Thank you for trusting Signal Solutions, Inc. (“Signal,”
“we,” “us,” or “our”) to provide you with professional information technology
services. This Master Services Agreement (this “Agreement”) governs our
business relationship with you, so please read this document carefully and keep
a copy for your records.
SCOPE
a. Context.
In this Agreement, any
references to “Client,” “you,” or
“your” will mean the entity who has accepted a quote, proposal, service order, statement
of work, or similar document (electronic or otherwise) from us. (In this
Agreement we refer collectively to these types of documents as a “Quote,”
although the actual title or caption of the service-related documents might
vary.) If we have an ongoing business relationship with you, then “Quote” will
also include any confirmatory communications between you and us, such as those exchanged
by email or text, in which we mutually affirm or agree to the provision or
facilitation of services or products for you.
i. This
document contains an arbitration provision that requires, under most
circumstances, disputes to be settled by arbitration and not by a judge or
jury. Please read the “Arbitration” section of this Agreement carefully. This document also contains
important provisions regarding your payment obligations, automatic renewal of
ongoing services, limitations of liability, and other significant matters;
please read this document and consider those issues carefully before accepting
a Quote.
ii. This
document limits or, in some cases, eliminates the liability of Signal for
services that it does not provide directly to you and/or which are provided to
you by third parties (defined as “Third Party Services” and “Third Party
Providers,” below). Please read this
document and consider such limitations carefully before accepting a Quote.
b. Applicability. The scope of our services
will be as described in a Quote (collectively, “Services”). All other
services, projects, and related matters are out-of-scope (collectively, “Out of
Scope Services”) and will not be provided to you unless we expressly agree to
do so. In addition to a Quote, many of the Services, as well as all policies
and procedures governing all Services we provide or facilitate, are defined,
clarified, and governed under an additional document that we will refer to in
this Agreement as a “Services Guide.” Please read both the Quote
and the Services Guide before accepting the Quote. If you
have any questions about either of those documents or this Agreement, please do
not sign the Quote and, instead, contact us for more information.
c.
Version. Each Quote will be
governed under the version of this Agreement in place on the date that you
accept the Quote. We may change this Agreement from time to time, and modified
versions of this Agreement will apply to Quotes accepted after the date of those
modifications. You can determine the version of this Agreement by noting the
“last updated” date indicated at the bottom of this document. We advise you to keep a copy of this document
and keep track of the date indicated below when you accept a Quote.
d. Conflicts.
The provisions of a Quote
govern over conflicting or materially different terms contained in this
Agreement and the Services Guide—this allows us to craft solutions to meet your
needs by making applicable changes in the Quote. Conflicting language between
the Services Guide and this Agreement will be interpreted in favor of the Services
Guide.
e. Third
Party Providers/Services. Some services may be provided to you directly by our personnel, such as
situations in which our personnel install software agents on managed devices or
physically install equipment at your premises. These services are distinguishable
from services that are provided to you or us by third party providers, who are
often referred to in the industry as “upstream providers.” (In this Agreement, we call upstream
providers “Third Party Providers” and the services that Third Party Providers provide
are called “Third Party Services”). By way of example, Third Party Services may include help desk
services, malware detection and remediation services, firewall and endpoint
security-related services, backup and disaster recovery solutions, and the
provision of software used to monitor the managed part of your network, among
others.
i. Selection. As your managed information
technology provider, we will select the Third Party
Providers that provide services appropriate for your managed information
technology environment (the “Environment”) and facilitate the provision of those
Third Party Services to you. Not all Third Party
Services will be expressly identified as being provided by a Third
Party Provider. We reserve the right to change Third
Party Providers in our sole discretion as long as the
change does not materially diminish the Services we are obligated to provide or
facilitate under a Quote.
ii. Reseller.
We are resellers and/or facilitators of the Third
Party Services and do not provide those services to you directly. For
this reason, we are not and cannot be responsible for any defect, act,
omission, or failure of any Third Party Service or any
failure of any Third Party Provider. Third Party Services are
provided on an “as is” basis only. If an
issue requiring remediation arises with a Third Party Service, then we will
endeavor to provide a reasonable workaround or, if available, a “temporary fix”
for the situation; however, we do not warrant or guarantee that any particular
workaround or fix will be available or achieve any particular result, or that
Third Party Services will run in an uninterrupted or error-free manner.
IMPLEMENTATION
a. Advice;
Instructions. We may offer you specific
advice and directions related to the Services (“Advice”). We strongly suggest
that you promptly follow our Advice which, depending on the situation, may
require you to make additional purchases or investments in your managed IT environment (“Environment”) at your sole cost. We
are not responsible for any problems or issues, including but not limited to
downtime or security-related issues, caused by or related to your failure to
follow our Advice promptly. If, in our reasonable discretion, your failure to
follow our Advice makes part or all the Services
economically or technically unreasonable or impracticable to provide or
facilitate, then we may provide you with no less than ten (10) days to
remediate the issue(s). If the issues continue to exist after this ten (10) day period, then we may, at our discretion terminate the applicable Services For Cause
(explained below) by providing notice of termination to you or, alternatively,
we may adjust the scope of the Quote to exclude any impacted or affected
portion of the Environment. Unless specifically and expressly stated in writing
by us (such as in a Quote), any services required to remediate issues caused by
your failure to follow our Advice, or your unauthorized modification of the
Environment, as well as any services required to bring the Environment up to or maintain the Minimum
Requirements (defined below), are out-of-scope.
i.
Co-Management.
Co-Managed situations occur when we are providing the Services alongside
another IT vendor, IT manager/department, or a third party
solution provider that is providing different, complementary, or overlapping
services (“Co-Managed Situations”). An internal IT Department would be an
example of a co-managed provider, and in this Agreement
we refer to such other vendors, managers/departments, and third
party providers as “Co-Managed Providers”.
1. In Co-Managed
Situations where our Services conflict with the services
provided or facilitated by a Co-Managed Provider, we will endeavor to implement
our Services in an efficient and effective manner; however, we will not be
responsible for any delay or inability to provide or facilitate the Services
due to a Co-Managed Provider’s omissions or activities. If a Co-Managed
Provider’s actions conflict with our Services or undermine the integrity or
effectiveness of our Services, we attempt to reconcile the issue(s) with the
Co-Managed Provider. If reconciliation
is not achieved and/or cannot be agreed upon, then we will yield to the
Co-Managed Provider’s determination and bring that situation to your attention.
In Co-Managed Situations, Client hereby agrees to indemnify and hold us harmless from and against
any and all Environment-related issues, errors, downtime, exploitations, and/or
vulnerabilities (collectively, “Environment Issues”), as well as any damages,
expenses, costs, fees, charges, occurrences, obligations, claims, and causes of
action arising from Environment Issues, where the Environment Issues cannot
directly and unambiguously be traced back to any wrongdoing by Signal.
2. If the termination, suspension, or
reduction of a Co-Managed Provider’s services results in an immediate and
urgent need for replacement services (i.e., mission-critical substitute
services for those that were impacted by the Co-Managed Provider’s absence,
"Additional Services"), we may provide you with written notice of our
intent to undertake the Additional Services, which notice will include a fee
estimate and starting date that will not be earlier than 5 days after delivery
of the notice. If you do not object to our proposed Additional Services, then the Additional Services will go into effect as of the date
indicated in the notice, and your monthly invoices will be adjusted as stated
in the notice. Additional Services will run coterminous with the Services;
however, you may terminate the Additional Services at
any time by providing us with thirty (30) days advance
written notice of termination.
ii.
Prioritization. All Services will be implemented
and/or facilitated (as applicable) in a scheduled and prioritized manner as we
determine reasonable and necessary. Exact commencement or start dates may vary
or deviate from the dates we state to you depending on the Services being
provided and the extent to which prerequisites (if any), such as transition or
onboarding activities, must be completed.
iii.
Modifications. To avoid a delay or
negative impact on the Services, you agree to refrain from modifying or moving
the Environment, installing software in the Environment, or permitting any
third party to provide services for the Environment unless we expressly
authorize such activity in advance. In all situations (including those in which
we are co-managing an Environment with your Co-Managed Provider as described
above), we will not be responsible for changes to the Environment that are not
authorized by us or any issues or errors that arise from those changes.
b. Third Party Support. If, at our discretion, a hardware or software issue
requires vendor or OEM support, we may contact the vendor or OEM (as
applicable) on your behalf and invoice you for all fees and costs involved in
that process (“OEM Fees”). If OEM Fees are anticipated in advance, we will endeavor
to obtain your permission before incurring such expenses on your behalf unless
exigent circumstances require us to act otherwise. We do not warrant or
guarantee that the payment of OEM Fees will resolve any particular
problem or issue, and it is understood that the resolution process can
sometimes require the payment of OEM Fees to narrow (or potentially eliminate)
potential issues.
c.
Authorized Contact(s). We will be entitled to rely on any directions or
consent provided by your personnel or representatives who you designate to
provide such directions or consent (“Authorized Contacts”). If no Authorized
Contact is identified in an applicable Quote or if a previously identified
Authorized Contact is no longer available to us, then your Authorized Contact
will be the person (i) who accepted the Quote, and/or
(ii) who is generally designated by you during our relationship to provide us
with direction or guidance. We will be entitled to
rely upon directions and guidance from your Authorized Contact until we are
affirmatively made aware of a change of status of the
Authorized Contact. If your change is provided to us in writing (physical document or by email), then the change will be implemented
within two (2) business days after the first business day on which we receive
your change notice. If your change notice is provided to us in person or by
telephone (live calls only), the change will be implemented on the same
business day on which the conversation takes place. Do not use a
ticketing system or help desk request to notify us
about the change of an Authorized Contact; similarly, do not leave a recorded
message informing us of a change to your Authorized Contact. We reserve the
right but not the obligation to delay the Services until we can confirm the
Authorized Contact’s authority within your organization.
d. Access. You hereby
grant to us and our designated Third Party Providers
the right to monitor, diagnose, manipulate, communicate with, retrieve
information from, and otherwise access the Environment solely as necessary to
enable us or those providers, as applicable, to provide or facilitate the
Services. Depending on the Service, we may be required to install one or more
software agents into the Environment through which such access may be enabled.
It is your responsibility to secure, at your own cost and prior to the
commencement of any Services, any necessary rights of entry, licenses
(including software licenses), permits or other permissions necessary for Signal or applicable Third Party
Providers to provide or facilitate the Services to you. Proper and safe
environmental conditions must always be provided and assured by you. Signal shall not be required to engage in any activity or provide
or facilitate any Services under conditions that pose or may pose a safety or
health concern to any personnel, or that would require extraordinary or
non-industry standard efforts to achieve. We reserve the right to refrain from
sending our technicians to any location, including your premises (if
applicable), if that location is not in full compliance with all federal,
state, and local laws and regulations.
e. Ongoing Requirements. Everything in the Environment
must be genuine and licensed, including all hardware, software, etc. If we ask for proof of authenticity and/or
licensing, you must provide us with such proof.
If we require certain minimum hardware or software requirements
(“Minimum Requirements”), you agree to implement and maintain those Minimum
Requirements as an ongoing requirement of us providing the Services to
you.
f.
Response. Our response to issues
relating to the Services will be handled in accordance with the provisions of
the Quote or, if applicable, Services Guide.
In no event will we be responsible for delays in our response or our
provision of Services during (i) those periods of
time covered under the Transition Exception (defined below), or (ii) periods of
delay caused by Scheduled Down Time, Client-Side Downtime, Vendor-Side Downtime
(all defined below). or (iii) periods in which we are required to suspend the
Services to protect the security or integrity of the Environment or our
equipment or network, or (iv) delays caused by a force majeure event.
i.
Scheduled Downtime. For the purposes of this Agreement, Scheduled Downtime means the
period of downtime during which we perform scheduled maintenance or adjustments
to the Environment or to our network or systems. Scheduled Downtime will generally not occur Monday
through Friday between the hours of 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM (local time in your
jurisdiction) without your authorization or unless exigent circumstances require
us to perform emergency maintenance or related activities. We will use our best efforts to provide you with at least
twenty-four (24) hours of notice prior to Scheduled Downtime.
ii.
Client-Side Downtime. We will not be responsible under any circumstances for any delays or
deficiencies in the provision of, or access to, the Services to the extent that
such delays or deficiencies are caused by your actions or omissions, or by your
Co-Managed Provider’s acts or omissions (“Client-Side Downtime”). Client-Side
Downtime includes, but is not limited to, any period during which we require
your participation, or we require information, directions, or authorization
from you but cannot reach your Authorized Contact(s).
iii.
Vendor-Side Downtime. We will not be responsible under any circumstances for any delays or
deficiencies in the provision of, or access to, the Services or any expenses or
costs to the extent that such delays, deficiencies, costs, or expenses are
caused by Third Party Providers, third party licensors, or “upstream” service
or product vendors.
iv.
Transition Exception. You acknowledge and agree
that for the first ninety (90) days following the commencement date of any
Service, as well as the entirety of any period during which we are performing
off-boarding-related services (e.g., assisting you in the transition of
the Services to another provider, terminating a service, etc.), any response
time commitments previously provided to you will not apply to us, and it is
understood that there may be unanticipated downtime or delays related to those
activities (the “Transition Exception”).
FEES; PAYMENT
a.
Fees. You agree to pay the fees, costs, and expenses charged by us for the
Services in accordance with the amounts, methods, restrictions, and schedules described
in each Quote and the Services Guide (“Fees”).
i.
In addition to the Fees, you
are responsible for any miscellaneous costs and expenses (not to exceed $500/month
without your prior consent) that we incur in providing or facilitating the
Services to you (“Miscellaneous Expenses”).
Miscellaneous Expenses will generally appear as a line-item entry on
your invoice(s) and may include, for example, small device purchases such as
delivery/postal/courier costs, data migration tools, and registration/service
initiation fees charged by Third Party Providers.
ii.
You are responsible for
all freight, insurance, and taxes (including but not limited to import or
export duties, sales, use, value add, and excise taxes). If you qualify for a
tax exemption, you must provide us with a valid certificate of exemption or
other appropriate proof of exemption.
iii.
We reserve the right to
increase the fees, without prior notice to you and retroactively (if
applicable), to accommodate increases in the number of authorized users,
covered devices, and/or additional Client sites receiving the Services that are
detected but were not previously billed to you by Signal
b.
Nonpayment. Fees that remain unpaid for more than thirty
(30) days when due will be subject to interest on the
unpaid amount(s) from the due date until and including the date payment is
received, at the lower of either 1.5% per month or the maximum allowable rate
of interest permitted by applicable law. We reserve the right, but not the
obligation, to suspend part or all the Services without prior notice to you if
any portion of undisputed fees are not timely paid.
