An Escrow in common Parlance

The legal concept of escrow derives from the old French word for parchment.

Deeds (usually securities or bonds) were signed, sealed and entrusted to an independent third party to hold ‘in escrow’ and deliver when certain conditions were fulfilled.

While this form of escrow still exists, the advent of the paperless age has markedly reduced its usefulness.

In the modern business world, however, increasing reliance on digital technology has prompted radical changes in business risk profiles, and the emergence of software escrow as a valuable protective measure.

For many businesses, even a short-term loss or failure of mission-critical software applications could be disastrous and its repercussions far-reaching.