What it means
Escrow can support continuity when a critical supplier fails, stops support, breaches contract, or can no longer maintain a product, but only if deposited materials are current and usable.
Why it matters
For highly dependent organizations, escrow can reduce supplier concentration risk when replacement or migration cannot occur quickly.
Practical focus
- Define precise release conditions and rights
- Specify required source, dependencies, documentation, and build materials
- Verify deposits regularly
- Test whether released materials can produce a usable system
Common mistakes
- Escrowing source without build dependencies
- Never validating the deposit
- Assuming escrow grants broad intellectual-property rights
- Using escrow instead of a realistic continuity plan
Certification relevance
This subject appears in or supports the following certification bodies of knowledge: