Managed IT Services Agreement Template

What is a managed IT services agreement?

A managed IT services agreement is the contract between a managed service provider (MSP) or IT support company and a business that outsources its day-to-day IT. It replaces vague "we look after your computers" arrangements with a clear list of what is included for the monthly fee, how quickly the provider responds, what is backed up, and what costs extra.

This template covers the services most small-business MSP contracts include — a helpdesk, monitoring and patching, endpoint protection, user administration, network and firewall management, backups and vendor liaison — plus an onboarding period, response times for critical, high and normal issues, an out-of-scope list charged by the hour, the client's responsibilities, security and data handling, an initial term, and an orderly handover of passwords and documentation when the contract ends. You choose the coverage, support hours, response times, backup frequency and retention, and how the fee is charged: flat, per user or per device.

When to Use a managed IT services agreement

• Moving a client from ad-hoc, pay-as-you-go support to a monthly managed plan
• Signing a new office or practice that has no in-house IT staff
• Per-user IT support for a growing team that works partly from home
• Adding backup and security management to an existing support relationship
• Renewing an MSP contract with clearer response times and exclusions

What You Fill In

26 blanks, then the name and email of each person who signs: it provider, client.

What the managed IT services agreement Covers

1. Services
2. Onboarding
3. Support hours and response times
4. Backups
5. What is not included
6. The Client's responsibilities
7. Security and data
8. Fees and payment
9. Term and ending the agreement
10. Liability
11. General

Using the managed IT services agreement, step by step

1 Define the coverage

Enter the number of users and describe the devices covered, such as one laptop and phone per user plus the office network. Add on-site locations if you visit, and any extra services like security training or quarterly reviews.

2 Set support hours and response times

Enter your support hours with the time zone, then choose response times for critical, high and normal issues. Optionally add an after-hours rate for emergencies. The agreement explains that a response means a technician has started work — not that the problem is fixed.

3 Describe the backups

Say what is backed up (for example email, cloud files and the file server), how often and how long backups are kept. Anything not listed is not backed up unless agreed in writing.

4 Set the fee and term

Enter the monthly fee and whether it is flat, per user or per device, any onboarding fee, your hourly rate for projects, the initial term and the notice period. Then add the client's signer and send.

Tips Before You Send It

• Onboarding is where problems surface. The agreement lets you flag systems that are too old or insecure to cover at the normal fee before response times become binding.
• Check how long your client's industry or local law needs records kept before choosing backup retention.
• Where data protection law requires a written data processing agreement between you, sign one alongside this agreement — it becomes part of it.
• The agreement says admin credentials for the client's own systems are never withheld at handover, even while a final invoice is outstanding. That protects both sides.

Managed IT services agreement: frequently asked questions

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This template is a general starting point, not legal advice. Laws differ between countries and states — have a lawyer review the agreement for your situation before you rely on it. Page last reviewed 2026-09-29.