Ensure Business Continuity with SA's No. 1 Software Escrow Provider
Protecting business continuity since 2004
ESCROWSURE is South Africa’s leading software escrow provider, secure your customised software IP with expert support to protect your business from third-party and internal developer software risks.
Proudly providing bespoke escrow services to our valued clients world-wide since 2004
On-prem software
Verification testing of source code and documentation, enabling business continuity if the software supplier fails to support on-prem systems.
Cloud-hosted software
Verification testing of cloud environment access, DevOps, infrastructure, data and backups on billing ensuring uptime and continuity if the provider fails.
Our Clients
Why do I need
software escrow?
When a software vendor fails without an escrow agreement in place, your business faces immediate risks: operational shutdowns, breach of client contracts, revenue losses, and lasting reputational harm. Escrow mitigates these threats by securing access to critical software and data, ensuring business continuity, protecting IT leadership, and maintaining trust with clients during moments of vendor instability or failure.
Software Escrow Protects Your
Business From
Supplier Insolvency
If your vendor goes under, you could instantly lose access to the software your operations rely on.
Unplanned Business Interruption
Unexpected supplier failure or downtime can halt critical systems, disrupt services, and delay delivery to your clients.
Breach of License Obligations
Losing access to licensed software can put you in breach of client contracts and regulatory terms – often without warning.
Revenue Loss
If systems go down due to vendor issues, sales and operations stop. Recovery costs escalate. Financial damage is immediate and compounding.
Reputational Harm
Clients don’t care why your systems failed. They just remember you couldn’t deliver – and take their business elsewhere.
IT Management Jobs on the Line
When third-party software breaks and there’s no backup plan, the blame lands on your team. Escrow protects your credibility.
Direct Transact
“ESCROWSURE provides our clients peace of mind and mitigate risk.”
Direct Transact
Chief Information Security Officer
Flexinova
“The personnel is very friendly and extremely helpful.”
Flexinova
General Manager
Agile Business Solutions
“very easy to get onboarded”
Agile Business Solutions
COO
Tollink
“We are very happy with the level of service and professionalism that the ESCROWSURE team provides and have provided our clients with assurance that their customized solutions are securely stored and professionally verified.”
TOLLINK ZA
SHEQ Manager
Nexi
“Nexi Payments S.p.A. (previously SIA S.p.A) have been a depositor of source code software with ESCROWSURE for the past 11 years and have been extremely satisfied with the level of service and professionalism they have demonstrated.
They have consistently provided timely and accurate management of our source code deposits, ensuring that our valuable intellectual property is always protected and secure. Their team is responsive and easy to work with, and they have always met our needs.”
Nexi Payments
Head of Central Institutions Sales
Jenetric
“With ESCROWSURE, I enjoy peace of mind that the intellectual property and technical documentation is securely vaulted and professionally tested.
ESCROWSURE has played a significant role in our risk management protocols: vaulting our business-critical IP with a professional escrow service is a vital measure in the process of risk management.”
Jenetric
CEO
TotalEnergies
“Overall, I highly recommend ESCROWSURE’s software escrow service to any organization that values the security and reliability of its 3rd party software assets. Their expertise and commitment to excellence are second to none, and we have been extremely satisfied with their service over the years.”
TotalEnergies
Competency Center Manager
Genasys Technologies
“We have been depositing our source code and technical documentation with ESCROWSURE for the many years and have consistently been impressed with the level of service by the
team.”
Genasys Technologies UK Ltd
CEO
Fidelity Services Group
“Their work has been a major factor for IT Risk success, as we hold eight of our business-critical application in escrow with them. We have never had a problem with Escrow uploads as the instructions were clear, concise and communication was always on time and professional.”
GM Managed Services
Fidelity Services Group (Pty)
Ellipsys Systems
“We have found the team from ESCROWSURE extremely professional, competent and efficient and have also recommended ESCROWSURE to clients looking for an escrow agent.”
Ellipsys Systems (Pty) Ltd
Operational Director
What is software escrow?
Software escrow is a legal arrangement where the source code and other important materials of an application are deposited with a neutral and independent escrow agent subject to a legal agreement between the software end user, vendor, and ESCROWSURE.
The objective of an escrow arrangement is to provide comfort to the end user that if the software vendor is unable or unwilling to support the software, the code, and other critical materials can be released to them ensuring the end user’s ability to update and maintain the software, thereby protecting their business continuity.
We believe every business deserves the best possible protection against unplanned business interruptions caused by third party software.
The benefits of software
escrow with ESCROWSURE
Protects Business Continuity
Keep operations running even if your software vendor fails. ESCROWSURE ensures uninterrupted access to critical systems.
