Ensure Business Continuity, If Your Software Supplier Fails
What if your software supplier ceases operations or support? ESCROWSURE ensures uninterrupted access to the source code of your vital business systems
The Risks
Businesses depending on third-party software providers face serious continuity threats if that provider fails, is acquired, or simply withdraws support. These events can stop operations, cause regulatory non-compliance, damage reputation, and lead to revenue loss. The risk is even higher when the software supports critical business processes, holds sensitive data or is hosted in a third-party cloud environment.
How We Help
ESCROWSURE ensures continuity of service by creating a secure, independent backup of your critical software environment. In the event of provider failure or disruption, we enable continued access to essential systems and data. Our process includes regular updates, verification of vaulted IP, and secure storage, giving you confidence that you can maintain operations no matter what happens to your software vendor.
Who It’s For
ESCROWSURE is designed for any organisation that relies on third-party or internal custom software for critical operations. Whether you’re in finance, healthcare, manufacturing, or any other sector, if your business continuity depends on a vendor’s software, ESCROWSURE helps you reduce risk and stay in control. It’s especially relevant for business leaders, IT managers, and risk or compliance teams.
The Risks
How We Help
ESCROWSURE gives you a safety net, ensuring your business stays operational even if your software provider fails or developer disappears.
Services
ESCROWSURE provides escrow-backed assurance that reduces operational risk, ensures regulatory compliance, and strengthens business continuity, giving clients confidence in their technology and helping vendors build credibility and win competitive, high-stakes contracts.
Source Code Escrow
Source code escrow protects businesses by ensuring access to essential software if the vendor fails. Verified code and documentation are securely deposited and released upon agreed triggers, enabling uninterrupted operations and compliance with IT governance and continuity standards.
SaaS Escrow
SaaS escrow caters for both single tenancy and multi-tenancy environments – access to the live instance or a mirrored environment. If the provider fails, clients can independently operate the application, maintaining uninterrupted service. It addresses complex risks inherent in cloud-based platforms.
Built for Business-Critical Continuity
Financial Services & Insurance
Safeguard regulatory compliance and operational continuity.
Escrow solutions protect mission-critical banking, investment, and insurance systems from vendor failure, aligning with Joint Standards and cybersecurity pro-activeness while ensuring uninterrupted service delivery and software audit readiness.
Healthcare & Pharma
Protect patient care and clinical systems.
Ensure continuity of emergency management systems, lab systems, financial management software and system integrators. Our escrow solutions help healthcare providers and pharma with third-party risk mitigation for business-critical systems.
Government & Public Sector
Maintain public service delivery and digital resilience.
Escrow helps the South African government and public sector by ensuring that critical digital infrastructure, such as citizen databases, licensing systems, tax platforms, and service delivery applications, remains operational even if a software vendor fails, is acquired, or cannot maintain the system.
Renewable Energy & Transport
Safeguarding critical infrastructure, models, and control systems from vendor risk.
Escrow ensures continued access to essential technologies such as grid management software, wind farm financial models, transport logistics platforms, and control system blueprints, protecting infrastructure investments and ensuring operational continuity across energy and mobility sectors.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if the software vendor goes out of business or stops supporting the software?
When a software vendor fails, whether due to insolvency, acquisition, or discontinuing support, it can cause immediate operational disruption. ESCROWSURE protects your business continuity by placing the software’s source code, documentation, and relevant system components into escrow.
If a predefined “trigger event” occurs, such as vendor failure or contract breach, ESCROWSURE initiates a legal and technical process to release the materials to you. This allows your internal IT team or external partners to maintain, support, or migrate the system without relying on the original vendor.
The continuity of service, data access, and integration with your business processes remains intact. This avoids costly downtime, regulatory penalties, and reputational damage. Without escrow, recovering mission-critical systems can take months or even years. ESCROWSURE ensures you stay in control of the technology your business depends on, regardless of what happens to the vendor.
What happens if the software vendor goes out of business or stops supporting the software?
When a software vendor fails, whether due to insolvency, acquisition, or discontinuing support, it can cause immediate operational disruption. ESCROWSURE protects your business continuity by placing the software’s source code, documentation, and relevant system components into escrow.
