a particular product, you’re protected from these factors by your Software Escrow Agreement.
What does SaaS Escrow Mean?
SaaS Escrow is simply a variation of Software Escrow which is tailored for Hosted Applications (Applications which are accessed via the internet rather than installed on your server and computers).
Think of your CRM. You may have an ‘On-Premise’ version installed on-site where every change or update you make is stored on your internal storage and backed up by you. Or you may have a ‘Hosted/SaaS’ version that you log into, but the application itself is hosted by your developers and you just pay a licensee fee to use it.
SaaS Escrow differs from traditional Software Escrow in that the agent, i.e. us, will also make regular backups of your application’s data and store these alongside the source code in Escrow.
If you need to call upon the Agreement, we’ll release the source code and data back to you, giving you access to the most recent version of your application.
How much does Software Escrow cost?
This really depends on your business needs.
We can supply you with an Agreement from £895, giving you everything you need to get started along with peace of mind that your data is protected to the highest industry standards.
For more valuable, business-critical applications. We would recommend that you include Validation Testing in your Software Escrow Agreement. In layman’s terms, this validates that the source code help in Escrow contains what it should and can be deployed into a working application when you need it most.
Find out how L1 Escrow can help your business
Manchester office
Chadsworth House, Wilmslow Road, Handforth, Cheshire, SK9 3HP
London office
13-14 Angel Gate, London, EC1V 2PT
APAC office
Level 2, 383 George St, Sydney, NSW 2000