Escrow agreement is a legal process adapted to minimize a supplier dependency risk in industrial and technical information system sectors.
Escrow Agreement setting up, combine with a technical checking of the software or system, bring the guarantee of a long term availability and continuity needed by the beneficiary and its users, assuring the respect of the depositor Intellectual Property (IP).
The three-party agreement (3P)
A three-party agreement (or 3P agreement) commits three stakeholders : the depositor (supplier), the beneficiary (customer/user) and the escrow agent – Continew in this case.
The main benefit in this agreement is that it defines in detail the process, roles and responsibilities between each party. It’s a really usefull solution for supplier who need to commit high level of only one customer continuity requirement.
The two-party agreement (2P)
A two-party agreement commit only two stakeholders : the depositor (supplier) and the escrow agent as Continew.
The main benefit in this agreement is that it permits to make easier the evolution of a beneficiary list, without the establishment of a new specific agreement for each new customer.
The beneficiary of an Escrow Agreement needs the guarantee that everything gets in the deposit permit the business continuity, like the software rebuild, the remanufacturing of the system or equipment concerned by a supplier default (depositor). If the beneficiary wants sometimes to self-checked the deposit components, he often wants to make-to the verification by a third-party, for non-disclosure and independency.
Level 1 : Deposit only
Contractual requirements for continuity are covered by a deposit in a legal service as attorney, bailiff or specialized agent like Continew. This deposit would not guarantee for the customer the access of a verified and updated deposit.
Level 2 : Escrow Agreement
The Escrow Agreement is different from the deposit only because it answers a contractual requirement which is the guarantee for the beneficiary to access the deposit in case of a supplier default.
Level 3 : Escrow agreement + Verified deposit
A full verification of the completeness of technical documentation, sources and manufacturing folders is made before the validation of the Verified Escrow Agreement. When Continew team confirms the completeness, the customer has the best guarantee for its products and its own business continuity.
Continew provides to its customers these three levels agreements.
The digital and software escrow agreement bring easy and fully solution to satisfy customer’s continuity requirements.