Monthly or recurring charges (if applicable) will continue to accrue during any
period of suspension. Notice of disputes related to Fees must be received by us within
sixty (60) days after the date on which an applicable invoice is delivered to
you, otherwise you waive your right to dispute the Fee thereafter. We reserve
the right to charge a reasonable reconnect fee (of no more than 10% of your
monthly recurring fees or the actual amounts that Third Party Providers charge
to reconnect the services, whichever is greater) if we suspend the Services due
to your nonpayment.
c.
Minimum Monthly Fees. The initial Fees indicated in the Quote for recurring
services are the minimum monthly fees (“MMF”) charged to you during the
term. You agree that the amounts paid by
you under the Quote will not drop below the MMF regardless of the number of
users or devices to which the Services are directed or applied, unless we agree
to the reduction.
d.
Increases. We reserve the right to
increase our monthly recurring fees by reflecting the increase on your monthly
invoices; provided, however, if a single increase in a calendar year or all
such increases, in the aggregate, in a calendar year is/are more than five
percent (5%) of the fees charged for the same Services in the prior calendar
year, then you will be provided with a sixty (60) day opportunity to terminate
the Services by providing us with written notice of termination (“Termination
Option Period”). If you timely terminate the Services during the Termination
Option Period, you will be responsible for the payment of all fees that accrue
up to the termination date and all pre-approved, non-mitigatable expenses that
we incurred in our provision of the Services through the date of termination
(such as “per seat licensing costs”, as discussed below). Your continued acceptance or use of the
Services after the Termination Option Period will indicate your acceptance of
the increased fees. Pass Through Increases (described below), as well as any
fee increases due to the addition of managed devices, users, or Environment
modification(s) are independent of any increases to our monthly recurring fees
and will not be included in the five percent calculation described in this
paragraph.
e. Pass
Through Increases. We reserve the
right to pass through to you any incremental increases in the costs and/or fees
for Third Party Services (“Pass Through Increases”). Since we do not control
Third Party Providers or Third Party Services, we
cannot predict whether such price increases will occur. Should they occur, we
will endeavor to provide you with as much advance notice as reasonably
possible.
f.
Method of Payments. The fees listed in a Quote assume that all payments will
be paid in cash by electronic transfer (i.e., ACH). If you desire to pay by credit card, then we reserve
the right to charge a convenience fee equal to the actual costs we incur to
accept your credit card, which will not be more than four percent (4%) of the
amount invoiced. When enrolled in an ACH payment processing
method, you authorize us to electronically debit your designated checking or
savings account for any payments due under the Quote. This authorization will continue until
otherwise terminated in writing by you.
We will apply a $20.00 service charge (or the maximum amount permitted
by law, whichever is less) to your account for any electronic debit that is
returned unpaid due to insufficient funds or due to your bank’s electronic
draft restrictions.
g.
Expenses. Any costs or expenses that we incur while providing the Services
during a national, state, or local emergency or during a period in which there
are fuel, manpower, or other national or local shortages (“State of Emergency”)
will be invoiced and payable by you. By way of example, such expenses may
include incremental increases in the cost of gasoline or electrical power, or
the purchase of health or safety equipment reasonably necessary to provide or
facilitate the Services to you.
LIMITED WARRANTIES; LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY
a. Hardware
/ Software Purchases. All equipment, machines,
hardware, software, peripherals, or accessories purchased through Signal (“Third Party Products”) are
generally nonrefundable once the item is ordered from Signal’s third-party provider or reseller.
If you desire to return a Third Party Product, then
the third-party provider’s or reseller’s return policies will apply. We do not
guarantee that Third Party Products will be returnable, exchangeable, or that
re-stocking fees can or will be avoided, and you agree to be responsible for paying
all re-stocking or return-related fees charged by the third-party provider or
reseller. We will use reasonable efforts to assign, transfer and facilitate all
warranties (if any) and service level commitments (if any) for the Third Party
Products to you, but will have no liability whatsoever for the quality,
functionality, or operability of any Third Party Products, and we will not be
held liable as an insurer or guarantor of the performance, uptime or usefulness
of any Third Party Products. You will be responsible for all fees and costs (if
any) charged for warranty-related service.
All Third Party Products are provided “as is”
and without any warranty whatsoever as between Signal and you (including but not limited to
implied warranties).
b.
Liability
Limitations. This
paragraph limits the liabilities arising from the Services and is a
bargained-for and material part of our business relationship with you. You acknowledge and agree that Signal would not provide any Services, or
enter into any Quote or this Agreement, unless Signal could rely on the limitations
described in this paragraph. In no event will either party be liable for any
indirect, special, exemplary, consequential, or punitive damages, such as lost
revenue, loss of profits (except for fees due and owing to Signal), savings, or other indirect or
contingent event-based economic loss arising out of or in connection with the
Services, this Agreement, any Quote, or for any breach hereof or for any
damages caused by any delay in furnishing Services under this Agreement or any
Quote, even if a party has been advised of the possibility of such damages;
however, amounts you owe us under this Agreement, reasonable attorneys’ fees
awarded to a prevailing party (as described below), your indemnification
obligations, and any amounts due and payable pursuant to the non-solicitation
provision of this Agreement shall not be limited by the foregoing limitation. Except
for the foregoing exceptions, a responsible party’s (“Responsible Party’s”)
aggregate liability to the other party (“Aggrieved Party”) for damages from any
and all claims or causes whatsoever, and regardless of the form of any such
action(s), that arise from or relate to this Agreement (collectively,
“Claims”), whether in contract, tort, indemnification, or negligence, shall be
limited solely to the amount of the Aggrieved Party’s actual and direct
damages, not to exceed the amount of fees paid by you (excluding hard costs for
licenses, hardware, etc.) to Signal for the specific Service upon which the applicable claim(s) is/are
based during the six (6) month period immediately prior to the date on which
the cause of action accrued, or $10,000, or the amounts that are actually paid
out under a Responsible Party’s insurance policy, whichever is greater. The parties agree that only one
of the foregoing financial remedies may be selected by an Aggrieved Party and
once selected, the selected remedy shall be the sole financial remedy available
to the Aggrieved Party to the exclusion of all other remedies.
The foregoing limitations shall apply even if the remedies listed in
this Agreement fail of their essential purpose; however, the limitations shall
not apply to the extent that such limitations are prohibited under applicable
law, or to the extent that the Claims are caused by a Responsible Party’s
willful or intentional misconduct, or gross negligence. Similarly, a
Responsible Party’s liability obligation shall be reduced to the extent that a
Claim is caused by, or the result of, the Aggrieved Party’s willful or
intentional misconduct, gross negligence, or to the extent that the Aggrieved
Party failed to reasonably mitigate (or attempt to mitigate, as applicable) the
Claims. Under no circumstances shall Signal have any liability for any claims
or causes of action arising from or related to Out of Scope Services.
c.
