As a software developer there are times when your client may request for you to implement a software escrow agreement. Software escrow is essentially an insurance policy for the beneficiary of any type of licensed software application or SaaS service.
Under a software escrow arrangement, if the developer is unable or unwilling to support the application, the beneficiary has the ability to request a copy of the source code and associated documentation from the software escrow vendor.
With any software escrow agreement, the developer is required to deposit the source code of the application on an agreed frequency. The traditional methodology for source code deposits has been either on physical media or via an upload to a FTP site.
Most developers today use GitHub as a repository for their source code management and deployment. It is only natural that the next step is to integrate the software escrow deposit to be part of this framework. This methodology for depositing code has many advantages for both the developer and the beneficiary.
Depositing your code automatically directly from GitHub removes the burden of you having to make manual deposits via FTP or burning a physical deposit. The process is automated and once setup does not involve any day to day management by you, the developer.
The escrow deposit process becomes part of your live source code management eco-system. This also provides you with an additional backup of your code.
The code deposited will always be up to date and the most recent version. This will provide your clients with additional comfort and peace of mind.
Escrow London were one of the first source code escrow vendors to integrate automated deposits from Bitbucket in 2017. Today they continue to innovate the software escrow industry on a global scale. The Escrow London 2nd generation Git collector service supports most git platforms including Bitbucket, GitHub, GitLab, Azure Devops, SourceForge and others.
Escrow London receives terabytes of source code each day from our client repos based in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and many other countries around the world.
As many of the incumbent software escrow vendors are still insisting on manual deposits, software developers are seeking alternatives that integrate into their modern software development cycle. A new client of Escrow London recently commented “I’d rather not work with a software escrow vendor that required us to transcribe our source code on to parchment with a quill.”
To learn more about Escrow London and their automated deposit service visit www.escrowlondon.com
