Source Code Escrow
There are many types of escrow services. One of them is source code escrow. This is important to licensees or people that license the software from a software provider so that they can ensure that the software is maintained even if the licensor or software provider goes under, goes bankrupt or does not fulfill it’s obligation to maintain the software as agreed upon when they completed their software license agreement.
The maintenance of their software is incredibly important to a lot of organizations, especially large companies that need to ensure the reliability of the IT solutions for business continuity. The best way to ensure that their software is maintained is by holding the source-code in escrow. However, most software providers will normally refuse to allow other companies access to their source-code. This is understandable but to resolve this conflict of interest between the licensor and licensee, both parties will normally agree to hold the source code in escrow to make sure that in the event of the failure of the licensor to provide maintenance and support for the software, the licensee can then take the source code and give it an opportunity to keep it’s own software up to date.