Waiver of
Liability for Admin/Root Access. We strongly advise
you to refrain from providing administrative (or “root”) access to the
Environment to any party other than Signal, as such access by any person other
than a Signal employee could make the Environment susceptible to serious security
and operational issues caused by, among other things, human error,
hardware/software incompatibility, malware/virus attacks, and related
occurrences.
i)
If we do not have
exclusive access to, or exclusive control over, the administrative areas of the
Environment, then we will not be responsible for, and you agree to hold us
harmless against, all Environment-related issues, downtime, exploitations,
and/or vulnerabilities, as well as any damages, expenses, costs, fees, charges,
occurrences, obligations, claims, and causes of action (collectively “Claims”)
arising from or related to any activities that occur, may occur, or were likely
to have occurred in or through the Environment at an administrative or root
level, as well as any issues, downtime, exploitations, vulnerabilities, or
Claims that can reasonably be traced back or connected to activities occurring
at the administrative or root level (“Activities”) in the Environment provided,
of course, that such Activities were not directly performed or authorized in
writing by Signal. Signal’s business records shall be final and determinative
proof of whether any Activities were performed or authorized in writing by Signal.
ii)
If we have exclusive
control over the administrative areas of the Environment and, subsequently, you
request or require us to provide any non-Signal personnel (i.e., non-Signal
employees, Co-Managed Providers, etc.) with administrative or root access to
any portion of the Environment, then you hereby agree to indemnify and hold us
harmless from and against any and all Claims arising from Activities, provided that
the Activities were not directly performed or authorized in writing by Signal. Signal’s
business records shall be final and determinative proof of whether any
Activities were performed or authorized in writing by Signal.
d.
Waiver of
Liability for Legacy Devices. As used herein, “Legacy Device” means a piece of equipment, device,
hardware, or software that is outdated, obsolete, incompatible with
industry-standards, and/or no longer supported by its original manufacturer. Legacy
Devices may cause vulnerabilities in your network, or they may fail from time
to time or cause other parts or processes of the Environment to operate
improperly or (in some cases) fail. Neither we nor any Third Party Provider
will be responsible for the remediation of issues arising from or related to
the existence or use of Legacy Devices in the Environment, and we and our Third
Party Providers will be held harmless from and against all issues, claims, and
causes of action arising from or related to the existence or use of Legacy
Devices in the Environment. Any advice, guidance, or service that we provide or
facilitate for a Legacy Device is an accommodation, not a contractual
obligation, and does not create any guarantee, warranty, or further or
continuing duty by us to support, facilitate or provide services to such
device(s). We will not be liable under any circumstances for any issues
(including but not limited to downtime or vulnerabilities) that arise from or
relate to Legacy Devices. We strongly advise you to review your company’s
insurance policies to determine the extent to which the existence of Legacy
Devices in the Environment would create an exclusion of insurance coverage in
the event of a security-related incident.
e.
Compliance
Requirements. If the Environment is
subject to minimum regulatory compliance requirements and, under those
circumstances, non-compliance by you could result in fees, fines, or penalties
imposed on Signal, we will bring that situation to your attention. If, after receiving such notice, you do not
bring the Environment into compliance (i.e., abating the risk to Signal),
then at our option we may (i) implement solutions
into the Environment to abate the risk posed to Signal and you hereby agree to
pay for those solutions as implemented by us, or (ii) terminate the applicable
Services For Cause.
f.
Waiver of
Liability for Third Party Access. You agree to refrain from
intentionally or knowingly providing or sharing access to the Environment with
any third party who is unknown to Signal. You agree that if you intentionally
or knowingly provide or share such access, then Signal will not be responsible
for the remediation of any issues that may arise as a result thereof, nor shall
Signal be liable for any costs, fees, expenses, or claims arising from or
related to such access.
INDEMNIFICATION
You agree to
indemnify us and hold us harmless from and against all fees, costs, and expenses
(including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees, expert witness
costs, and discovery-related costs) that we incur as a result of (i) your failure to comply with any applicable law, rule, or
regulation, or (ii) your failure to follow our service-related or
license-related instructions, or (iii) being required to participate as a
witness or a party in any legal action, arbitration, or mediation arising from
your business disputes, internal or otherwise, or (iv) any third party audits
necessitated by your acts, omissions, or business-related needs. In addition, each
party (an “Indemnifying Party”) agrees to indemnify, defend, and hold the other
party (an “Indemnified Party”) harmless from and against all losses, damages,
costs, expenses, or liabilities, including reasonable attorneys’ fees,
(collectively, “Damages”) that arise from, or are related to, the Indemnifying
Party’s breach of this Agreement. The Indemnified Party will have the right,
but not the obligation, to control the intake, defense and disposition of any
claim or cause of action for which indemnity may be sought under this section.
The Indemnifying Party shall be permitted to have counsel of its choosing
participate in the defense of the applicable claim(s); however, (i) such counsel shall be retained at the Indemnifying
Party’s sole cost, and (ii) the Indemnified Party’s counsel shall be the
ultimate determiner of the strategy and defense of the claim(s) for which
indemnity is provided. No claim for which indemnity is sought by an Indemnified
Party will be settled without the Indemnifying Party’s prior written consent,
which shall not be unreasonably delayed or withheld.
TERM; TERMINATION
Please note: This section contains important
provisions relating to the automatic renewal of managed services; please review
this section, as well as the terms of your Quote, carefully. There are several dates of which you
should be aware, including the effective/termination dates of this Agreement
and the effective/termination dates of the Services under a Quote. Each Quote will have its own term and will be
terminated only as provided in this Agreement or as provided in the Quote or Services
Guide.
a. This Agreement. This Agreement applies to all Services and is effective as of the date
on which we provide or facilitate a Service to you or on the date on which you accept
a Quote, whichever is earlier (“Effective Date”). This Agreement will terminate automatically (i) if you or we terminate this Agreement For
Cause (described below), or (ii) thirty (30) days after the last date on which we
have provided the Services to you or facilitated the Services for you (as
applicable). Upon the termination of
this Agreement or Services under a Quote, all Services will immediately and
permanently cease; however, the termination of this Agreement or Services under
a Quote shall not change or eliminate any fees that accrued and/or were payable
to us prior to the date of termination, all of which shall be paid by you. Please note, this Agreement shall not be terminated by either party without
cause if Services are in progress under a Quote.
b. Term. The term of the Services will be as indicated in the applicable Quote
and Services Guide. The termination of Services under one Quote shall not, by
itself, cause the termination of (or otherwise impact) this Agreement or the
status or progress of any other Services between the parties. Please note, unless otherwise
expressly stated in the Quote, the Services in each Quote automatically renew
(please see “Auto-Renewal” section below).
Moreover, regardless of the reason for termination, you agree to pay all
Access Licensing-related fees as described in the Miscellaneous section, below.
c.
Termination Without Cause. Unless otherwise indicated in the Quote or otherwise
permitted under this Agreement, no party will terminate this Agreement without
cause if, on the date of termination, Services are in progress. In addition, no
party will terminate a Quote without cause prior to the Quote’s natural (i.e.,
specified) expiration or termination date. (By way of example: If a Quote provides for an annual service, then the Services under that
Quote cannot be terminated without cause prior to the expiration of one year). If
you terminate the Services under a Quote without cause and without Signal’s consent, then you agree to be
responsible for paying the termination fee described in the “Termination for
Cause” section, below.
d. Termination
For Cause. In the event that one
party (a “Defaulting Party”) commits a material breach under a Quote, Services
Guide, or under this Agreement, the non-Defaulting Party will have the right,
but not the obligation, to terminate immediately the Services under the relevant
Quote (a “For Cause” termination) provided that (i)
the non-Defaulting Party has notified the Defaulting Party of the specific
details of the breach in writing, and (ii) the Defaulting Party has not cured
the default within twenty (20) days (ten (10) days for non-payment by Client)
following receipt of written notice of breach from the non-Defaulting Party.
i) Remedies for Early Termination.
