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Escrow Solutions for AWS Hosted Applications
The Escrow Company is leading the way in creating innovative AWS Escrow solutions that provide actual, ‘real-time’ business continuity in the event of a release. The Escrow Company maintains a team of AWS certified solution architects who have intimate knowledge of AWS services and are experts in creating replicated AWS environments for recovery. The Replicated SaaS Continuity solutions provide the Beneficiary with the assurance that in the event of a release, The Escrow Company will be on hand to keep the lights on and provide a continuity of service for a period of up to 90 days.
Software Escrow in Action
Case Studies
The AWS Escrow Solution For An Application Hosted Within AWS Would Typically Include All Or Some Of The Following Components:
Source Code Deposits
Source code of the SaaS application may be deposited manually or automatically directly from the SaaS vendor’s Git repository (GitHub, Bitbucket, GitLab, Azure DevOps and more).
Vendor Financial Monitoring
Vendor Financial Monitoring will provide the Beneficiary with a pre-emptive alert if there appears to be any payment irregularities within AWS. This would allow for The Escrow Company to step in and make payments to AWS.
CloudFormation
An AWS CloudFormation template deposited in escrow allows for the rapid deployment of an AWS environment. CloudFormation allows the SaaS vendor to model their entire infrastructure in a text file.
Environment Replication
The Escrow Company provides the option to maintain a dedicated AWS account that contains a working replicated environment of the SaaS vendor. This would provide the Beneficiary with an immediate continuity solution in the event of a “lights out” scenario.
Database Replication
For SaaS vendors using Amazon RDS for their database instances, The Escrow Company is able to provision a dedicated AWS account that contains the replicated RDS database instances for each Beneficiary. Vendors also have the opportunity to deposit database backups or snapshots to The Escrow Company on a scheduled basis.
Access Credentials
Under the SaaS Access Continuity service, the SaaS vendor is required to deposit and update the access credentials on a quarterly basis or more frequently if required. These credentials will allow full access to the AWS console and the production environment.
Verification for SaaS Services
The Escrow Company offers a range of Verification services to provide comfort to the Beneficiary of the usability of the escrow in the event of a release. Our Verification services for applications hosted within AWS include:
- Comprehensive Build Verification – Full test of the deposited source code to ensure that it can be re-built into a working application. One of our experienced developers oversees the build process at the developers site to ensure that all the files and documentation required to compile the system are included within the escrow deposit.
- SaaS Verification – This test is performed to simulate a release condition of a SaaS environment. During this process our technical consultant documents the process to deploy the application and database into AWS. If possible a deposit of a CloudFormation template will be included within the scope of this verification.
- SaaS Release Verification – This test is performed to simulate a release condition of a SaaS environment. This process is to ensure that the application is functioning, and that the data is accessible by the end user.
- Access Credentials Verification – Full test conducted on a quarterly basis to ensure that the AWS accounts are accessible using the deposited access credentials. A report will be produced following each test. Both parties will be alerted should The Escrow Company be unable to access the individual instances with the supplied credentials.
What happens in the event of a release?
In the event of a release situation, there are several options available to the beneficiary to ensure business continuity:
- The Escrow Company will transfer the AWS account and access credentials over to the beneficiary.
- The AWS instances under the management of The Escrow Company will be placed into a live state and logon access credentials will be provided to the beneficiary. This option allows the beneficiary to continue to work on the platform for an interim period until a replacement solution is found.
- Access credentials to the production environment are transferred over to the beneficiary to continue to support the SaaS hosted system.
SaaS Financial Alerts
In addition to the SaaS Escrow service, we offer a Financial Alert Monitoring service to ensure that the SaaS vendor is up to date with their vendor payments to AWS. The Escrow Company will be assigned various billing permissions allowing The Escrow Company to step in and make payments on behalf of the Beneficiary. More information can be found here.
AWS CloudFormation
AWS CloudFormation templates deposited in escrow can greatly assist in the speed of recovery in the event of a release situation. To learn more about AWS CloudFormation watch the video.
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- Automate deposits directly from Git such as GitHub, Bitbucket etc
- Expert in Saas Continuity within AWS, Azure and GCP
- Global footprint with offices in London (HQ) UK, Atlanta, USA, and Sydney, Australia