I'm curious about the practices of Managed Service Providers (MSPs) regarding infrastructure as a service (IaaS). My provider offers a switch as part of their colo services, stating they'll provide minor firmware upgrades. However, if the switch reaches end-of-life (EOL), they mention that they will provide 'best-effort support' based on technical support rates. I feel like they should keep the switch up to standard without additional charges, especially since I'm paying for IaaS. Am I out of line here, or is this a common practice in the industry?
1 Answer
You're totally right to raise this! It's common for MSP contracts to clearly cover the maintenance for their own equipment. If they own the switch, they should definitely take care of support entirely. It's crazy to expect customers to pay for infrastructure and then have to pay for the switch's upkeep once it's old. Check the specific wording in your contract. If it’s their hardware, they should bear that responsibility!
Exactly! If they're not prepared to keep the equipment supported, I'd seriously reconsider working with them. Any decent MSP should have a policy in place for upgrades before EOL. My old MSP used to replace switches proactively, so the customer didn't have to even worry about it.