If Signal terminates this Agreement or any Quote
For Cause, or if you terminate any Services under a Quote without cause prior
to such Quote’s expiration date, then Signal shall be entitled to receive, and you hereby agree to pay to us, all
amounts that would have been paid to Signal had this Agreement or Quote (as applicable) remained in full effect,
calculated using the fees and costs in effect as of the date of termination
(“Termination Fee”). If you terminate this Agreement or a Quote For Cause, then you will be responsible for paying only for
those Services that were delivered properly and accepted by you up to the
effective date of termination, as well as per-seat licensing fees (described
below), and nothing more.
ii) Service Tickets. Given the vast number of interactions between hardware, software,
wireless, and cloud-based solutions, a managed network may occasionally experience
disruptions and/or downtime due to, among other things, hardware/software
conflicts, communication-related issues, obsolete equipment, and/or user error
(“Conflicts”). We cannot and do not guarantee that such Conflicts will not
occur, and you understand and agree that the number of service tickets
submitted by you is not, by itself, an indication of default by Signal.
g. Client
Activity as a Basis for Termination. If you or any of your staff, personnel, contractors, or
representatives engages in any unacceptable act or behavior that renders it
impracticable, imprudent, or unreasonable to provide or facilitate the Services
to you and the activity does not cease after we provide notice of the issue(s)
to you, then in addition to Signal’s other rights under this Agreement, Signal will have the right, upon providing
you with ten (10) days prior written notice, to terminate this Agreement or the
applicable Quote For Cause.
h.
Consent. You and we may mutually consent, in writing, to
terminate a Quote or this Agreement at any time.
i.
Auto-Renewal. Unless otherwise expressly stated in the Quote, the term of any managed
Service that is provided to you on an ongoing and recurring basis and which is
invoiced monthly (a “Managed Service”) will, unless terminated earlier as per
this Agreement, automatically renew for contiguous terms equal to the initial
term of the Managed Service unless either party notifies the other of its
intention to not renew the Managed Service in writing (email is sufficient for
this purpose) no less than thirty (30) days before the end of the then-current
Managed Service term. For the purposes of
clarity, the term of non-Managed Services (such as one-time projects, break/fix
assignments, temporary, non-recurring services, etc.) is not subject to
auto-renewal.
j.
Equipment / Software Removal. Upon termination of this Agreement or applicable Quote for any
reason, you agree to return to us all Signal-supplied equipment (such as equipment provided
under a hardware-as-a-service paradigm). If any of the equipment is missing, broken or damaged (normal
wear and tear excepted) or any Signal-supplied software is missing, we will have the right to invoice you
for, and you hereby agree to pay immediately, the full replacement value of all
missing or damaged items.
k.
Software Agents. Certain services may
require the installation of software agents in the Environment (“Software
Agents”). Unless we expressly direct you to do so, you
will not remove or disable, or attempt to remove or disable, any Software
Agents. Doing so without our guidance
may make it difficult or impracticable to remove the Software Agents, which could
result in network vulnerabilities and/or the continuation of license fees for
which you will be responsible, and/or the requirement that we remediate the
situation at our then-current hourly rates, for which you will also be
responsible.
l.
Transition; Deletion of Data. If you request our assistance to transition away from our services, we will provide such
assistance if (i) all fees due and owing to us are
paid to us in full prior to Signal providing its assistance to you, and (ii) you agree to pay our
then-current hourly rate for such assistance, with up-front amounts to be paid
to us as we may require. For the purposes of clarity, it is understood and
agreed that the retrieval and provision of configuration and/or administrative passwords,
log files, administrative server information, or conversion of data are
transition services, and are subject to the preceding requirements. You also
understand and agree that any software configurations that we custom create or
program for you are our proprietary information and shall not be disclosed to
you under any circumstances. Unless
otherwise expressly stated in a Quote or Services Guide or prohibited by
applicable law, we will have no obligation to store or maintain any Client data
in our possession or control following the termination of this Agreement or the
applicable Services.
CONFIDENTIALITY
a.
Defined. Confidential Information means all non-public
information provided by one party (“Discloser”) to the other party
(“Recipient”), including but not limited to customer-related data, customer
lists, internal documents, internal communications, proprietary reports and
methodologies, and related information. Confidential
Information will not include information that: (i)
has become part of the public domain through no act or omission of the Recipient, (ii) was developed independently by the Recipient, or (iii) is or was lawfully and independently provided to
the Recipient prior to disclosure by the Discloser, from a third party
who is not and was not subject to an obligation of confidentiality or otherwise
prohibited from transmitting such information.
b.
Use. The Recipient will keep the Confidential Information it receives fully
confidential and will not use or disclose such information to any third party
for any purpose except (i) as expressly authorized by
the Discloser in writing, or (ii) as needed to fulfill its obligations under
this Agreement, or (iii) as required by any law, rule, or industry-related
regulation.
c.
Due Care. The Recipient will exercise the same degree of care
with respect to the Confidential Information it receives from the Discloser as it
normally takes to safeguard and preserve its own confidential and proprietary
information, which in all cases will be at least a commercially reasonable
level of care. The obligations of confidentiality in this Section shall survive
for the greater of five (5) years or the longest period of
time permitted by applicable law, whichever is earlier.
d.
Compelled Disclosure. If a
Recipient is legally compelled (whether by deposition, interrogatory,
request for documents, subpoena, civil investigation, demand or similar
process) to disclose any of the Confidential Information, and provided that it
is not prohibited by law from doing so, that
Recipient will immediately notify the Discloser in writing of such
requirement so that the Discloser may seek a protective order or other appropriate remedy
and/or waive the Recipient’s compliance with the provisions of this Section. Failing
the entry of a protective order or the receipt of a waiver hereunder, the Recipient may disclose, without
liability hereunder, that portion (and only that portion) of the Confidential
Information that the Recipient has been advised, by written opinion from its counsel (which shall be shared
with the Discloser), that the
Recipient is legally compelled to disclose. To the extent that we are required
to expend our resources to comply with a legal requirement concerning your
information (such as a response to a subpoena or court order), then you agree
to pay our then-current hourly rates for all time we expend in that process, as
well as all non-mitigatable hard costs we incur in complying with our legal
requirements.
e.
Duration. The confidentiality
provisions of this Agreement shall continue throughout the term of each Quote
and continue for no less than seven (7) years after the last date on which we
provide or facilitate Services for you. Notwithstanding the foregoing, neither
party shall ever disclose any of the other party’s trade secrets (as that term
is defined by applicable law) at any time.
This paragraph shall survive the termination of this Agreement.
f.
Additional NDA. In our provision of the
Services, you and we may be required to enter into one or more additional
nondisclosure agreements (each an “NDA”) for the protection of a third party’s
Confidential Information. In that event, the terms of the NDA will be read in
conjunction with the terms of the confidentiality provisions of this Agreement,
and the terms that protect confidentiality most stringently shall govern the
use and destruction of the relevant Confidential Information.
