Understanding Your Managed IT Services Contract
Understanding your managed service agreement will help you know the level and quality of the services. This way, you can determine if the vendor can meet your expectations.)
You have chosen your managed IT services vendor in Singapore. Now the time has come to sign the agreement to subscribe for the services. Wait a minute! Before flipping pages to reach that dotted line, have you read what that agreement does contain? Do you read the important clauses of the services? Are you familiar with the vendor’s specific conditions in writing?
The vendor may not be able to give service in specific emergency situations what he has already mentioned in agreement. And knowing this point can lead to your regret in that particular situation.
Signing your IT managed care contract without reading can lead to your regret in a long run. For example,
Therefore, you should understand your managed service agreement for availability, serviceability, liability and guarantees. It helps you determine the services and commitment of the provider.
Here we will help you understand the service agreement set between you and your managed IT services provider.
What Does a Managed IT Services Agreement Include?
Definition of Services:
What you get? And how you get? It will be further broken down in detail across the documents.
Term of the Contract:
It includes time frame of the services and termination clauses.
Fees and Payment Schedule:
It covers charges and payment schedule.
Coverage Hours:
As the name implies, this section informs about the hours of coverage by the vendor.
Exclusions:
This part tells about the services that may not be the part of the agreement or may be charged separately.
Response and Resolution:
How will the vendor respond to the service requests? What can be their limitations? This part will inform you on this.
Limitation of Liability:
Read this point carefully to learn about the limitation of the vendor’s liability in case of breaches and damages.
Covered Users and Equipment:
This part determines the coverage by your vendor to the system or users.
Things to Look for in Your Managed Service Agreement
We hope that the above mentioned terms would give you an idea about the structure of the agreement. But it is equally important to discuss the agreement with the vendor to get a better understanding.
Services:
What is included in your package? Does it include cloud or Office 365? Will you provide me network security?
Security:
Ask your vendor if the agreement includes security services like intrusion detection, firewall settings and encryption.
Infrastructure Administration:
Your vendor should provide basics like network administration, storage maintenance, server maintenance and other typical network concerns.
On Site or Remote Helpdesk Support:
How your MSP will take care of your IT needs? Do they provide onsite support? Do they provide remote support? Or they provide both types of support?
A cloud based vendor provides your remote support while other vendors generally provide helpdesk style support.
Data Backup:
Make sure your plans include data backup. Also ask how your data will be backed up.
Tip: Choose private cloud services for your sensitive information.
Disaster Recovery Plan:
Your data is vulnerable to the risks like security breaches, natural disasters and breakdowns. Therefore, you can’t afford to take security for granted amidst the other services. Your plan should include a robust disaster recovery service to recover your lost data.
Conclusion:
Yeah, it may be time consuming and hectic to read and discuss an MSP agreement, but it will help you determine troubles and inconveniences down the road. A right IT managed service provider in Singapore will make it clear about the conditions and the level of their services.
