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MSP and Microsoft 365 glossary
Clear definitions for the terms that come up when MSPs automate Microsoft 365 work. No jargon for its own sake.
- MSP
- A managed service provider. A company that runs IT for other businesses, often managing Microsoft 365 for many client organizations at once.
- Microsoft 365
- Microsoft’s cloud suite for email, files, identity, and collaboration. The environment most MSP support tickets touch.
- Multi-tenant
- Managing many separate client organizations, each with its own Microsoft 365 tenant, from one platform. The defining reality of MSP operations.
- Tenant isolation
- Keeping each client tenant strictly separated, so an action or login in one tenant can never reach another.
- GDAP
- Granular Delegated Admin Privileges. Microsoft’s model for granting a partner specific admin roles in a client tenant instead of standing Global Administrator access. Microsoft GDAP supports time limits, but Avvi does not currently enforce automatic expiration of delegated admin access.
- Tier 1 support
- The first line of the helpdesk. High-volume, routine requests like password resets and access changes, where most repetitive labor lives.
- Ticket deflection
- Resolving a request without a technician ever opening a ticket, usually by letting the user self-serve an approved action.
- Self-service
- Letting an end user complete an MSP-approved request through delegated admin access, limited by permissions the MSP controls and confirmed before execution.
- Permission hierarchy
- Layered controls that define who can do what, so both a tool and each person are scoped to only what they are allowed to touch.
- Least privilege
- Granting the minimum access needed for a task and nothing more. A core principle behind safe automation.
- Audit trail
- A complete record of what changed, who approved it, and when. The evidence that turns automation into something you can defend to a client or auditor.
- MFA
- Multi-factor authentication. A second verification step beyond a password. MSP-admin MFA reset is available to appropriately permitted MSP admins, not as an end-user self-service feature.
- Shared mailbox
- A Microsoft 365 mailbox multiple people access, such as sales or support. Granting and managing access is routine helpdesk work.
- Distribution list
- An email group that forwards to its members. Membership changes are a frequent, low-risk request.
- Endpoint
- A managed device such as a laptop or desktop. Avvi Agent is a beta connector for limited server-side work: on-premises Active Directory user and group management, server reboot, and RDS user-session logoff. It is not an RMM tool.
- SOC 2
- An independent audit of a vendor’s security controls. For Avvi it is a target, not a certification currently held.
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