While Signal does not generally have a
business relationship with you that involves sharing, handling, reviewing,
viewing, storing, transmitting, or otherwise processing any of your (or your
customers’) Personal Information, Customer Information, or Nonpublic Personal
Information (as those terms are defined by applicable state and federal laws,
collectively, “NPI”), Signal nevertheless may occasionally come in contact
with NPI through its implementation of the Services. Should that happen, Signal
hereby agrees :
·
to maintain physical,
electronic, and procedural safeguards that comply with applicable state and
federal laws to protect the confidentiality of all NPI to which it might come
in contact;
·
it will not disclose or
use such NPI other than to carry out the purposes explicitly required or
otherwise disclosed in this Agreement or any Quote;
·
it will maintain such NPI
only for as long as necessary to provide or facilitate the applicable Services;
·
it will return or securely
destroy all such NPI upon completion or termination of the applicable Services;
and,
·
it will, upon your request,
but no more than once per year, complete a Client-provided risk assessment
questionnaire as required by applicable law.
OWNERSHIP
Each party is, and will remain, the
owner and/or licensor of all works of authorship, patents, trademarks,
copyrights, and other intellectual property owned by such party (“Intellectual
Property”), and nothing in this Agreement, any Quote, or a Services Guide conveys
or grants any ownership rights or goodwill in one party’s Intellectual Property
to the other party. For the purposes of clarity, you understand and agree that
we own any software, codes, algorithms, or other works of authorship that we
create while providing the Services to you. If we provide licenses to you for
third party software, then you understand and agree that such software is
licensed, and not sold, to you, and your use of that software is subject to the
terms and conditions of (i) this Agreement, (ii) the applicable Quote, (iii) written directions
supplied to you by us, and (iv) any applicable End User Agreement (defined
below); no other uses of such third party software are permitted. To the
maximum extent permitted by applicable law, we make no warranty or
representation, either expressed or implied, with respect to third party
software or its quality, performance, merchantability, or fitness for a
particular purpose.
ARBITRATION
Except for collections actions to recover
fees due to us (“Collections”) or any amounts that qualify for small claims
court jurisdiction in our local jurisdiction, all disputes, claims, or
controversies arising from or related to this Agreement, including the
determination of the scope or applicability of this agreement to arbitrate,
shall be settled by arbitration before one arbitrator who is mutually agreed
upon by the parties. There is no
jury involved in arbitration, and by agreeing to arbitrate you are agreeing to
waive any right you may have to a trial by a jury. The arbitration shall be
administered and conducted by the American Arbitration Association (the “AAA”)
pursuant to the AAA’s arbitration rules for commercial disputes (the “Rules”). In the event of any inconsistency between the Rules and the
procedures set forth in this paragraph, the procedures set forth in this
paragraph will control. The arbitrator will be experienced in commercial contracts
and information technology transactions. If the parties cannot agree on an
arbitrator within fifteen (15) days after a demand for arbitration is filed,
the AAA shall select the arbitrator. The arbitration
shall take place in our office unless we agree to a different venue. The
arbitrator will determine the scope of discovery in the matter; however, it is
the intent of the parties that any discovery proceedings be limited to the
specific issues in the applicable matter, and that discovery be tailored to
fulfill that intent. Initially, the cost of the arbitration shall be split
evenly between the parties; however, the party prevailing in the arbitration
shall be entitled to an award of its reasonable
attorneys’ fees and costs.
TERMS APPLICABLE TO RESALE OF LICENSES
If
a Quote includes the resale of third party licenses,
then in addition to the terms of this Agreement and the Quote, the following
additional terms shall apply:
a. Single User License. Each third party
software license (“License”) shall permit a single licensee to access and use
the software in a single session. The use of a License by multiple licensees,
or the simultaneous use of the software by a licensee on multiple devices, is
prohibited.
b. License Enforcement. The licensor and/or the manufacturer of the
software (“Licensor”) reserves the right to monitor each licensee’s use of a
License and, further, reserves the right to suspend a licensee’s access to, and
use of, the software if it has a reasonable belief that the software is being
used in a manner that violates its applicable end user license agreement (or
similar terms or conditions of use).
c.
EULA. Each licensee shall be required to accept
and comply with the terms of Licensor’s end user license agreement.
d. No Subsequent Resale of Software. Software license purchased in a Quote are not
permitted to be subsequently resold to others unless the Quote specifically and
expressly states otherwise. If the Quote
authorizes the subsequent resale of Licenses, then Client is authorized to
resell the Licenses to a third party; however, no additional subsequent
resales, assignments, or transfers shall be permitted without the Licensor’s or
our express written permission.
e. No Infringement. No licensee shall engage in any activity
that violates, or is likely to violate, Licensor’s intellectual property rights
(such as, for example, circumventing or disabling security-related
functionalities in the software, creating derivative works of the software, or
reverse engineering the software except where expressly permitted by law) or
the intellectual property or privacy rights of any third party. No licensee
shall be permitted to bid on, target, or otherwise interfere with any of
Licensor’s branded keywords or trademarks in any online advertising, including
Google, YouTube, Facebook/Meta, or similar online venues.
MISCELLANEOUS
a. Incident Mitigation Coverage. If an incident occurs for which you intend to
apply for insurance coverage (an “Insurable Incident”), you are advised to
first notify your insurance carrier prior to requesting that we attempt to
remediate the Insurable Incident. Some
insurance policies may require you to use specific solution providers other
than Signal to remediate Insurable Incidents, and the use of non-carrier
approved vendors may reduce or nullify your insurance coverage. If you request that we remediate an Insurable
Incident, then you agree that (i) our services will
be billed to you, and you agree to pay for those services, at our then-current
hourly rates (unless we agree otherwise in writing), and (ii) you waive all
rights of subrogation for the Insurable Incidents and we, as well as our insurance
carrier(s), will be held harmless if our efforts negatively impact your
insurance coverage.
b. Insurance Forms. If we assist in the preparation or
completion of any insurance-related forms, compliance-related questionnaires,
or similar third party documentation, you understand and agree that our
responses are based on our limited knowledge of your managed IT environment as
of the date of those responses and, in all cases, are provided on an “as is”
basis with no guaranty or warranty of accuracy or completeness. To the extent
that your managed IT environment has been modified by you or any third party
without our knowledge, and/or to the extent that you have circumvented,
disabled, or failed to implement any features or functions of any of the
Services we provide or facilitate for you (collectively, “Unauthorized
Activity”), our responses may be incorrect or obsolete and should not be relied
upon. You agree to hold us harmless and indemnify us
against any claims, expenses, and fees (including reasonable attorneys’ fees)
that we incur because of any Unauthorized Activity or the inaccuracy of our
responses where such inaccuracies arise from, or are based on, Unauthorized
Activity.
c.
