MSP Glossary

A flat monthly fee per user or site that covers unlimited support within a defined scope, with no hourly billing for covered work.

The combined service of image-based backup plus the ability to run client systems again after failure, usually a local appliance replicating to vendor cloud.

Fraud conducted through a compromised or spoofed business mailbox to redirect payments, and one of the largest cybercrime loss categories for SMBs.

The reactive IT support model where the client calls when something breaks and pays for the time and parts to fix it, with no recurring fee.

A client-owned document describing how the business keeps operating through a disruption, of which the technical disaster recovery plan is one part.

The share of clients (logo churn) or recurring revenue (revenue churn) an MSP loses over a period, usually measured annually.

A free, prescriptive set of 18 security controls whose IG1 tier serves as the baseline security checklist for small organizations and MSPs.

The structured process of ending a managed services relationship, returning client data and credentials and removing the MSP's access and tools.

The US Department of Defense certification program that verifies contractors and subcontractors protect federal contract information and controlled unclassified information.

Demonstrable conformance to an external standard such as HIPAA, SOC 2, CMMC, or PCI DSS, proven with evidence a third party can examine.

Microsoft's channel licensing program through which MSPs resell and administer Microsoft 365 and Azure, usually as indirect resellers via a distributor.

Insurance covering losses from breaches and cyber attacks, carried both by the MSP itself and by its clients, whose underwriting questionnaires set the security baseline.

A subscription service that replicates client systems to a provider's cloud and can boot them there when the primary site or hardware is lost.

Any managed device running the MSP's agents, counted as a billing and tooling unit, including workstations, servers, mobile devices, and sometimes network gear.

Endpoint security that records system behavior, detects attacker activity that signature antivirus misses, and lets a responder isolate and remediate the machine remotely.

Handing a ticket from the technician working it to a higher tier with more skill, authority, or time, triggered by defined criteria rather than judgment.

The percentage of tickets resolved by the first technician who handles them, without escalation, reassignment, or a second client contact.

Microsoft's time-bound, role-scoped model for partner access to customer tenants, replacing the legacy DAP standing-admin model.

A model where the MSP bundles client hardware into the monthly fee, owning the equipment and its refresh cycle.

The US federal law governing the security and disclosure of protected health information, binding healthcare organizations and the IT providers that serve them as business associates.

The discipline and tooling for managing who a user is, how they authenticate, what they can access, and how that access is granted and revoked over time.

A per-endpoint service in which an outside provider's analysts monitor EDR telemetry around the clock, investigate alerts, and contain threats on the MSP's behalf.

The sum of all contracted, repeating monthly fees an MSP bills, excluding projects, hourly work, hardware, and one-time charges.

A company that takes ongoing responsibility for a client's IT operations, support, and security for a fixed recurring fee rather than hourly billing.

Authentication that requires a second proof of identity beyond a password, with phishing-resistant methods like FIDO2 keys and passkeys at the strong end.

Continuous automated observation of a client's network infrastructure and attached devices for availability, performance, configuration changes, and unexpected traffic.

The US government's voluntary, risk-based cybersecurity framework, organizing security programs under six functions from Govern to Recover.

A team that watches infrastructure health and remediates operational faults, as distinct from a SOC, which detects and contains attackers.

Controls and tooling that govern accounts with elevated rights by vaulting credentials, granting elevation just-in-time, and recording privileged sessions.

The recurring process of testing, deploying, and verifying operating system, firmware, and third-party application updates across every managed endpoint and server.

A paid, structured cohort of non-competing MSP owners who share financials, benchmark against each other, and hold one another accountable on a fixed schedule.

An authorized, human-driven attack simulation that demonstrates what a real attacker could achieve, as opposed to automated vulnerability scanning.

A managed services pricing model charging a flat monthly fee for each managed workstation, server, or network device regardless of who uses it.

A managed services billing model that charges a flat monthly fee per supported user, covering all of that person's devices and support, also called per-user pricing.

A social-engineering attack that uses email, messages, calls, or fake login pages to trick a person into surrendering credentials, approving payments, or running malware.

The business system of record for an MSP, combining ticketing, time tracking, contracts, billing, projects, and CRM in one platform.

A scheduled meeting between the MSP and a client's decision-maker that reviews service performance, security findings, and the technology roadmap and budget.

Malware that encrypts systems and demands payment, now paired with data theft for double extortion and aimed at MSP tooling as a way to hit many clients at once.

The agent-based platform an MSP uses to monitor, patch, script, and remotely control every managed endpoint across all clients from one console.

The maximum amount of data, measured in time, a client can afford to lose between the last good backup and a failure.

The maximum acceptable time a system or business function can be down after a failure before the outage causes unacceptable harm.

A step-by-step procedure for one specific recurring technical task, written so any technician can execute it correctly without prior knowledge of the environment.

Managed employee training plus phishing simulation that reduces human-factor risk and satisfies a standard cyber-insurance control.

Applications, services, and devices employees use for work without IT's knowledge or approval.

The contractual attachment defining the support targets an MSP commits to, chiefly response time by priority, and the remedy when it misses.

An internal, measurable service target you aim for and report on, as distinct from the SLA you contractually guarantee.

An AICPA attestation report in which an independent CPA firm evaluates a service organization's controls against the Trust Services Criteria.

A team that monitors security telemetry around the clock, triages alerts, investigates suspicious activity, and contains confirmed threats.

A written, approved description of how the MSP performs a recurring business or operational process, distinct from a technical runbook for a single ticket type.

Authentication once with a central identity provider that then grants access to every connected application without separate passwords.

A named, non-selling point of contact who owns the technical relationship with a client account between the service desk and the strategy conversation.

The fixed set of tools, platforms, and configurations an MSP standardizes on and deploys across every client it supports.

The software, usually the PSA's ticket module, that records every unit of service desk work as a ticket with time, status, and history.

A pricing approach that sets the fee by the economic value the service delivers or protects for the client rather than the MSP's cost to deliver plus a markup.

A fractional executive role, usually filled by the MSP, that owns a client's technology strategy, roadmap, budget, and quarterly business review.

A fractional executive role that owns a client's security program, risk decisions, compliance posture, and decision authority during incidents.

The continuous cycle of scanning for, prioritizing, and remediating security weaknesses across an environment.

A security model in which no user, device, or network location is trusted by default and every access request is verified and limited to least privilege.