Tuesday's Tip: Now's The Time To Consider SaaS Software Escrows

June 1, 2009


With 2009 rapidly becoming the "Year of SaaS" and the tipping point for Cloud Computing, it's hard not to notice the growing number of SaaS start ups (along with the legacy application vendors rushing to provide an "On-Demand", but not really multi-tenant deployment option).  My snarky SaaS bigotry aside, we can expect hybrid deployment options to be here to stay.  As with the early days of on-premise packaged apps, we have to ask the question, "What to do about the risk in working with fly-by-night SaaS vendors who might not be around in 2011?"  In fact, this was an interesting part of the panel disucssion at the "Honeymoon and Divorce: Changing SaaS Providers" session at Interop with Jerry Smith (CTO of Symphony Services) , Michael Topalovich, (CTO of Delivered Innovation), and Rick Nucci (CTO of Boomi).
SaaS escrows provide a key safety net for the SaaS users

End users often demand software escrows in the on-premise world when they are concerned about vendor viability, takeover threats, and other related breaches to performance or service level agreements. Software escrows vendors serve as the trusted third party independent organization which holds a copy of the software code.  This often includes user data, source code, documentation and any application executables.  For SaaS escrows, expect a few unique distinctions such as:

  • More frequent intervals of version updates, almost similar to live data backups.
  • Hot backups that the end user can immediately and legally swap to the escrow version without business disruption
  • Requirements for SaaS vendors to provide detailed software configuration management and data management

The bottom line - SaaS code is rented so protect yourself

With no access to the code or application when a SaaS vendor goes bankrupt or fails to meet performance requirements, now's the time to ask your SaaS provider if they provide a SaaS software escrow.  This should be included in all criteria during SaaS vendor selection.  Those who provide SaaS escrow deliver an additional benefit - peace of mind that data will be doubly backed up both by the vendor and the software escrow company.

Companies providing SaaS Escrow Services

Here's a list of a few vendors in the market.  They have not been rated or reference checked so caveat emptor.  If you provide SaaS escrow services and weren't listed, feel free to add a comment to the post.

For more about how to shape your apps strategy to include SaaS, read the Forrester Report found here.
Your POV
Have you worried about whether your SaaS vendor will be around in 2011?  Did you successfully enter into a SaaS Escrow agreement?  Considering a SaaS Escrow?  Send me a private email to rwang0 at gmail dot com.  Posts are preferred!   Thanks and looking forward to your POV!
Copyright © 2009 R Wang. All rights reserved.