Changes to Services Guide. Services,
and the policies governing the implementation, facilitation, or provision of
the Services, are further described and governed under our Services Guide (described
above). We reserve the right, and you
hereby agree that we are permitted, to modify our Services
Guide (and the Services themselves) from time to time and at
our discretion, to accommodate changes in the industry and relevant services
required under a Quote. You will be notified of any changes that materially and
negatively impact the Services by email.
d. End User Agreements. Portions of the Services may require
you to accept the terms of one or more third party end user license agreements
(EULAs), third party customer agreements, and/or third party
subscription agreements (collectively, “End User Agreements”). If the acceptance of an End
User Agreement is required for you to receive any Services, then you hereby
grant us permission to accept the applicable agreement(s) on your behalf. You may request a list of all End User
Agreements into which we have entered on your behalf by sending your written
request to us (email is sufficient for this purpose). If an End User Agreement
deviates materially from industry-standards (i.e., contains terms that
are different than those generally offered by similarly situated companies to
end users on an industry-wide basis), then we will bring that situation to your
attention. End User Agreements may contain service levels, warranties and/or
liability limitations different from those contained in this Agreement. You agree to be bound by the terms of all applicable End User Agreements. If, while providing the
Services, you or we are required to comply with an End User Agreement and that
agreement is modified or amended, we reserve the right to modify or amend any
applicable Quote with you to ensure your and our continued compliance with the
terms of the applicable End User Agreement.
e. Devices. You hereby represent and warrant
that we are authorized to access all devices, peripherals and/or computer
processing units, including mobile devices (such as notebook computers, smart phones,
and tablet computers) that are connected to the Environment (collectively,
“Devices”), regardless of whether such Devices are owned, leased, or otherwise
controlled by you. Unless otherwise stated in writing by us, Devices
managed under a Quote will not receive or benefit from the Services while the
devices are powered off, detached from, or unconnected to, the Environment. Client is strongly advised to
refrain from connecting Devices to the Environment where such devices are not
previously known to us and are not expressly covered under a managed service
plan from us (“Unknown Devices”). We will not be responsible for the diagnosis or remediation of any
issues in the Environment caused by the connection or use of Unknown Devices in
the Environment, and we will not be obligated to provide the Services to any
Unknown Devices.
f.
Data on Returned Equipment. The information on equipment returned to us at the end of the Services
(such as data provided to you on a hardware-as-a-service basis) will be
deleted; however, we cannot and do not guarantee that deleted information will
be rendered irrecoverable under all circumstances, and we will not be liable
for claims, issues, or incidents arising from or related to the unauthorized
recovery of or access to data located in returned equipment. We strongly recommend that you permanently
delete any personal, confidential, and/or highly-sensitive information from
such equipment before returning equipment to us.
g. E-Waste Disposal. Any electronic parts, components, or
products that we accept from you for disposal, recycling, or reuse (“e-waste”)
will be handled in accordance with all applicable laws. Depending on the type
of e-waste received, at our discretion we may deliver the e-waste to recycling
centers designated for such purpose, physically destroy the returned materials,
and/or refurbish and reuse the e-waste.
We will endeavor to erase all personal data previously installed in the e-waste
prior to placing the material(s) back into circulation. Although we will endeavor to delete all
personal data from e-waste before disposing of same, we cannot and do not
guarantee that all such data will be rendered irrecoverable under all
circumstances. We will not be liable for claims, issues, or incidents arising
from or related to the unauthorized recovery of or access to data located in
e-waste. For that reason, we strongly recommend that you permanently delete any
personal, confidential, and/or highly-sensitive information from all e-waste
before providing e-waste to us.
h.
Title to Purchased Hardware. Title to hardware, devices, or accessories
purchased through us (“Purchased Hardware”) will not pass to Client until we
have received, in full, all applicable fees for the Purchased Hardware.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, upon Client’s receipt (at its delivery location)
or possession of the Purchased Hardware, regardless of whether all
purchase-related fees have been paid, Client is fully responsible for all risk
of loss and/or damage to the Purchased Hardware.
i.
Compliance; No Legal Advice. Unless otherwise expressly stated in a Quote, the
Services are not intended, and will not be used, to bring you into full
regulatory compliance with any rule, regulation, or requirement that may be
applicable to your business or operations. Depending on the Services provided,
the Services may aid your efforts to fulfill regulatory compliance; however, unless
otherwise explicitly stated in the Quote, the Services are not (and should not
be used as) a compliance solution. Neither the results of any Service nor
any proposed or suggested remediation, action, or response plan (“Plan”) are
legal advice and shall not be construed as such. Client is responsible for obtaining
its own legal representation related to any of Client’s industry, regulatory,
and/or statutory-related requirements (“Applicable Laws”). Client
is advised to consult its own legal resources
before relying on any advice or recommendations made by Signal that pertain to
or impact Applicable Laws. Client
understands that any Plan provided to Client will be based on the status of the
applicable rules/laws in place at the time that the Plan is delivered, and subsequent
changes to the status or content of any applicable laws/rules may render the
Plan obsolete.
i)
Compliance-as-a-Service. If you subscribe to a
compliance-as-a-service (“CaaS”) or similar type of service (as indicated in a
Quote), then you understand and agree (a) you must provide full, complete, and
accurate information to us and/or our designated Third Party CaaS provider, (b)
the CaaS-related instructions and recommendations only apply to your business
as of the date that such instructions and recommendations (“CaaS Results”) are
provided. Subsequent changes in relevant
law may render the CaaS Results inaccurate or obsolete, in which event you
would be required to update or re-enroll in CaaS services, at your cost, to
ensure continued compliance.
j.
Disclosure. You warrant and represent that you
know of no law or regulation governing your business that would impede or
restrict our provision of the Services, or that would require us to register
with, or report our provision of the Services (or the results thereof), to any
government or regulatory authority. You agree to promptly notify us if you
become subject to any of the foregoing which, in our discretion, may require a
modification to the scope or pricing of the Services. Similarly, if you are subject to responsibilities under any
applicable privacy law (such as HIPAA), then you agree to identify to us any
data or information subject to protection under that law prior to providing
such information to us or, as applicable, prior to giving us access to such
information.
k. No Fiduciary. The scope of our relationship with you is limited to the specific
Services provided to you; no other relationship, fiduciary or otherwise, exists
or will exist between us. If, by operation of law, a
fiduciary relationship is imposed or presumed for out-of-scope services, you
hereby waive that relationship and any fiduciary obligations thereunder.
l.
Virtual Security. You understand and agree that no security solution is one hundred
percent effective, and any security paradigm may be circumvented and/or
rendered ineffective by certain malicious actors, intentional (or
unintentional) actions, or malware such as certain ransomware or rootkits that
were unknown to the malware prevention industry at the time of infection,
and/or which are downloaded or installed into the Environment. We do not
warrant or guarantee that any security-related service, product, or solution
offered, implemented, or facilitated by us will be capable of detecting, avoiding,
quarantining, or removing all malicious code, spyware, malware, etc., or that
any data deleted, corrupted, or encrypted by any of the foregoing (“Impacted
Data”) will be recoverable. Unless otherwise expressly stated in a Quote, the
recovery of Impacted Data is out-of-scope. Moreover,
unless expressly stated in a Quote or Services Guide, we will not be
responsible for activating multifactor authentication in any application in or
connected to the Environment. You are strongly advised to (i)
educate your employees to properly identify and react to “phishing” activity (i.e.,
fraudulent attempts to obtain sensitive information or encourage behavior by
disguising oneself as a trustworthy entity or person through email), and (ii)
obtain insurance against cyberattacks, data loss, malware-related matters, and
privacy-related breaches, as such incidents can occur even under a “best
practice” scenario. Unless
a malware-related incident is caused by our intentionally malicious behavior or
our gross negligence, we are held harmless from any costs, expenses, or damages
arising from or related to such incidents.
m. Security
Incidents. For the purposes of this
paragraph, “Security Incident(s)” means an event (or series of events) that
compromises, or has the potential to compromise, the security, confidentiality,
or integrity of the Environment or any of the data transmitted or accessible
through the Environment or contained or stored in the Environment. Unless otherwise expressly stated in a Quote,
the Services do not include the remediation of a Security Incident, nor the
recovery of data that may be corrupted, deleted, or made inaccessible due to
the Security Incident. All suspected or known Security Incidents about which
you may become aware must be reported to us immediately. Any steps we take to
mitigate the impact of a Security Incident or diagnose and quarantine the cause
of the Security Incident shall not expand or enlarge the scope of the Services
to include remediation.
n. Physical Security. You agree to
implement and maintain reasonable physical security for all managed hardware
and related devices in your physical possession or control. Such security
measures should include (i) physical barriers, such
as door and cabinet locks, designed to prevent unauthorized physical access to
protected equipment, (ii) an alarm system to mitigate and/or prevent
unauthorized access to the premises at which the protected equipment is
located, (iii) fire detection and retardant systems, and (iv) periodic reviews
of personnel access rights to ensure that access policies are being enforced,
and to help ensure that all access rights are correct and promptly updated.
o.
