Service Details
Understand Your Open-Source Exposure
Open source accelerates development. It can also create hidden obligations.
Modern applications are rarely built entirely from proprietary code. Open-source software allows development teams to innovate faster, avoid rebuilding common functionality and bring products to market more efficiently.
However, as software grows and changes, organisations can lose visibility over which open-source elements have been incorporated, which licences may apply and what copyright or authorship information is present within the codebase.
This can create uncertainty during M&A, investment, supplier due diligence, customer procurement and internal governance reviews. The Escrow Company’s Open-Source Code Licensing Audit helps your organisation build a clearer picture of the software and the open-source licensing information discovered within it.
The benefits of an Open-Source Code Licensing Audit
Improve Software Transparency
Build a clearer understanding of the proprietary, open-source and third-party elements discovered within the assessed software.
Identify Licensing Information
Discover licence notices and other licensing information embedded across the codebase, giving your organisation a stronger basis for further review.
Strengthen M&A Due Diligence
Give buyers, investors and sellers greater visibility into software composition and open-source licensing before a technology transaction progresses.
Support Customer and Supplier Assurance
Respond more confidently when enterprise customers, procurement teams or other stakeholders request evidence about the software used within an application.
Strengthen Software Governance
Create a more reliable foundation for internal open-source policies, future reviews and ongoing management of software composition.
Service Details
What does an Open-Source Code Licensing Audit look for?
The audit examines the software for indicators that help explain what it contains, where code may have originated and which licensing information is associated with it.
- Software Composition: Visibility into the different elements discovered across the assessed software.
- Open-Source Code: Identification of open-source software and components found within the codebase.
- Licence Information: Discovery of licence notices, identifiers and other licensing information present in the software.
- Copyrights and Code Markers: Identification of copyright statements, standard headers and author tags found across the source code.
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Gain clarity before software risk becomes a commercial obstacle
The service can provide valuable insight whenever an organisation needs to understand or demonstrate the composition and provenance of important software, including:
- During technology mergers, acquisitions or investment due diligence
- Before acquiring or selling a software product or technology business
- When reviewing software developed by a supplier, contractor or outsourced development team
- When enterprise customers request greater transparency into software composition
- When establishing or strengthening internal open-source governance
- When historic development activity has made code ownership or licensing difficult to establish
Trusted by 1000'S of software developers and industry leaders alike
Service Details
Start with an SBOM. Add the licensing intelligence.
Every Open-Source Code Licensing Audit is carried out alongside The Escrow Company’s Software Bill of Materials service.
This is a key advantage of the assessment. The SBOM establishes a structured inventory of the components, libraries and dependencies contained within the application. The licensing audit then examines the wider codebase for all identifiable licences, some of which may include copyright information.
Together, the two services provide complementary layers of insight:
The SBOM shows what is inside the software.
The licensing audit provides greater visibility into the licensing information discovered around it.
This joined-up approach gives technical, legal and commercial teams a stronger evidence base than either a component inventory or isolated code review could provide on its own.
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- Detailed analysis of a codebase to identify quantum risk and potential cryptographic exposure areas.
- Meaningful list of recommended next steps.
- Global service with offices in London (HQ) UK, Atlanta, USA, and Sydney, Australia.