One question we receive when talking to prospective clients looking into software escrow is, “How much is it going to cost me?”
If we are talking about the cost of using a software escrow vendor in general, there isn’t really a right answer to this. It really depends on what services they offer, their accreditations and experience and their choice in how much to charge for these services. With Escrow London, software escrow fees start at around $1,895/£1,395 per year. These fees are competitive amongst tier-1 software escrow vendors.
In order to ensure that you get the best deal for your company, there are some things you can look at to meet your software continuity needs.
1. Shop around
It is a wise idea from time-to-time to shop around and see what the market can offer you. You will be surprised at how you can save thousands of dollars or pounds for a comparable service to what you are receiving today.
2. Consolidate your agreements
Working with a software escrow vendor that can provide creative solutions to consolidate multiple agreements under a master framework agreement can save your company a lot of money.
3. Avoid hidden costs
Often, software escrow vendors charge significant fees for setup, implementation, , and code release. Look for a vendor who includes these fees within their standard package.
4. Active Assessment
Identify with your IT department team if all the software agreements in place are still relevant. Often software escrow agreements are put into place and forgotten about. You may be paying for an agreement on software that has reached end of life and is no longer being used.
5. Long term contracts
Often software escrow vendors will provide additional discounts for longer term agreements. For example, if you are comfortable that your software license agreement has a 3-year term, it is worth placing the escrow agreement under the same time frame if you can get an additional discount.
How much does software escrow cost with Escrow London?
Escrow London publishes fees on our website. As an indicator, a Single Beneficiary Software Escrow Agreement for source code including unlimited deposits from Git repos such as GitHub, Bitbucket or GitLab would cost $1,895 / £1,395 per year. A Multi Beneficiary Software Escrow Agreement which allows the registration of multiple beneficiaries including unlimited deposits would cost $2,195 / £1,595 per year. SaaS Continuity Escrow agreements commence at $2,695 / £1,995 and vary according to the level of continuity provided and the complexity of the SaaS environment.
All Escrow London software escrow agreements and SaaS escrow agreements include:
• No Set up fees
• Unlimited Automated Deposits (Git, SFTP, S3, Blob, Google Cloud)
• Unlimited Git Repositories
• Jurisdiction Choice Including: UK, USA, Canada, Australia, EU + many other countries
• Free Legally Binding Software Escrow Agreement Template (Editable)
• No Hidden Fees
• Fast Turnaround
• Optional Verification Services
• Tier-1 Software Escrow Vendor
• ISO 27001 / ISO 27017 Certified
In addition to this, Escrow London’s SaaS Continuity Escrow services include:
• Continuity for complex SaaS environments
• Option of 90 Days Live Continuity
• Integration with AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud
• Access Credentials Continuity
• AWS, Azure & Google Certified Cloud Architects
• Approved suppliers on AWS Marketplace and Microsoft Azure Marketplace
Is Software Escrow worth it for my business?
There has been a huge shift in cloud and SaaS adoption globally, notably within government, large enterprise and Financial Institutions. To further enhance their businesses, they hand over significant control of their critical applications without any vision of the financial stability of the SaaS vendor. On the surface, it would appear that the critical SaaS application is functioning as expected, but behind closed doors the SaaS vendor may be struggling to meet standard payments to their hosting suppliers such as AWS, Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud. With more companies across all markets shifting their responsibility to their SaaS and service providers, there has been an increasing need for using a software escrow vendor to assure access continuity for these SaaS applications in the event of a software vendor failure.
A rise in ransomware attacks in recent years have also left businesses feeling unsafe and unprepared. According to Gartner, Inc.’s latest Emerging Risks Monitor Report – “The threat of new ransomware models was the top concern facing executives in the third quarter of 2021.” As a result, we have also seen a growing number of companies seeking solutions from software escrow vendors to safeguard themselves from what could be a catastrophic consequence for their IT environments if not protected.
To conclude, is using a software escrow vendor worth it for your business? Maintenance and business continuity of software is a critical aspect for most IT departments. If you want to make sure that your software is protected and you mitigate against risks such as your software provider going bankrupt and not being able to maintain your services, then looking into a software escrow agreement is advisable.
And cost? By following our simple guidelines above, you will be well on your way to find a price that best suits your business needs.
To find out more about what software escrow is and when you should consider a software escrow vendor, read our recent article, “What is Software Escrow? – An Easy-to-Understand Guide” here.
