Blog posts
Showing 97–120 of 122. Prefer to browse by question? Pick a topic.
Blog How MSPs can Collapse Sales and Contracting Processes into One Online Step
As MSPs strive to streamline their sales and contracting processes, many are turning to online contract management solutions that allow them to quickly and efficiently generate contracts, obtain electronic signatures, and manage the entire contract lifecycle. Request A Consultation One key feature of these solutions is the ability to incorporate terms and conditions by reference. [ ]
Blog How MSPs Can Avoid Uncovered Claims
Why MSP’s Should Align the Indemnity Section of the MSA with the Wrongful Act Definition in the Insurance Policy When entering into an IT services contract, it’s important to make sure that the indemnity provision in the contract aligns with the definition of a wrongful act in a professional liability insurance policy. This alignment can [ ]
Blog Six Reasons MSPs Should Move Their Customer Contracts to the Cloud
I have been representing IT managed services providers (MSPS) for almost 20 years. Years ago, I counseled my MSPS that it was necessary for managed services providers to present contracts to their clients for signature. Now we counsel our clients to collapse the sales and contracting processes into one step using their existing sales documents [ ]
Blog Top Five Legal Issues Facing IT Managed Services Providers in 2023
IT managed service providers (MSPs) are companies that provide a variety of IT services to their clients, including network management, data backup and recovery, and security. MSPs are often tasked with managing sensitive data, such as personal and financial information, and must navigate a complex legal landscape to avoid potential liability. Legal Issues: Data protection [ ]
Blog How to Choose the Right Lawyer for your MSP Practice
It’s difficult to determine the best lawyers for MSPs (Managed Service Providers) because the best fit depends on a variety of factors, such as the specific legal needs of the MSP, its location, and its budget. However, some things to consider when looking for a lawyer for an MSP include: Expertise: Look for a lawyer [ ]
Blog Why MSP’s Should Consider Contracts-as-a-Service
This article is for Managed Services Providers (MSPs) interested in learning about Scott & Scott’s Contracts-as-a-Service solution. The cloud-based platform provides continuously updated legal protection to MSPs as new risks emerge. Scott & Scott’s master templates have been developed over 15 years and over 250 customer contract engagements. Our lawyers monitor regulatory changes, market shifts, [ ]
Blog Why MSPS Need Their Own Data Processing Agreements
Over the past ten years regulation of data privacy and security has proliferated at the international, federal and state levels. Several industry-based federal regulations have been developed such as HIPAA for healthcare and GLBA for financial services. Other geographically based regulations such as GDPR (EU) and CCPA (California) apply to the personal data of citizens [ ]
Blog Is It Time to Tear Up Your MSP Agreement?
You offer your clients managed services that help them run and grow their business empires, but is it time for you to tear up your MSP agreement? In this moment in time when everything about business, and our lives, seems to be in flux, this is an important question, so let’s take a [ ]
Blog MSP Policy & Procedures
POLICY & PROCEDURES FOR MANAGED SERVICE PROVIDERS (MSP) With the tightening of data protection laws that followed the introduction of GDPR, enforcement actions have begun to be more widespread. Heavy penalties are handed out by the Data Protection Authorities. There have already been some big victims, including Marriott and British Airways, who were both handed [ ]
Blog How to Recover Early Termination Fees For Managed Services
IT service providers that include early termination fees in their contracts must decide if they want to seek reimbursement when a customer terminates a contract early. MSPs find themselves asking: Is anything owed? Can I collect? What is the cost? Here are key points to consider when determining whether to enforce an early termination fee. [ ]
Blog MSP Insurance Requirements
INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR MANAGED SERVICES PROVIDERS As a managed service provider (MSP), you naturally face significant risk, which makes the insurance component of your managed service agreement (MSA) critical. Too often, MSP contracts are weak, or completely silent, on the matter of insurance, which can leave you unnecessarily vulnerable. If you’re an MSP [ ]
Blog Master Services Agreement Templates for MSPs
When a Managed Services Provider begins a relationship with a new client, it is important they agree on certain terms and conditions by which business will be conducted. This is known as the Master Services Agreement (MSA). These are the foundational terms that all business will adhere to unless expressly superseded by a subsequent agreement. [ ]
Blog Considerations When Writing an MSP Contract
