While contract or design documents, also in the form of drawings, used to be available in paper form, nowadays data carriers with digital versions of these documents are often handed over to the trustee, the escrow agent, for storage. Although this is already a first step towards digitization, it cannot be described as a fully digital solution. When choosing the right data carriers, many questions have to be answered correctly in order to be sure that they will work at all in the escrow case. This includes longevity, formats used, future availability of readers, and the likelihood that future operating systems will be backward compatible. Despite the digitized data, a secure, physical, often time-consuming transfer of the data carriers to the trustee is still necessary. Not every trustee has two, sufficiently separated locations to ensure that in the event of a site failure, e.B. due to fire, another copy is in stock in the escrow case.
Above all, these physical processes prevent a frequent update, as the beneficiaries should expect, and reduce the information stored with the trustee to a necessary minimum, although it also means more security for the supplier if additional information is stored, e.B. to be able to easily provide evidence for the protection of one's own intellectual property.
In an increasingly networked world, this form of escrow is outdated, and the progressive digitization of the economy requires digital escrow solutions. However, this does not only mean digital delivery and archiving, but also a complete fully electronic handling of the entire fiduciary process. And that's more than just handing over a digital good and storing it permanently.
A real digitization of the entire process starts with its configuration and allows the control, adaptation, and control of the respective service at any time until the deletion or release of a deposit. The service must be able to be adapted to changing and growing needs at any time.
DENIC Services' Digital Escrow Software-as-a-Service solution provides a control center through which
- any number of suppliers and beneficiaries can be created.
- the number of annual deposits and delivery dates can be determined,
- Suppliers are automatically reminded of their obligation to deliver before each delivery date,
- reminders are automatically sent if deliveries have been missed,
- a file list is maintained that determines the content of a deposit as it should be checked at the time of delivery,
- messages about the success or failure of a consignment, both to the supplier and to the beneficiaries,
- the number of generations of a deposit to be retained and the length of time a deposit is kept until it is to be erased as obsolete.
Everyone involved has access to this control center and has real-time insight into the parts of the process and status information that is relevant to them. In this way, suppliers can store the keys or load the access data required for online delivery. Beneficiaries can check that all expected deposits have taken place.
In a next version, the Control Center will provide all parties involved with the necessary contract forms for electronic signature and thus ensure online that all parties are protected in their rights and obligations among themselves.
Security is an important and integral aspect of this solution anyway. While control and delivery are still possible worldwide via the Internet, verified and accepted deposits are securely archived encrypted in two ISO27001 data centers in two EU member states. There is no Internet access to these archives and only the trustee can retrieve deposits for a release from these archives. The two data centers offer the highest level of reliability and ensure that delivery can be made at any time around the clock, 365 days a year, and can always be delivered quickly in the event of a trust.
As a fully digital solution, the control center can be adapted to a customer's corporate identity, suppliers can automate the delivery and make the deposits available directly from their business processes, and beneficiaries no longer must ask by phone or in writing whether a deposit has been delivered in accordance with the contract.
With so much convenience and security, who wants to deal with outdated processes, physical data carriers and low transparency anymore?