Cupertino Ray Wang Ray R Wang Amitive Community Centric SaaS supply chain Monday's Musings activity feeds Activity streams feeds social feeds social streams Aneel Bhusri Cloud cloud computing disruptive disruptive technologies disruptive technology Executive Profiles R "Ray" Wang; rwang0 Software Insider SoftwareInsider Thursday's Tech Showcase WorkDay BunchBall Constellation Research enterprise applications enterprise apps Enterprise Software Forbes Gamification Rajat Paharia SCRM Social Business social business software social enterprise social enterprise apps social technologies BrandWatch IBM Lotus iToilet LeWeb Loic Le Meur mobile Myzeo Seesmic Social CRM Yammer Zendesk application development application extension and usability Apps Strategy Box Box.net CIO cloud integration Cloud options Cloud Wars CoIT collaboration collaboration software Consumerization of IT emerging technologies Enterprise 2.0 Enterprise apps strategy Enterprise Business Apps Enterprise Business Apps Vendors enterprise class enterprise collaboration Microsoft online services vendor event Forrester Teleconference Jam Sessions vendor management 2009 analyst event Colorado Inside Intelligence SAS Insitute Steamboat Grand Steamboat Springs AI driven smart services #FFCommLive19 2019 accounting AI artificial intelligence best practices business transformation C-Suite CDO CEO cfo Chief Data Officer Chief Digital Officer Chief Executive Officer Chief Financial Officer Chief Information Officer Chief Information Security Officer Chief Innovation Officer Chief Procurement Officer Chief Revenue Officer Chief Sales Officer Chief Security Officer Chief Service Officer Chief Technology Officer Cloud ERP COO CTO Dan Brown data driven data driven digital network Data to Decisions Data2Decisions Digital Business Digital Disruption digital strategy digital transformation DigitalBiz digitaltransformation Enteprise Resource Planning Enterprise Enterprise Resource Planning ERP event report finance financial apps FinancialForce inventory management leadership News Analysis order management public cloud retail revenue recognition service billing subscription billing subscription revenues Tod Nielsen vendor strategy #digital 2020 acquisition acquisitions ambient experience ambient experiences B2C B2C E-commerce British Columbia Business continuity planning Change Agents Chief Customer Officer Chief Marketing Officer Cloud push CMO Commerce Commerce Cloud contactless commerce COVID-19 crowdsourcing customer experience Digital acceleration digital commerce digital monetization Digitize channels direct to consumer direct to consumer. pricing optimization disruptive business models Diversify supply chains dynamic feedback loops e-commerce event driven architectures events headless commerce marketing automation Matrix Commerce Mental health support mergers mergers and acquisitions microservices mobify open vs closed Perception and communications Personalization personalization at scale Salesforce Commere Cloud SalesForce.com Vancouver Apple Friday's Feature IFS iPod ue ui usability user experience user interaction ux dashboard environmental sustainability Microsoft Business Solutions Microsoft Dynamics AX Microsoft Dynamics NAV snapshots Contract Negotiations contract strategy IT Strategy license fees license policy maintenance fees Oracle PeopleSoft SAP Siebel software contract reviews software licensing software licesing and pricing software pricing baan Great Plains JD Edwards Lawson Software Lawson IBM IT Services IT services firms management consulting non-compete Price Waterhouse Coopers PWC system integrator 2008 Convergence Dynamics Project Green vendor events design phase governance implementation long term apps strategy OP=Q+R+S+T pmo program management CDC Software Epicor Financials JDA Software NetSuite Q1 QAD Quarterly Financial Tracker RightNow order management hubs Perfect Order Infor Trends vendor financing John Ragsdale reality check sales reps sales strategies Maintenance Hike software licensing and pricing software vendors stupid idea ISV's solution centric ecosystems Concur Deltek Quarterly Revenues middleware platforms PaaS cdi customer data integration Customer Hubs intiate scottsdale customer summit iGate indian data warehouse las vegas teradata Vendor Selection Customer Feedback Forrester Hike Maintenance UK and Ireland SAP Users Group UK bridgewater nj Siperian financial crisis hp intel sun long term apps strategies shelf ware Tuesday's Tip promotions Wednesday's Whispers initiate systems master data management MDM deployment options economic uncertainty economic recession packaged apps project portfolio shared services strategy vendor rationalization ppm primavera projectd based solutions Boston MA Progress Software Customer References Vendor Supplied Customer References consona mgm grand hotel palazzo sands expo venetitan smb ibm software group information management mandalay bay crm; san francisco Conference End User SAP User Groups UK and Ireland Atos Origin Compiere Deloitte Eisenberg Analyst Relations Infovide-Matrix job moves Motally TechTarget whispers credibility customer vendor contract economic downturn monday musings relationship management relationships trust vendor - client vendor - customer BPCs customer conference erp LN erp LX inforum Jim Schaper SyteLine vendors Implementation strategy Seven Habits Stephen R. Covey apps strategies CGI consortia blue wolf boomi cast iron systems informatica integration pervasive snap logic the "I" word business optimization IBM Cognos IBM Data Management IBM ECM Information Agenda Information On Demand InfoSphere recession proofing arhictecture construction foresight 2008 professional services project based solutions speaking engagement hcl orlando denver sage software Ariba Computer Associates Epicor Software i2 iLOG Intuit Taleo CODA force.com Glovia SFDC role of user groups SUGEN user groups users sourcing Amdocs Cegedim-Dendrite Cymfony Inc. Dun & Bradstreet Element Consulting Group Fujitsu Consulting IHS Infosys Technologies Ltd. Primavera Systems SITA Corp Sparta Consulting Inc. Tableau Software Tata Consulting Services Ternary Software Wipro Zuoro Forrester Research John R. Rymer Paul D. Hamerman Research Summary Emerging IT Services