Avoids Business Interruptions
Mitigates Supplier Dependency
Satisfies Governance and Compliance
Manages Supplier Relationship
Safeguards Investment in Software
How does software escrow work?
1. Consult
Free assessment of custom third-party software risk and tailored escrow solution.
In a free consultation our Software Escrow Specialist will work with you to assess your exposure to 3rd party software risk and design a bespoke escrow solution tailored to your unique and specific requirements.
2. Agreement
Draft legal document prepared, with client/ vendor meetings to finalise terms.
Based on your requirements we will prepare a draft agreement for your legal review. Our legal team will facilitate contracting meetings between you and your Vendor concerning terms of the Escrow agreement.
3. Deposit
Vendor deposits encrypted code, documentation, and/ or cloud environment access with ESCROWSURE.
Once the agreement is in place, the software Vendor will deposit an encrypted copy of the latest version of the source code and technical documentation of the application with ESCROWSURE. In the event the application is hosted in the cloud, additional measures are taken including a description of the production environment, secure access for maintenance and updates, as well as hosting details.
4. Verification
Escrow material is decrypted on air-gapped machines to verify use and completeness across three risk-based levels.
Why test? An escrow deposit is only of value where tested and verified to be of use irrespective of the status of your Vendor.
Our testing services provide the opportunity for you to choose between 3 levels of testing – based on the risk analysis.
Our software testing service secures both on-prem and cloud hosted solutions.
5. Report
Report confirms test level and deposit status, available 24/7 via the user Escrow Admin Portal (EAP).
The report documents the level of testing executed as well as the status of the deposited material. All reports will be posted to our Escrow Admin Portal (EAP) live and accessible to the Parties 24/7.
6. Secure & Vault
Escrow material is re-encrypted and securely vaulted on hard media under our accredited ISO certifications.
After the testing is complete, the material is re-encrypted and vaulted. Our state-of-the-art vaulting services are governed by our ISO 9001:2015; ISO/IEC 27001:2022; ISO/IEC 27017:2015 and ISO/IEC 27018:2019 certifications.
7. Customer Portal-
Manage
EAP provides secure access to legal escrow agreements, test reports, governance certificates and deposit statuses.
The Escrow Admin Portal (EAP) is a customer interface that provides secure access to vital documentation related to the escrow arrangement. This includes test reports, good governance certificates and details of the escrow legal agreement. EAP provides a convenient and secure way for users to manage their software escrow arrangements.
8. Release
ESCROWSURE provides a copy of the latest deposited material IP for maintenance/ updates and business continuity only.
In the event of a release condition, ESCROWSURE will release the most recently deposited copy of source code and related materials to the End User for the protection of your business continuity.
Is your software on-prem
or cloud hosted?
On-prem software
On-prem software is installed and runs on a company’s own hardware infrastructure, and is hosted internally. In contrast to cloud hosted software which is stored on the hosting provider’s servers, and accessed through a web browser.
Cloud hosted software
Cloud hosted software also known as SaaS is accessed over the internet. This software is not installed on the hardware located on the premises of the end user, rather it is hosted by remote servers, maintained and updated by the service provider and available to users via web browsers, mobile apps and API’s.
Latest Blog Posts
ESCROWSURE CITO EAST AFRICA Kenya Visit Surfaces Escalating Vendor Continuity Risk Across East Africa
ESCROWSURE’s recent visit to Nairobi, undertaken at the special invitation of Joel Roerig and the CITO East Africa leadership team, has highlighted a growing structural vulnerability within East Africa’s digital acceleration agenda: increasing reliance on third party...
APP Solutions Acquires ESCROWSURE to Expand Global Footprint in Software Escrow and Tech Due Diligence
Johannesburg – [20 November] – APP Solutions, a European group leader in technology due diligence and software IP protection, has acquired ESCROWSURE, South Africa’s foremost software escrow provider, in a move that brings global tools and standards to the African...
Ensuring Software Escrow Compliance for Financial Institutions in Singapore
The Importance of Software Escrow Under MAS Regulations The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has reinforced the importance of software escrow agreements in its Technology Risk Management Guidelines (2021). As financial institutions (FIs) increasingly depend on...
Set Up Your Free Consultation
Ready to safeguard your business continuity against third party software risk?
Software escrow with ESCROWSURE
- Protects business continuity
- Avoids unplanned business interruptions
- Mitigates supplier dependency
- Satisfies governance and compliance
- Manages supplier relationship
- Safeguards investment in software
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the agreement customizable? How much customization do you allow?
Yes, absolutely. We believe that each escrow environment is unique and requires a customized approach. ESCROWSURE’s in-house legal counsel will craft a bespoke escrow agreement tailoring the provisions to meet the needs of your specific requirements.
