All organisations face risks that can disrupt operations. Most of the time, these are managed with prevention in mind. However, no risk management plan is fool proof. Operational resilience is about recognising that disruption is inevitable and making sure the business can continue when it happens. Hope for the best, plan for the worst, and safeguard what’s critical.
Industries like healthcare, finance, and technology are especially exposed. Their systems are deeply connected, and the cost of downtime is high. Operational resilience provides the structure to keep essential services running, even when things go wrong. It’s about staying functional, responsive, and in control under pressure.
Regulators have taken notice. In the UK, the PRA’s operational resilience rules require financial firms to identify key business services, define how much disruption they can tolerate, and build continuity into their systems. As reliance on digital infrastructure grows, meeting these expectations is no longer optional, it’s essential.
“Working with Escode was easy, the team understood the importance of The Regional Nomination Platform to both the organisation and our strategic partners. Escode’s EaaS solution fitted our needs, the unique application and our business continuity plan”.
Andy Earnshaw
Senior Commercial Analyst at National Grid
There are ample upsides to an operational resilience framework. As we’ve already outlined, the primary perk is that essential services get delivered uninterrupted, even if disruptions hit home. Since customer trust and company reputation can crumble with even the smallest hiccup in service delivery, it’s a process that preserves these valuable assets as well.
There are 5 pillars of operational resilience, and being capable of accessing mission-critical software assets is among them. This factors in everything from the databases and docs relating to important programs to the source code itself. Rather than leaving it to chance, companies can guarantee this access with Software Escrow services. Keeping the materials you need for continuity securely stored with an independent third-party means that even if outages occur or vendors face problems, they can be recovered.
Software Escrow Verification and testing services are a way to bolster recovery plans from top to tail. You’ll have peace of mind knowing that the software assets that are kept in escrow are comprehensive, representative of what’s already in place, and deployable at a moment’s notice when disaster comes knocking.
No organisation is an island, and it’s often that reliance on third-party software and data that becomes the most worrying weakness. So, in addition to improving internal system resilience, Software Escrow minimises exposure to single vendor failure and other forms of supply chain disruption. Third-party suppliers can fail, be bought out, suffer sudden insolvency, or withdraw their products from the market. Operational resilience will not falter in any of these contexts when software escrow is used as a hedge against them.
Operational resilience regulatory requirements outlined by the likes of the PRA, FFIEC, DORA and APRA cannot be brushed under the carpet. There’s no escaping the need to pinpoint those all-important services that guarantee continuity and deflect the ramifications of disruption, whatever form they take. Escrow solutions ride to the rescue here, with their practical benefits going hand in hand with their regulatory advantages. Software Escrow Agreements demonstrate to regulators that a company can quickly access software source code and data assets no matter what. Keeping on the right side of continuity planning requirements is no longer an intimidating obstacle.
Disruption to critical services can occur for many reasons, including human error, hardware failures, vendor failure, vendor acquisition, or the ending of support for core assets. Software Escrow is a recommended solution for effectively managing and mitigating these risks. This includes providing solutions suited to cloud-based apps and even hybrid environments, which are widely used and growing in popularity. The idea is that organizations are amply prepared to fend off threats from all corners, doing so flexibly and leaving no stone unturned. In the event of an incident, a tailored approach is a must if downtime is to be minimized meaningfully.
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If a vendor fails, you can take control. A Software Escrow Agreement strengthens operational resilience by guaranteeing access to the source code, data, and materials required to maintain continuity. Learn more.
Having a business continuity plan isn’t enough, you need to know it works. Software Escrow Verification enables you to test your plan and provides documentation for audits, training, and compliance. Learn more.
If your vendor goes down, you don’t have to. SaaS Escrow strengthens operational resilience by securing the code, data, configurations, credentials, and environments needed to restore your application. Learn more.
Get in touch to learn how software escrow can strengthen operational resilience.
