Provider Accountability

Independent review of MSP delivery against contract.

I verify SLA compliance, analyze ticket data, audit backup and patching coverage, benchmark vendor costs, and deliver a written findings report with renegotiation leverage. Six years as Senior Cloud Architect at a cloud service provider, delivering through TD Synnex channel partners, taught me exactly where MSPs cut corners.

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The Contract-to-Delivery Gap

MSP contracts describe a service level. Delivery records tell a different story.

Most MSP relationships I audit share the same pattern. The contract promises 15-minute response times, monthly patching, verified backups, and quarterly reviews. The ticket system shows something else.

SLA violations hidden in averages. Response time reports show a healthy mean. The P95 tells a different story. Critical tickets sit for hours while the average stays green.
Patching gaps. Patch compliance reports cover Windows Update. They skip firmware, third-party applications, and network devices. The contract says "managed patching." The scope was never defined.
Backup jobs that pass but never restore. Green checkmarks on the dashboard. No evidence of a tested recovery. No documented RTO. No one has confirmed the data is actually usable.

I spent six years on the provider side. I delivered projects for downstream MSPs through TD Synnex channel partners. I was the senior escalation point when things broke. I know what MSPs track, what they skip, and where the gap between contract language and operational reality lives. This audit surfaces that gap with evidence.

Deliverables

SLA Compliance Report

Ticket-level analysis of response and resolution times against contracted thresholds. P50, P90, and P95 breakdowns by priority tier. Violations documented with timestamps and ticket references.

Coverage Gap Assessment

Inventory of patching scope, backup job coverage, endpoint management boundaries, and security baseline posture. Every gap mapped against what the contract promises.

Vendor Cost Benchmark

Line-item cost analysis against current market rates for equivalent service tiers. Identifies overcharges, bundled margin, and renegotiation targets with dollar figures attached.

Written Findings Report

A single document covering all findings, scored by severity, with specific renegotiation points and contract amendment language your team can bring to the table.

What affects scope.

Complexity Factors

Number of managed endpoints↑ Increases

Contract complexity (multi-vendor, multi-site)↑ Increases

MSP willingness to provide data access↓ Decreases

Field Evidence

From the Field

Related reading from previous engagements and analysis.

What to Ask Your IT Provider Before Renewal: The twelve questions that expose delivery gaps before you sign another term. Most providers cannot answer the first three.
The Gap Between Your MSP Contract and Your MSP's Delivery: A breakdown of where contract language and operational reality diverge, drawn from provider-side experience.
Restore Tests That Actually Prove Readiness: Backup jobs that report success prove nothing about recovery. A 60-minute test that validates data integrity and application functionality.

Get the evidence before you renew.

Fixed scope. Written findings. Typically two to three weeks.

Get in touch.

Independent review of MSP delivery against contract.

SLA violations hidden in averages. Response time reports show a healthy mean. The P95 tells a different story. Critical tickets sit for hours while the average stays green.
Patching gaps. Patch compliance reports cover Windows Update. They skip firmware, third-party applications, and network devices. The contract says "managed patching." The scope was never defined.
Backup jobs that pass but never restore. Green checkmarks on the dashboard. No evidence of a tested recovery. No documented RTO. No one has confirmed the data is actually usable.