Nasscom Software Ecosystems Predictions Vendor Bangalore India Mumbai Trip Report Service providers Solution providers ecosystems Third Party Maintenance 3rd party maintenance BPO business process outsourcing business process transformation market social media Citigroup Citigroup MyFi PBS Tenrox bill of rights Forrester Wave procurement software ownership lifecycle business process end to end Manhattan Associates opportunity to order capture Oracle E-Business Suite order capture to order fulfillment order completion to cash order fulfillment to order completion order hubs SCM sterling commerce The Forrester WaveTM open text CA CUE San Diego Batenborch International CIO Magazine CMP Media Ernst and Young Heidrick and Strugglees Hewitt Associates IDG IDG Japan Jeff Abbott Jun Kawahara Kaj van de Loo Kennedy Consulting Research and Advisory Kevin Maddock Kyung Yoon Market-4-Business Nadina Talukdar NetApp nVidia Reed Elsevier Renee Boucher Ferguson rimini street sina.com SST Talent Age Associates lessons learned open source WordPress Satyam scandals customer relationship management customer service Esteban Kolsky proactive service Louisiana New Orleans New Orleans Convention Center Engage Exact Software Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center nashville Tennessee Customer Connection 2009 San Antonio TX COLLABORATE Florida IOUG OAUG Orange County Convention Center Quest user event IT Forum Nevada The Palazzo Berlin EMEA Germany GSI Commerce order to cash analyst relations industry analyst influencer relations Bloom & Wallace HCM HR human capital management human resources Jason Averbook Knowledge Infusion Naomi Bloom DataFlux Purisma #BS7 Acresso Business Suite GuiXT Hayes Technology IBM Optim IntelliCorp product release SAP Business Suite 7 VMWare West Trax anti-trust enterprise aps Tue insights TN Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center ASUG SAPPHIRE channels Partner Conference Worldwide agresso Unit4 Agresso Alchemy Business Acceleration Arnold Rueegg Ceridian Eastwick Communications Emirates Airlines Enfo Eric Lundquist First Flight Placements Gartner Invest George Klaus Hurwitz Group International Data Group META Group Motasim Najeeb Ortelius Management AB Pegasus Customer Marketing People Whispers Sage Group Softscape T Systems Trade Beam Axon upgrades Vijay Deep AlertSite Benjamin Wan Bnet Booz Allen & Hamilton Cisco Click Commerce David Boulanger DTECH Labs Eloqua Eric Chow Fred McClimans Gartner Group Gerson Lehrman Group Gladson Interactive Gray & Company Lobbyist IONA Technologies Jessica Hood KLA-Tencor Mercury Tax Service Michael Hickins Mohammed Ghadyali Nigel Alcock Oliver Claude Peter Quinn Rob Enselin Rob Lloyd Robert C. Cresanti Robert McNeill Sandeep Kumar Sarah Reed Saugatuck Technology SPSS Steve Cole Thanh Huynh TheBroth Tom Rubenak TPI University of San Francisco Vignette Epicor 9 Epicor Everywhere adrianionel amolbharti charlesrathnam cost reduction David_j_rutt thetravellingCMO Twitter VITA Bruce Milne Hyperformix customer acquisition customer acquisition costs customer loyalty efm enterprise feedback management Esteban loyalty net promoter score NPS Voice of the Customer Activant Aggresso Cincom IBS Software Microsoft Dynamics SII SoftBrands Software Insider Index Top 30 Top 5 SaaS Business Apps Vendors Poll software licensee bill of rights Microsoft Office Microsoft Windows Presentation Foundation Smart Office It's the relationship It's the relationship stupid! management strategy stupid! support XRM capacity planning analyst strategy Delivered Innovation interop interop 2009 Jerry Smith Michael Topalovich Rick Nucci Symphony Services Actuate Corporation Alan Bowling Allison Guidette Aloke Ghosh Amazon Angus Thomson Anita Rao Application Partners L.L.C. Attachmate Bear Stearns. BearingPoint Bill Geist Blink Logic Cambridge Technology Partners Chloe Stromberg Chris Townsend Ciber comScore Corporate Executive Baord Fine Solutions Fox Interactive Media Garage Technology Ventures GMI Headstrong i-Nova Software Inc. Indu Khattar Jamcracker Joel Rosenberger Kineticsware Martini Medial Network Matt Pawl Merrill Corporation Merrill Lynch Michael Sotnick Mike Thoma Norman Liang Northern Foods One Technologies Ovum Peter Graf Photo Bucket Richard Barnett Rick Reidy Scientific Atlanta Symantec Systime Tesoro Thomson Reuters Thomson West Tom Kucharvy Training and Development Agency for Schools TripJane UK and Ireland Users Group University of Michigan uTango Valero Energy Corporation Vinay Nair Visa Whittman-Hart Cleveland Red Cross Hitachi Consulting MIcrosoft Dynamics CRM Microsoft Dynamics GP Microsoft Dynamics SL Spinnaker data download data import data integration International Plaza Resort user group events Winshuttle Winshuttle User Group software trends solution centric ecosystem total account value Intacct QuickArrow Software as a Service 2009 Trends blogosphere Business Models Dale Vile Dennis Howlett Freeform Dynamics Limited James Governor Michael Krigsman Quips RedMonk ZD Net custom development Sun Microsystems Dean Hager Harry Debes Lawson Global Users Group Eshbel Eshbel Priority Priority 13 WPF Business Suite 7 Alp Hug AMR Research Astadia Augeo Software BMC Brian Shelver Bronwyn J. Allen Business Standard Cartesis CDI College Chayson Comfort ClairMail Clark Newby Cognizant Connectria Cydcor Delano Technology DeVry University Doug Merritt Eduardo Sanchez Enable Path Eric Steele ESI Eventbrite Fujitsu America Gartner Gemplus Giga Group Hannah Young Hummingbird Ltd. i2 Technologies Icarian Indian Express Infor Global Solutions GmbH Jason Gatoff Jim Bork Joel Wecksell Jonathan Bennett Kintana KPA LLC M-Factor Mercury Interactive Michael Pietrini MIcroStrategy Mike Frichol MIT Sloan School of Management Narayan Iyer NCR O.C. Tanner Opinion Research Corporation International Patric Timmermans PECO Energy Company Peter Daffern Pilot Software PolyServe Pursima Rob Howe Scott Azzolina Seagate Sean Cantelon Shivani Shinde Sloan School of Management (MIT) Solsoft SSA Global Statera Stephane Carrez Tamara Mendelsohn The Skills Connection Times of India Unisys Veritude Vitria Waggener Edstrom David Rowe SAP Enterprise Support Seth Ravin hybrid deployments InnovaSafe Iron Mountain NCC Group OpSource SaaS escrow