Glossary of MSP and channel-marketing terms used across this site — useful if you’re new to selling into the MSP channel.
Quick definitions for terms used across this site — useful if you’re new to selling into the MSP channel.
MSP (Managed Service Provider)
A company that remotely manages a client’s IT infrastructure — networks, servers, endpoints, cloud platforms — under an ongoing contract, usually billed as a flat monthly fee.
MSSP (Managed Security Service Provider)
An MSP that focuses specifically on cybersecurity: 24/7 threat monitoring, SOC-as-a-service, and incident response, rather than general IT operations.
RMM (Remote Monitoring & Management)
Software MSPs use to monitor and manage client endpoints, servers, and networks remotely — one of the core tool categories sold into this channel.
PSA (Professional Services Automation)
Software MSPs use to run their own business — ticketing, billing, project and contract management — distinct from RMM, which manages the client’s infrastructure.
SLA (Service Level Agreement)
A contractual commitment on response time, uptime, or resolution time that an MSP or MSSP makes to its own clients.
SD-WAN (Software-Defined Wide Area Network)
Networking technology that lets a business manage multiple site connections centrally and intelligently; MSPs increasingly offer SD-WAN as a managed service for multi-site clients.
UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service)
Cloud-hosted phone, video, and messaging bundled into one service; some MSPs resell or manage UCaaS on behalf of clients.
ICP (Ideal Customer Profile)
The specific combination of company size, industry, tech stack, and other traits that best describes who a vendor should be targeting — the starting point for building any contact list.
MDF (Market Development Funds)
Co-marketing funds a vendor provides to channel partners (like MSPs) to support joint marketing activity, often tied to a partner tier or certification level.
Break-fix
A reactive IT support model billed per incident, with no SLA and no ongoing monthly contract — the model MSPs are typically trying to move clients away from.
GRC (Governance, Risk & Compliance)
The category of tools and services that help a business meet standards like HIPAA, PCI DSS, or SOC 2 — relevant to MSPs offering compliance and audit support.
SOC (Security Operations Center)
A team (in-house or outsourced) that monitors, detects, and responds to security threats around the clock; “SOC-as-a-service” is a common MSSP offering.
Seniority level / department
Fields in our contact records that separate a contact’s rank (e.g., VP/Director, C-level) and functional area (e.g., IT Operations) from their literal job title, so you can filter for decision-making authority without parsing free text.
Tech stack
The vendor platforms (e.g., Microsoft, AWS, Cisco) an MSP is certified on or actively manages client workloads with — one of the main filters used to build a targeted segment.
More terms
BDR (Backup & Disaster Recovery)
The combined practice of backing up client data and having a tested plan to restore operations after an outage, breach, or ransomware event — often sold by MSPs as a distinct, higher-margin service line from general IT support.
MDR (Managed Detection & Response)
A security service that pairs detection tooling with a human-monitored response function — distinct from a pure software EDR tool, since MDR includes an active team watching for and acting on alerts.
EDR (Endpoint Detection & Response)
Software that monitors individual devices (laptops, servers) for suspicious activity and can isolate or roll back a compromised endpoint — the underlying technology that MDR services are often built on top of.
NOC (Network Operations Center)
A team (in-house or outsourced) responsible for monitoring network and infrastructure health around the clock — the operational counterpart to a SOC’s security focus.
vCIO (virtual CIO)
A service where an MSP provides strategic IT planning and budgeting guidance to a client who doesn’t have (or want) a full-time internal CIO — often the relationship owner for larger tooling decisions.
CSP / NCE (Cloud Solution Provider / New Commerce Experience)
Microsoft’s partner licensing programs that let MSPs resell and manage Microsoft 365 and Azure licensing on behalf of clients, usually with markup as a revenue line.
Firmographic data
Company-level attributes — employee count, revenue band, industry, location — used to segment and filter a target account list, as distinct from data about the individual contacts at that company.
White-label
A product or service sold under the MSP’s own brand rather than the original vendor’s — common for backup, security, and some RMM tooling, and worth knowing since a white-labeled tool may not show up under the original vendor’s name in public signals.
QBR (Quarterly Business Review)
A recurring meeting an MSP holds with its own clients to review performance and plan upcoming work — for vendors, an MSP’s QBR cadence with its clients can be a useful signal of how relationship-driven a given MSP’s business is.
Churn
The rate at which an MSP loses clients (or, from a vendor’s perspective, the rate at which MSPs stop using a given tool) — a key health metric on both sides of the channel relationship.