{"id":4998,"date":"2017-10-17T03:57:37","date_gmt":"2017-10-17T02:57:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/?p=4998"},"modified":"2021-03-31T04:00:17","modified_gmt":"2021-03-31T03:00:17","slug":"10-things-consider-when-writing-msp-contracts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/10-things-consider-when-writing-msp-contracts","title":{"rendered":"10 Things to Consider When Writing MSP Contracts"},"content":{"rendered":"

The contract is probably one of the most important parts of a managed service provider\u2019s (MSP\u2019s) relationship with their clients, and there are some major items to consider when you\u2019re setting it out.\u00a0Always keep in mind, any legal contract needs to be reviewed by an attorney\u2014one who understands your business, contracts, and the jurisdiction that governs that contract.<\/p>\n

Contracts serve multiple purposes, but the most important, in my opinion, is to set expectations for the relationship between the client and the MSP.\u00a0By establishing the boundaries and ground rules early on, you can prevent disagreements occurring in the future.<\/p>\n

The second most important reason to have a contract in place is to limit the MSP\u2019s liability and therefore, risk. This becomes exponentially more important as you scale and have more employees representing your company in various capacities.<\/p>\n

\"\"How long should your contract be? I have seen contracts that are two pages and contracts that exceed 22 pages with appendices. Neither is necessarily right or wrong, it just depends on your business environment.<\/p>\n

Below is a broad outline of what you might include in your contracts.\u00a0We will be going into these items in more detail in future posts, but this should get you thinking about what needs to be included in your contracts.<\/p>\n

1. Who<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Who are the parties involved?\u00a0Of course, you have the client and yourself, but what about any third-party vendors, like line of business (LOB) software vendors and phone or print\/copy vendors that you are expected to deal with on the client\u2019s behalf?\u00a0You should outline these relationships in detail.<\/p>\n

2. What<\/b><\/h3>\n

\"\"What services are you providing?\u00a0What devices are you covering?\u00a0The inverse of those two questions is also important.\u00a0What services are you not providing?\u00a0What devices are not covered?\u00a0What do you expect the client to provide in terms of access, resources, etc.?<\/p>\n

3. Where<\/b><\/h3>\n

Are only remote services included or are on-site services included as well? If on-site is not covered, what is the hourly rate to do any on-site work? What client locations are included?\u00a0Are on-site visits for employees that work from home included?<\/p>\n

4. When<\/b><\/h3>\n

What are your normal operating hours? When are your company holidays? What are your SLAs for response time, resolution, etc.? Do out-of-hours services need to be charged at a different hourly rate? How long is the contract for? How can it be cancelled?<\/p>\n

5. How<\/b><\/h3>\n

What are your processes for customers to submit a service request?\u00a0How do they escalate an issue? How are customers expected to pay you and how often?<\/p>\n

6. Confidentiality<\/b><\/h3>\n

You have access to your client\u2019s data.\u00a0Assure them that you recognize that this access is a point of concern and that you are bound to provide reasonable confidentiality in regard to their data and business practices.<\/p>\n

7. Non-Hire<\/b><\/h3>\n

Your employees represent a significant asset to your business. Protect yourself from customers engaging your employees directly by warning them not to do it and providing a financial recompense to yourself if they do.<\/p>\n

8. Baseline<\/b><\/h3>\n

\"\"This is critical for \u201call-you-can-eat\u201d plans. You must define your baseline for accepting devices and LOB software as part of your cover.\u00a0For example, workstations must be less than three years old and still under manufacturer\u2019s warranty, servers must be less than five years old and still under manufacturer\u2019s warranty, LOB software must be up-to-date and have an active support contract in place, etc. Remember to specifically exclude devices that do not meet your criteria.<\/p>\n

9. Liability<\/b><\/h3>\n

There is a lot of boiler plate text you can use for this, but it is best handled by your attorney.\u00a0Just make sure you include wording that covers Warranties, Disclaimers, Indemnification, Remedies, etc.<\/p>\n

10. General Provisions<\/b><\/h3>\n

Again, this is mostly boiler plate text, but it is critical to the enforcement, effectiveness, and overall performance of the contract.\u00a0It can also be very specific to your situation and jurisdiction, so make sure you consult an attorney on this part as well.<\/p>\n

This is, of course, not an exhaustive list.\u00a0Your business needs might have additional requirements, but you can use this list as a way to start your own outline of what you want covered in your managed services contract. By the way, many of these items apply for break\/fix engagements as well.<\/p>\n

