Are you an organization that is facing challenges to outsource its services to a Managed Services Provider (MSP)? If so, then this free template is designed for you. It facilitates communication and understanding between stakeholders. It has sections for writing an overview, objectives, in-scope and out-of-scope services, and service management. It allows you to monitor and report performance, manage responsibilities, write terms and conditions, and manage projects and changes. You can also set acceptance criteria and appendices by using this template. It is professionally designed and easily customizable.
In the header of this template, you can write the client name and your name in the service provider name section, including the start and end dates.
The main sections of this template are:
Overview
By writing an overview, the stakeholders can have alignment with the goals, clarity of scope, and context of work. Here, you can write the purpose of the scope of work of managed services and the expected outcomes.
Objectives
The purpose of a managed services scope of work can assist in aligning expectations, guiding decision-making, accessing success, and simplifying communication. Here, you can write the high-level business objectives that the managed services will support, such as patch management, remote technical support, network security, cloud services management, and more.
Scope of services
This section is further divided into two sections, such as in-scope and out-of-scope services.
- In-Scope Services: Writing the in-scope services of managed services can increase transparency and make resource allocation and cost management effective. These services may include infrastructure management, application support, and security services. You can also write brief descriptions of these services, such as for infrastructure management, you can write management of servers, storage, and networks. For application support, you can write support and maintenance for specific applications. And for security services, you can write implementation and monitoring of security protocols. You can also write the service levels of these services.
- Out-of-Scope Services: Writing services that are out-of-scope of managed services can assist in boundary setting, cost control, and scope management. Such services may include custom development, hardware procurement, user training, and physical site visits based on your needs.
Service Management
This section is further divided into two sub-sections, such as service availability and service level agreements (SLAs).
- Service Availability: In this section, you can clarify which services are available and at what times. By doing so, you can set expectations, measure performance, and plan your resources. Here, you can write the name of the services, such as email services and customer support. You can also write their availability schedules, like 24/7 or business hours. Space for writing the maintenance window is also provided here.
- Service Level Agreements (SLAs): Writing the SLAs can assist you in measuring the performance metrics, defining responsibilities, and aligning the expectations of MSPs’ scope of work. This section enables you to describe the SLAs, including their uptime guarantees, response times, and resolution times.
Performance Monitoring and Reporting
This section is further divided into two sections, such as performance metrics and reporting schedule.
- Performance Metrics: Assessment of performance increases the accountability and chances of the success of a managed service project. In this section of the template, you can write the performance metrics, such as system uptime, ticket resolution time, and more. You can also set targets for each of these metrics, such as for system uptime, you can write 99.9%, and for the latter, you can write less than 4 hours. Furthermore, you can also write the measurement methods for these metrics.
- Reporting Schedule: Reporting increases effective communication between stakeholders, transparency, and continuous improvement. In this section of the template, you can write the report type, such as a performance report or incident report. You can set the frequency of reporting, like monthly or as needed. The distribution method of reporting can also be set that can be through email or a portal.
Responsibilities
You can write the responsibilities of both stakeholders, such as clients and the service providers. Writing them can increase accountability and transparency.
- Client’s responsibilities: Writing the responsibility of the client in managed service SOW can mitigate confusion and misunderstandings. The responsibilities of a client in this case can be providing access, user training and awareness, payment and billing, and feedback and evaluation.
- Service Provider Responsibilities: On the other hand, writing the responsibilities of managed service providers can increase clarity, assure quality, and mitigate risks. Their responsibilities in this case can be monitoring and maintenance, management of incidents and security, performance reporting, and user support.
Terms and Conditions
This section has space for writing the pricing and payment schedules, confidentiality, and security, including the termination terms.
- Pricing and Payment Schedule: Managing and planning the budgets and finances can prevent many problems and challenges during a managed services SOW project. In this section of the template, you can write the services, such as managed IT services, onsite support, and more. You can write the rates of these services. The billing frequency of these services can also be defined. It also allows you to add notes for clarity.
- Confidentiality and Security: The data can be protected, and trust and confidence between parties can be built by clearly defining the confidential information. In this section, you can write the confidential and security measures that will be in place.
- Termination Terms: Clarifying the termination terms can increase the chances of legal protection and mitigate risks and flexibility. In this section, you can highlight the terms under which either party may terminate the agreement.
Project Management
This section is further divided into three sections, such as project timeline, change management, and acceptance criteria.
- Project Timeline: The purpose of adding the project timeline section is to enhance clarity and understanding, planning and coordination, assisting progress tracking and communication of managed services SOW. In this section, you can divide your tasks into milestones, such as kick-off meetings and initial system review. You can also set target dates for your milestones and their dependencies.
- Change Management: There should always be some way to manage changes in the managed service SOW because it increases flexibility and friendliness. In this section of the template, you can describe the processes for managing changes to the scope of services.
- Acceptance Criteria: Setting up acceptance criteria for managed services can assure quality, clarity in expectations, and a standard of work. Here, you can write the criteria that will be used to determine whether the project has been completed.
Appendices
This section is further divided into sub-sections, such as contact information, glossary, and reference documents.
- Contact Information: Mentioning the contact information can promote understanding and clarify the channels of communication. In this section, you can write the particulars of roles, their names, and contact information.
- Glossary: To ease the thorough understanding of the managed service SOW, you can define the terms or acronyms that are used within this scope of work.
- Reference Documents: To increase the validity and trust between the stakeholders, you can list any documents that are referenced in the scope of work of managed services.
Signatures
Once the whole scope of work of managed services is defined and discussed, both parties, i.e., client and contractor can write their signatures, including the date in this section.
This template has an elegant design with a user-friendly interface. It is print-ready and easily customizable. It is available in multiple file formats, such as ODT, DocX, DotX, and Google Docs. It enhances the overall experience of defining the managed services scope of work to the stakeholders.