What to include in your managed services customer agreement? As a managed service provider, how do you approach writing a complicated document like a Managed Services Agreement? Are there resources out there to refer to so you don’t have to start from scratch? Who, what, and where should it cover, specifically? The contract is a [ ]
Blog Managed Service Providers: Risk Management and Limitation of Liability
Managed service providers (MSPs) face more risks than ever before and, as a result, require more legal protections. These risks include not only data privacy and cybersecurity issues but also challenges related to technology, compliance, profitability, and vendors, not to mention ever-increasing competition. It’s a lot, but a steadfast risk management and liability-limiting plan [ ]
Blog MSP Sources of Risk
How Managed Services Providers Can Mitigate Risks Our main goal is to help technology companies of all sizes manage their relationships with their clients and protect their IP rights. We will help managed service partners reduce their overall risk, streamline their sales process, and increase the value of the business through long-term contracts between the [ ]
Blog How to Know When to Seek Legal Advice When Negotiating a Software or Services Contract
Today’s corporate and business teams are well versed in negotiating pricing and other critical terms in software licenses and services agreements. With their collective experience and knowledge of the specific business needs, seeking internal or external counsel’s advice can seem like an unnecessary expenditure of time and resources. Many have the perception that seeking legal [ ]
Blog Termination Clauses in IT Managed Services Contracts
Monthly recurring revenue and multi-year contracts have been the driving force behind managed services for years. They have been the basis for the tremendous growth in managed services over the years. The length of the term of a service agreement is very important as it specifies how long the customer is going to be committed [ ]
Blog Risk Balancing Provisions in in Managed Services Contracts
The risks for Managed Service Providers are constantly evolving. New cyber threats and regulatory compliance requirements present significant challenges for MSPs. The most important way to mitigate privacy and security risks for Managed Service Providers is by including proper risk balancing provisions into the MSP’s customer contracts. This article explains how limitations of liability, indemnity, [ ]
Blog Managing Risk in Managed Services
Risk Considerations for Managed Services This past week I had the opportunity to present on the topic of managing risk in managed services to the OTX Roundtable. I want the thank the OTX Roundtable and Mark Jennings in particular for inviting me to speak. What follows is Mark’s transcript of the meeting. ************* Rob Scott [ ]
Blog Negotiating Technology Contracts, Insurance Requirements
One of the most overlooked sections in a technology-related contract is the insurance section. Whether that contract involves IT services, development, Software as a Service or Cloud Services, the insurance section is just as important as the other risk-allocating provisions contained in the contract. Yet, in most of the contracts in the industry, the original [ ]
Blog Negotiating Contracts: 12 Key Terms to Negotiate in a Software as a Service or Cloud Service Agreement
Software as a Service and Cloud Service offerings have become ubiquitous digital platforms for many enterprises and small businesses in their quests to provide a single unified platform to their employees and customers. Providers offering Software as a Service and Cloud Services allow end users to access software and infrastructure remotely from any location and [ ]
Blog Top Tips for Improving Outcomes for IT Transactions
Negotiating with software, SaaS and hosting vendors is a leverage game. Market leaders like Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, Adobe and SAP know this. Those vendors have structured their sales processes to maximize their ability to exert control over the negotiations framework and, thereby, to dictate the terms of their transactions. However, it is possible to push [ ]
Blog Negotiating Technology Contracts: On-premise vs. Cloud and Hosted Software
More and more businesses are considering accessing hosted software rather than purchasing on-premise software. They are also placing data in third-party public or private clouds instead of selecting on-premise software. This article will explain the key considerations and contractual provisions when deciding to utilize a hosted software cloud solution versus on-premise software solutions. KEY CONSIDERATIONS [ ]
Blog Negotiating a Statement of Work: Key terms in a Statement of Work
Often, after signing a Master Service Agreement (“MSA”), a service provider and its client will memorialize the details of the project by crafting a Statement of Work (“SOW”). The importance of the terms in a SOW is sometimes overlooked by both business and legal teams because an SOW is commonly considered a business document rather [ ]