I strongly suggest using a contract with any customer that you have a recurring revenue relationship with to set expectations properly. Once you have your outline, you have a basis for engaging your attorney to formulate that outline into a real contract. As tempting as it may be to do your contracts yourself, please engage a professional! Would you prefer to support a network you installed or one the client built themselves? Most likely your attorney is the one who will have to defend the contract if it ever needs to be defended, so let them write it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The contract is probably one of the most important parts of a managed service provider\u2019s (MSP\u2019s) relationship with their clients, and there are some major items to consider when you\u2019re…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","topic-msp-business"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n10 Things to Consider When Writing MSP Contracts - N-able<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"MSP contracts can help set expectations and boundaries early with customers. Learn how.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/10-things-consider-when-writing-msp-contracts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"10 Things to Consider When Writing MSP Contracts - N-able\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MSP contracts can help set expectations and boundaries early with customers. Learn how.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/10-things-consider-when-writing-msp-contracts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"N-able\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NableMSP\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-10-17T02:57:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-03-31T03:00:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/blog\/2017\/10\/contract_howlong.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"N-able\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Nable\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Nable\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"\u00c9crit par\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"N-able\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Dur\u00e9e de lecture estim\u00e9e\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/10-things-consider-when-writing-msp-contracts#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/10-things-consider-when-writing-msp-contracts\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"N-able\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr#\/schema\/person\/f46a000e389b6d02bd4b3866e7828a7b\"},\"headline\":\"10 Things to Consider When Writing MSP Contracts\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-10-17T03:57:37+01:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-31T03:00:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/10-things-consider-when-writing-msp-contracts\"},\"wordCount\":821,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/10-things-consider-when-writing-msp-contracts#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/blog\/2017\/10\/contract_howlong.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"MSP Business\"],\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/10-things-consider-when-writing-msp-contracts\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/10-things-consider-when-writing-msp-contracts\",\"name\":\"10 Things to Consider When Writing MSP Contracts - N-able\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/10-things-consider-when-writing-msp-contracts#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/10-things-consider-when-writing-msp-contracts#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/blog\/2017\/10\/contract_howlong.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-10-17T03:57:37+01:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-31T03:00:17+00:00\",\"description\":\"MSP contracts can help set expectations and boundaries early with customers. Learn how.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/10-things-consider-when-writing-msp-contracts#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/10-things-consider-when-writing-msp-contracts\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/10-things-consider-when-writing-msp-contracts#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/blog\/2017\/10\/contract_howlong.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/blog\/2017\/10\/contract_howlong.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/10-things-consider-when-writing-msp-contracts#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"MSP Business\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/category\/msp-business\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"10 Things to Consider When Writing MSP Contracts\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\",\"name\":\"N-able\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr#organization\",\"name\":\"N-able\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/logo-n-able-vertical-dark.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/logo-n-able-vertical-dark.svg\",\"width\":\"1024\",\"height\":\"1024\",\"caption\":\"N-able\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NableMSP\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Nable\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/n-able\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UClnp77HHg4aME-S-3fWQhFw\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr#\/schema\/person\/f46a000e389b6d02bd4b3866e7828a7b\",\"name\":\"N-able\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9c468b7c98137ecdd5508befa660c205a7978133257080a37fb0b1362d53411?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9c468b7c98137ecdd5508befa660c205a7978133257080a37fb0b1362d53411?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9c468b7c98137ecdd5508befa660c205a7978133257080a37fb0b1362d53411?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"N-able\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"10 Things to Consider When Writing MSP Contracts - N-able","description":"MSP contracts can help set expectations and boundaries early with customers. Learn how.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/10-things-consider-when-writing-msp-contracts","og_locale":"fr_FR","og_type":"article","og_title":"10 Things to Consider When Writing MSP Contracts - N-able","og_description":"MSP contracts can help set expectations and boundaries early with customers. Learn how.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/10-things-consider-when-writing-msp-contracts","og_site_name":"N-able","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NableMSP","article_published_time":"2017-10-17T02:57:37+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-03-31T03:00:17+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/blog\/2017\/10\/contract_howlong.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"N-able","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Nable","twitter_site":"@Nable","twitter_misc":{"\u00c9crit par":"N-able","Dur\u00e9e de lecture estim\u00e9e":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/10-things-consider-when-writing-msp-contracts#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/10-things-consider-when-writing-msp-contracts"},"author":{"name":"N-able","@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr#\/schema\/person\/f46a000e389b6d02bd4b3866e7828a7b"},"headline":"10 Things to Consider When Writing MSP Contracts","datePublished":"2017-10-17T03:57:37+01:00","dateModified":"2021-03-31T03:00:17+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/10-things-consider-when-writing-msp-contracts"},"wordCount":821,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/10-things-consider-when-writing-msp-contracts#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/blog\/2017\/10\/contract_howlong.jpg","articleSection":["MSP Business"],"inLanguage":"fr-FR"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/10-things-consider-when-writing-msp-contracts","url":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/10-things-consider-when-writing-msp-contracts","name":"10 Things to Consider When Writing MSP Contracts - N-able","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/10-things-consider-when-writing-msp-contracts#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/10-things-consider-when-writing-msp-contracts#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/blog\/2017\/10\/contract_howlong.jpg","datePublished":"2017-10-17T03:57:37+01:00","dateModified":"2021-03-31T03:00:17+00:00","description":"MSP contracts can help set expectations and boundaries early with customers. Learn how.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/10-things-consider-when-writing-msp-contracts#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"fr-FR","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/10-things-consider-when-writing-msp-contracts"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fr-FR","@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/10-things-consider-when-writing-msp-contracts#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/blog\/2017\/10\/contract_howlong.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/blog\/2017\/10\/contract_howlong.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/10-things-consider-when-writing-msp-contracts#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"MSP Business","item":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/blog\/category\/msp-business"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"10 Things to Consider When Writing MSP Contracts"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr#website","url":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr","name":"N-able","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"fr-FR"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr#organization","name":"N-able","url":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fr-FR","@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/logo-n-able-vertical-dark.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/logo-n-able-vertical-dark.svg","width":"1024","height":"1024","caption":"N-able"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NableMSP","https:\/\/x.com\/Nable","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/n-able","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UClnp77HHg4aME-S-3fWQhFw"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr#\/schema\/person\/f46a000e389b6d02bd4b3866e7828a7b","name":"N-able","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fr-FR","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9c468b7c98137ecdd5508befa660c205a7978133257080a37fb0b1362d53411?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9c468b7c98137ecdd5508befa660c205a7978133257080a37fb0b1362d53411?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9c468b7c98137ecdd5508befa660c205a7978133257080a37fb0b1362d53411?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"N-able"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4998\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}