If a predefined “trigger event” occurs, such as vendor failure or contract breach, ESCROWSURE initiates a legal and technical process to release the materials to you. This allows your internal IT team or external partners to maintain, support, or migrate the system without relying on the original vendor.
The continuity of service, data access, and integration with your business processes remains intact. This avoids costly downtime, regulatory penalties, and reputational damage. Without escrow, recovering mission-critical systems can take months or even years. ESCROWSURE ensures you stay in control of the technology your business depends on, regardless of what happens to the vendor.
What happens if the software vendor goes out of business or stops supporting the software?
If a predefined “trigger event” occurs, such as vendor failure or contract breach, ESCROWSURE initiates a legal and technical process to release the materials to you. This allows your internal IT team or external partners to maintain, support, or migrate the system without relying on the original vendor.
The continuity of service, data access, and integration with your business processes remains intact. This avoids costly downtime, regulatory penalties, and reputational damage. Without escrow, recovering mission-critical systems can take months or even years. ESCROWSURE ensures you stay in control of the technology your business depends on, regardless of what happens to the vendor.
How do we know that the source code in escrow will actually work when we need it?
Business continuity depends not only on having access to source code, but also on knowing that it is usable and complete. ESCROWSURE addresses this through rigorous verification services. Our team audits the escrow deposit to ensure it contains all required materials—source code, development tools, libraries, documentation, and configuration files. We go further by compiling and rebuilding the software in a controlled environment to ensure it functions exactly as it does in production. This process validates that you can recover and run the system without vendor involvement if a release is triggered. A verified escrow provides real continuity, not just theoretical protection. Many businesses also opt for periodic ongoing-verification to align the escrow with software updates. This gives assurance that your continuity plan will succeed in practice, not just on paper. Without verification, you risk discovering critical gaps only when it’s too late to act.
We use SaaS applications. How does escrow work when nothing is installed on-premises?
In SaaS environments, business continuity risk increases because software, data, and infrastructure are all controlled by the vendor. If the provider fails or access is lost, your business could grind to a halt. ESCROWSURE’s SaaS Escrow solution creates a user-specific “Continuity Suite,” which either provides existing access or mirrors your live SaaS environment. This suite includes the application code, infrastructure architecture, login credentials, data backups, DevOps configurations, and hosting documentation.
If a trigger event occurs, the Continuity Suite can be activated to restore your SaaS operations independently of the original provider. This ensures minimal disruption and preserves business continuity, even in a cloud-native setup. You retain control over essential workflows, customer interactions, and compliance obligations. With no escrow, you risk losing access to mission-critical systems without warning. ESCROWSURE transforms SaaS risk into a manageable and actionable continuity strategy, tailored to modern digital operations.
We use SaaS applications. How does escrow work when nothing is installed on-premises?
If a trigger event occurs, the Continuity Suite can be activated to restore your SaaS operations independently of the original provider. This ensures minimal disruption and preserves business continuity, even in a cloud-native setup. You retain control over essential workflows, customer interactions, and compliance obligations. With no escrow, you risk losing access to mission-critical systems without warning. ESCROWSURE transforms SaaS risk into a manageable and actionable continuity strategy, tailored to modern digital operations.
How does software escrow help us meet regulatory or audit requirements?
Regulatory frameworks increasingly require demonstrable business continuity and IT resilience plans, especially in finance, healthcare, and government. ESCROWSURE’’s software escrow aligns directly with these mandates. For instance, South Africa’s Joint Standard 1 of 2023 on IT Governance and Risk Management, and Joint Standard 2 of 2024 on Cybersecurity & Cyber Resilience, both emphasize continuity in the face of vendor disruption.
A verified escrow arrangement shows that your organization has taken concrete steps to protect critical systems from third-party failure. During audits, presenting an active escrow agreement and verification reports demonstrates risk mitigation, control readiness, and operational resilience. Escrow not only satisfies compliance checklists but also builds confidence with regulators, boards, and clients. More than a legal formality, it ensures your business stays functional when vendor support disappears. Without escrow, regulatory exposure and business interruption risks can escalate rapidly in the event of a system failure or vendor insolvency.