Re: Software escrow

Actually, if the software is customized, $900/year is not all that bad a cost, 
but I would choose my own Escrow agent. A typical one
time cost for escrowed software is usually $20K and up, with a yearly cost for 
keeping the software archived and up to date.

-Paul

----- Original Message -----
From: "Reeve Fritchman" <reeve@ltl400.com>
To: <midrange-l@midrange.com>
Sent: Sunday, July 07, 2002 1:02 PM
Subject: RE: Software escrow


> Nothing's normal these days; people charge for some ridiculous "services".
> Only you can decide if $900/year is worth it.
>
> Questions:
>
> 1)  Why do you need the source in escrow?  Isn't the software company
> stable/reputable?  Are you making an infrastructure investment elsewhere
> (iSeries) to support the salesforce software?
> 2)  The same last name may or may not mean anything; it's worth finding out.
> I'd want a true arm's-length relationship between the law firm and software
> firm.
> 3)  If the last name is meaningful, I'd be more concerned with getting the
> source /out/ of escrow.
> 4)  Find out if your company's law firm, or an independent 3rd party firm,
> can hold the escrowed (I'm using it too, so we've made it a word) source.
> 5)  $900/year stinks.  $900 once would be okay; what are they going to do
> every year to earn the money?  Dust off the CD-ROM and hold it up to the
> light?
> 6)  Depending upon the size of the deal and company politics, face down the
> vendor and explain that this $900 fee is a deal-breaker not because of the
> money but because of how it was presented.
>
> The concept of escrow is neutrality.  I don't see much here.
>
> I've developed my own policy for handling "complete surprises": I walk (or
> throw the vendor's sorry ass) out the door.  Many vendors are hoping the
> emotional commitment to buying will prevail over surprise and annoyance;
> don't let it.  It's important to be reasonable and it's just as important to
> know when to draw the line.  You are the customer...which means little if
> you're buying commercial jets and nuthin' if you're buying a midrange server
> with an OS-resident database.
>
> If they're trying to screw you over at the initiation of the business
> relationship, can it get any better?
>
> Speaking as a vendor, we get surprises too: we disclose the price, do the
> legwork, price-qualify the customer, make a formal proposal, and then have
> the customer (with a big past-due balance) say, "Well, we can't afford
> $45,000; we can only afford $18,000."  You'd think we'd learn from the
> past-due balance...
>
> -reeve
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: midrange-l-admin@midrange.com [mailto:midrange-l-admin@midrange.com]On
> Behalf Of Jeff Crosby
> Sent: Sunday, July 07, 2002 9:56 AM
> To: midrange-l@midrange.com
> Subject: Software escrow
>
> We are looking at new salesforce automation software for our salesreps
> laptops.  I got the software license agreement paperwork and whatnot.  I
> was surprised to find that if we want the source code escrowed (is that
> a word?), we need to pay $900/year to this legal agency.  I pitched a
> bit of a fit because this was a complete surprise.  Their response was
> "Hey, it's optional so just don't do it."
>
> One of the names in the legal firm is the same last name as one of the
> principals in the software firm, so, being the cynic that I am, I just
> took it as a way to get more money into the family.
>
> My question is, is this normal to pay annually for software escrow?
>
> Thanks.
>
> -Jeff Crosby
> Dilgard Frozen Foods, Inc.
>
>
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