european air transport
An Escrow Solution is the holding of business-critical material by an independent third-party. To protect software application source code, a Software Escrow Solution involves the holding of source code and associated technical information and documentation, ensuring that if the software supplier's business should fail or they are unable to maintain their contractual obligations, it can be accessed by the user and released safely and quickly.
For the supplier, working proactively with their clients and an independent Escrow provider such as NCC Group to protect their clients' applications under an Escrow Solution demonstrates their commitment to best practice and building long term client relationships. Placing applications into Escrow proves to the client that the supplier has confidence in their business, their software and has the ability to supply and maintain that software in the future.
With 683 computer services companies going out of business in 2004 alone (source: DTI), Escrow cover is essential for all organisations that depend on software applications to deliver services to their customers.
One such organisation is European Air Transport (EAT). EAT, based in Brussels, Belgium, is a Belgian Airline licensed to fly scheduled and unscheduled cargo and passenger flights all over the world. The company provides commercial air transport in Europe and Africa, mainly for DHL Worldwide Express.
In 2001, EAT implemented a maintenance and engineering management system (TRAX Maintenance) in order to manage its aircraft maintenance and supply chain more effectively. The supplier, TRAX Software, provides business-critical software applications to some of the world's largest airlines and had worked with NCC Group since 2000 to arrange Escrow protection for it's clients and therefore recommended that provision for Escrow was specified in the purchase contract.
Since arranging Escrow cover with NCC Group in 2001, EAT had undergone a review of its business continuity arrangements and in early 2005 took the decision to increase its level of protection by commissioning NCC Group to conduct rigorous 'Full Verification' testing of the TRAX application source code.
Full Verification testing is a process where the source code is actually re-built into the user's software application, requiring the full co-operation of the supplier to ensure all relevant components, scripts and source code are present. The entire build process is audited and recorded within the resulting Full Verification report which would be used by the client to build and maintain the application should it ever become necessary for the source code to be released under the terms of the Escrow agreement.
Although basic Escrow Solutions do provide a basic level of testing, only by undertaking comprehensive testing can a client be absolutely sure that the protected source code is correct and complete and can be re-built into their application.
Brian Luther, TRAX Project Manager at EAT commented; " Our business continuity strategy now specifies that all applications which are fundamental to the operation of our business must be protected under Escrow and the additional testing process and resulting comprehensive documentation assures me that, should we need to, we can gain access to the source code and carry on as normal. "
NCC Group is the UK's leading independent IT assurance company, providing Escrow Solutions as a core part of its business. It has over 11,000 individual customer contracts and assures over £250 million of software applications. Its Escrow Solutions cover both software and information such as product design and industrial formulae.
Contact our dedicated account management team today on +44 (0)161 209 5324 or by e-mail at escrow@nccgroup.com to discuss your specific requirements.