Most managed service providers have questions about how their service level agreements (SLAs) are worded and whether they really offer protection for their MSP practice. This type of uncertainty is no surprise given where most MSPs have gotten their contracts. Many MSPs either have them supplied by vendors in the form of templates, and the rest likely download them from the Internet.
The problem with this approach is these templates and outdated agreements are not specific to the company or the managed services industry. As a result, service providers tend to use fragmented agreements that can leave significant risk exposure to their companies.
At MSPWorld next week, MSPAlliance board member Rob Scott will be holding a session on risk mitigation for cloud service providers. In this session, titled "How to Manage Risks as you Grow Your Managed Services and Cloud Practice", Mr. Scott will be displaying actual SLA provisions and discussing how these common provisions either lessen or increase risk to the MSP. The session will be highly interactive and allow the audience to ask questions related to risk mitigation in a variety of scenarios commonly faced by MSPs.
In addition to speaking next week, Mr. Scott represents many MSPAlliance members on matters related to service contracts.
