MSP Terminology — independently scanned and version-tracked by SaferSkills.
SaferSkills independently audited MSP Terminology (Agent Skill) and scored it 100/100 (green). The audit ran 55 deterministic rules across Security, Supply Chain, Maintenance, Transparency, and Community; it found 0 high-severity and 0 lower-severity findings. The full rule-by-rule trace and per-finding evidence are below. Free, methodology-open.
Findings & checks · 0 flagged
Every scanned point with the score it earned and what moved between them.
First recorded scan — no prior version to compare against.
The primary manifest — the file an agent reads to learn what this artifact does.
Managed Service Providers (MSPs) use a specialized vocabulary that can be confusing for newcomers. This skill covers common terminology, acronyms, and concepts used across the MSP industry and its tooling ecosystem.
This skill is a glossary. It shares its entire vocabulary — ticket, agent, asset, seat, contract, SLA — with every vendor skill in this marketplace, which is exactly why it gets loaded by mistake. It defines those words; it cannot look any of them up.
"what is the SLA on this ticket", "which agent is on that server" are data questions. Load the vendor's skill: pax8-subscriptions, autotask-contracts, ninjaone-devices, and so on.
priority enums, and entity names are that vendor's own vocabulary and frequently contradict the generic definition here. Use that vendor's skill.
shared-skills-ticket-triage; cross-tool investigation is shared-skills-incident-correlation.
The central business management platform for MSPs. Handles:
Examples: Autotask, ConnectWise Manage, HaloPSA, Syncro
Platform for monitoring and managing client IT infrastructure:
Examples: Datto RMM, NinjaOne, ConnectWise Automate, Kaseya VSA
Centralized IT documentation:
Examples: IT Glue, Hudu, ConnectWise IT Boost
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Incident | Unplanned interruption to service |
| Service Request | Standard request from user |
| Problem | Root cause of multiple incidents |
| Change | Planned modification to infrastructure |
| Alert | Automated notification from monitoring |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| SLA | Service Level Agreement - contractual service guarantees |
| Response Time | Time to first technician acknowledgment |
| Resolution Time | Time to fully resolve the issue |
| MTTR | Mean Time To Repair/Resolve |
| MTTD | Mean Time To Detect |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Triage | Initial assessment and categorization |
| Escalation | Moving to higher-skill resource |
| Dispatch | Scheduling on-site visit |
| Resolution | Issue fixed, pending verification |
| Closure | Ticket completed and archived |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| MSA | Managed Services Agreement - ongoing monthly services |
| Block Hours | Prepaid hour bank for ad-hoc support |
| T&M | Time & Materials - pay-as-you-go billing |
| AYCE | All You Can Eat - unlimited support for fixed fee |
| Per-Device | Billing based on device count |
| Per-User | Billing based on user count |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| AD | Active Directory - Windows identity management |
| DC | Domain Controller - AD server |
| DNS | Domain Name System |
| DHCP | Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol |
| VPN | Virtual Private Network |
| VLAN | Virtual Local Area Network |
| NAS | Network Attached Storage |
| SAN | Storage Area Network |
| UPS | Uninterruptible Power Supply |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| M365 | Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) |
| Azure AD | Azure Active Directory (now Entra ID) |
| AWS | Amazon Web Services |
| GCP | Google Cloud Platform |
| SaaS | Software as a Service |
| IaaS | Infrastructure as a Service |
| PaaS | Platform as a Service |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| MFA | Multi-Factor Authentication |
| 2FA | Two-Factor Authentication |
| SSO | Single Sign-On |
| EDR | Endpoint Detection and Response |
| XDR | Extended Detection and Response |
| SIEM | Security Information and Event Management |
| SOC | Security Operations Center |
| MDR | Managed Detection and Response |
| PAM | Privileged Access Management |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| BDR | Backup and Disaster Recovery |
| BCDR | Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery |
| RPO | Recovery Point Objective - acceptable data loss |
| RTO | Recovery Time Objective - acceptable downtime |
| DR | Disaster Recovery |
| HA | High Availability |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| MRR | Monthly Recurring Revenue |
| ARR | Annual Recurring Revenue |
| ARPU | Average Revenue Per User |
| Gross Margin | Revenue minus direct costs |
| Utilization | Billable hours / available hours |
| Effective Rate | Revenue / hours worked |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| NOC | Network Operations Center |
| SOC | Security Operations Center |
| L1/L2/L3 | Support tier levels |
| POD | Team of technicians assigned to accounts |
| vCIO | Virtual Chief Information Officer |
| TAM | Technical Account Manager |
| QBR | Quarterly Business Review |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| FCR | First Call Resolution |
| AHT | Average Handle Time |
| CSAT | Customer Satisfaction Score |
| NPS | Net Promoter Score |
| Ticket Aging | Time ticket has been open |
| Backlog | Unresolved ticket count |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Queue | Ticket routing bucket |
| Resource | Technician/user |
| Account | Company/client |
| Contract | Service agreement |
| Opportunity | Sales prospect |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Board | Ticket routing area |
| Member | Technician/user |
| Company | Client organization |
| Agreement | Service contract |
| Opportunity | Sales prospect |
| Acronym | Full Term |
|---|---|
| AD | Active Directory |
| API | Application Programming Interface |
| BCDR | Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery |
| BDR | Backup Disaster Recovery |
| CI | Configuration Item |
| CMDB | Configuration Management Database |
| CRM | Customer Relationship Management |
| EDR | Endpoint Detection and Response |
| ERP | Enterprise Resource Planning |
| FCR | First Call Resolution |
| ITIL | IT Infrastructure Library |
| ITSM | IT Service Management |
| KPI | Key Performance Indicator |
| MFA | Multi-Factor Authentication |
| MRR | Monthly Recurring Revenue |
| MSA | Managed Services Agreement |
| MSP | Managed Service Provider |
| NOC | Network Operations Center |
| PSA | Professional Services Automation |
| QBR | Quarterly Business Review |
| RMM | Remote Monitoring and Management |
| RTO | Recovery Time Objective |
| RPO | Recovery Point Objective |
| SaaS | Software as a Service |
| SLA | Service Level Agreement |
| SMB | Small and Medium Business |
| SOC | Security Operations Center |
| T&M | Time and Materials |
| vCIO | Virtual CIO |
| VPN | Virtual Private Network |
~30 seconds. Free. No account. Every finding cites a rule and a line of evidence.