How does software affect your business?
Today, most people use software in their day-to-day activities. From office workers to digital artists, computers are everywhere and the key pieces of software we need to operate on a daily basis are becoming more and more important.
With that in mind, have you ever considered how much software affects your business? To put it another way, have you considered how much it would damage you if it wasn’t there tomorrow? A loss in productivity inevitably leads to a loss in profits further down the line, so this is an area many will want to pay attention to. Whether you’re a fresh start-up company or a corporate giant, you still depend on software to thrive.
Out of your control
The main risk with software is the fact that, unless you’re using a programme of your own design, you’re likely under a Software as a Service, or SaaS, agreement. SaaS is defined, according to Gartner, as being used for subscription based software, although similar clauses can be found in pre-purchased software. This is the end user agreement you sign up for when installing the product and is the reason you only own a license. Even if you have a CD or physical copy, it is still nothing more than permission to access another company’s property.
As a result you can’t fix or maintain your program. If this is something you use for work, it means your ability to create or be productive is only viable so long as the other company provides a working product under the SaaS agreement. From a purely business perspective, this creates a large risk.
Improving your side of the bargain
Fortunately, there are ways to improve this situation for the better. Unless you make your own software, the easiest of these is to take measures to insure the software provider maintains their end of the agreement. Since they do not want the source code getting into other hands, you should consider the benefits of software escrow services.
By placing the code in escrow, you have three main benefits. The first of which is a quicker resolution should something go wrong, as the agency has the legal power to give you access should the SaaS agreement be broken by the provider. Secondly, it acts as a display of trust and ensures the software owner’s commitment and, thirdly, the agency can also verify the code before you access it as well. To learn about software escrow in greater detail, you can find out more here.