What is software escrow?
Software escrow is a legal agreement that protects access to critical software assets. It involves a third-party agent (like ESCROWSURE) holding the source code and documentation. The materials are released to the user only if predefined trigger events occur (e.g., vendor insolvency). This ensures business continuity even if the software supplier can no longer support the product. It’s a vital risk management and compliance tool for businesses relying on third-party software.
What are software escrow agreements?
Software escrow agreements are legal contracts between a software vendor, the end-user (licensee), and a neutral third-party escrow agent (like ESCROWSURE). These agreements require the vendor to deposit vital materials—such as source code, technical documentation, and build instructions—with the escrow agent. The purpose is to ensure that, if the vendor is unable or unwilling to support the software (due to insolvency, breach, or other predefined events), the end-user can gain access to those materials to maintain business continuity. Software escrow agreements are a proactive risk mitigation strategy that balance IP protection for the vendor with operational assurance for the user.
What does business continuity mean?
Business continuity means your organisation can continue operating through unexpected disruptions, such as vendor failure, cyber incidents, or service outages. It ensures critical systems, data, and processes remain available so that you can deliver products and services without major interruption. In the context of software escrow, business continuity refers to verified access to the software, source code, technical documentation, and hosting environment, allowing you to restore or maintain operations independently of the original supplier. This protects revenue, reputation, and compliance in high-risk scenarios.
What is intellectual property protection?
Intellectual property (IP) protection safeguards the ownership rights of creations such as software, designs, inventions, trademarks, and confidential information. It ensures that only authorised parties can access, use, or distribute these assets. In a software escrow context, IP protection is enforced through a legal agreement that allows the escrow agent to hold and manage a copy of source code and related materials without transferring ownership. This protects the software vendor’s proprietary rights while giving the end user conditional access, typically triggered by vendor failure, to ensure operational continuity without compromising IP.
What is third-party vendor risk mitigation?
Third-party vendor risk mitigation is the process of identifying, assessing, and reducing the risks associated with relying on external suppliers for critical services or software. These risks include vendor insolvency, service failure, security breaches, or non-compliance with regulatory standards. Effective mitigation strategies include due diligence, contractual safeguards, business continuity planning, and tools like software escrow. A software escrow agreement ensures that if the vendor fails to perform, the client can still access the application, source code, data, and infrastructure needed to maintain operations, reducing exposure to operational, legal, and financial risk.
Why do we need escrow for SaaS applications?
With SaaS applications, software is not accessed on a server located on the end users premises, but instead, is hosted remotely in the cloud by a hosting services provider usually paid for by the software vendor. This introduces an additional layer of risk as it adds to the supply chain dependencies.
In addition, the data generated by the application is hosted in the cloud too. This means that if the software Vendor were to stop answering the phone, both application and data could be beyond the reach of the end user immediately.
Some end users believe that a migration to a cloud service eliminates the need for an escrow arrangement.
But this is not true.
If anything, the need for escrow is greater for SaaS applications, because of the additional layer of risk which puts both the software and the data at risk if the worst should happen.
What is business continuity management?
What are source code escrow agreements?
What are SaaS escrow agreements?
SaaS escrow agreements are legal contracts that protect businesses relying on cloud-hosted software. These agreements ensure that, if a SaaS provider fails to deliver or support the service, due to insolvency, breach, or downtime, the end user can access the application, data, and supporting infrastructure. The agreement typically includes regular deposits of source code, technical documentation, cloud credentials, and back up payment arrangements. It ensures business continuity by providing verified access to the live environment or a mirrored instance, allowing users to maintain or restore services without disruption.
What is IT governance & compliance?
IT governance and compliance refer to the frameworks and processes that ensure an organisation’s use of technology aligns with internal policies, regulatory requirements, and industry standards. Governance focuses on decision-making, accountability, and risk management in IT operations, while compliance ensures adherence to laws such as POPIA, GDPR, regulatory requirements and standards like ISO/IEC 27001. In a software escrow context, IT governance and compliance are supported by verified access controls, audit trails, and legal escrow agreements, ensuring that critical software dependencies are managed transparently and meet the expectations of regulators, auditors, and stakeholders.
What is the difference between escrow and software escrow?
Escrow is a legal arrangement where a neutral third party holds assets or documents on behalf of two parties until predefined conditions are met. It is commonly used in real estate, mergers, or financial transactions to protect all parties involved.
Software escrow is a specialised form of escrow where source code, technical documentation, and related materials are deposited with an independent agent. It is used to protect the end user of critical software, ensuring access to the materials if the software vendor fails to maintain or support the application, enabling business continuity.