Updates. Patches and
updates to hardware and software (“Updates”) are created and distributed by
third parties—such as equipment or software manufacturers—and may be supplied
to us from time to time for installation into the Environment. If Updates are
provided to you as part of the Services, we will implement and follow the
manufacturers’ recommendations for the installation of Updates; however, (i) we do not warrant or guarantee that any Update will
perform properly, (ii) we will not be responsible for any downtime or losses
arising from or related to the installation, use, or inability to use any
Update, (iii) we will not be responsible for the remediation of any device or
software that is rendered inoperable or non-functional due to the Update, and
(iv) we reserve the right, but not the obligations, to refrain from installing
an Update until we have determined, in our reasonable discretion, that the
Updates will be compatible with the configuration of the Environment and
materially beneficial to the features or functionality of the affected software
or hardware.
p.
No Poaching. Unless prohibited by applicable
law, each party (a “Restricted Party”) acknowledges
and agrees that during the term of this Agreement and for a period of one (1)
year following the termination of this Agreement, the Restricted Party will
not, individually or in conjunction with others, directly or indirectly hire or
retain the services of any of the other party’s employees with whom the
Restricted Party worked or otherwise had regular or material contact (each, a
“Restricted Employee”), or solicit, induce, or encourage a Restricted Employee to
discontinue or reduce the scope of the Restricted Employee’s business
relationship with the other party. In the event of a violation of the terms of
the restrictive covenants in this section, the parties acknowledge and agree
that the damages to the other party would be difficult or impracticable to
determine, and in such event, if the Restricted Party does not promptly cure
the situation after receiving notice of the breach from the other party, then the
Restricted Party will pay the other party as liquidated damages and not as a
penalty an amount equal to one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) or the
amount that the other party paid to that employee in the one (1) year period
immediately preceding the date on which the Restricted Party violated the
foregoing restriction, whichever is greater. In
addition to and without limitation of the foregoing, any solicitation or
attempted solicitation for employment directed to a party’s employees by the
Restricted Party will be deemed to be a material breach of this Agreement, in
which event the affected party shall have the right, but not the obligation, to
terminate this Agreement or any then-current Quote immediately For Cause.
q.
Collections. If we are required to send your account to Collections or
to start any Collections-related action to recover undisputed fees, we will be
entitled to recover all costs and fees we incur in the Collections process
including but not limited to reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs.
r.
Assignment. Neither this Agreement nor any Quote may be assigned or
transferred by a party without the prior written consent of the other party. This
Agreement will be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties hereto,
their legal representatives, and permitted successors and assigns.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, a party may assign its rights and obligations
hereunder to a successor in ownership in connection with any merger,
consolidation, or sale of substantially all of the assets of its business or
any other transaction in which ownership of more than fifty percent (50%) of its
voting securities are transferred; provided, however, that the assignee expressly
assumes, in writing, the assignor’s obligations hereunder.
s.
Amendment. This Agreement and any Quote may be amended only by a
written document (email or similar electronic documents are sufficient for this
purpose) that is initiated by us, and that specifically refers to this
Agreement or the Quote being amended and is affirmatively accepted in writing (email
or electronic signature is acceptable) by you.
t.
Time
Limitations. The parties mutually agree that, unless
otherwise prohibited by law, any action for any matter
arising out of or related to any Service (except for issues of nonpayment by
Client) must be commenced within six (6) months after
the cause of action accrues or the action is forever barred.
u.
Severability. If any provision in this Agreement, any Quote, or the Services
Guide is declared invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction or otherwise
invalid by operation of law, then that provision will automatically be
re-written, interpreted, and enforced in a manner that most closely resembles
and achieves the original intent of the provision while, to the fullest extent
required, comports with applicable law.
v.
Other Terms. We will not be bound by any terms or conditions printed
on any purchase order, invoice, memorandum, or other written communication
supplied by you unless we have expressly acknowledged the other terms and,
thereafter, expressly and specifically accepted such other terms in writing.
w.
No Waiver. The failure of either party to enforce or insist upon
compliance with any of the terms and conditions of this Agreement, the
temporary or recurring waiver of any term or condition of this Agreement, or
the granting of an extension of the time for performance, will not constitute
an Agreement to waive such terms with respect to any other occurrences.
x.
Merger. This Agreement coupled with the Quote and the Services
Guide sets forth the entire understanding of the parties and supersedes all
prior agreements, arrangements or understandings related to the Services;
however, any payment obligations that you have or may have incurred under any
prior or superseded agreement are not nullified by this Agreement and
remain in full force and effect. No representation, promise, inducement, or
statement of intention has been made by either party which is not embodied
herein. We will not be bound by any of our agents’ or employees’
representations, promises or inducements unless they are explicitly set forth
in this Agreement or in a Quote or Services Guide. Marketing materials and promotional
information available at our
website (including but not limited to Service descriptions, potential results,
customer endorsements, etc.) are for illustrative or educational purposes only
and are not intended to create, and will not be interpreted as creating
additional duties, requirements, service levels, or
promises or guarantees of specific Services or specific results.
y.
Force Majeure. Neither party will be liable to the other party for delays
or failures to perform its obligations because of circumstances beyond such
party’s reasonable control. Such circumstances include, but will not be limited
to, any intentional or negligent act committed by the other party, or any acts
or omissions of any governmental authority, natural disaster, act of a public
enemy, acts of terrorism, riot, sabotage, disputes or differences with workmen,
power failure, communications delays/outages, delays in transportation or
deliveries of supplies or materials, cyberwarfare, cyberterrorism, or hacking,
malware or virus-related incidents that circumvent then-current anti-virus or
anti-malware software, and acts of God.
z.
Survival. The provisions contained in this Agreement that by their
context are intended to survive termination or expiration of this Agreement will
survive. If any provision in this Agreement is deemed unenforceable by
operation of law, then that provision shall be excised from this Agreement and the balance of this Agreement shall be
enforced in full.
aa.
Governing
Law; Venue. This Agreement will be governed by, and
construed according to, the laws of the state of Rhode Island. You hereby
irrevocably consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of Kent County, Rhode
Island, for all non-arbitrable claims and causes of action with us that arise from
or relate to this Agreement.
bb.
No Third Party Beneficiaries. The Parties
have entered into this Agreement solely for their own benefit. They intend no
third party to be able to rely upon or enforce this Agreement or any part of
this Agreement.
cc.
Usage in
Trade. It is understood and agreed that no usage of trade or other
regular practice or method of dealing between the Parties to this Agreement will
be used to modify, interpret, or supplement in any manner the terms of this
Agreement.
dd.
Notices;
Writing Requirement. Where notice is
required to be provided to a party under this Agreement, such notice may be
sent by postal mail, overnight courier, or email as follows: notice will be
deemed delivered three (3) business days after being deposited in postal mail,
first class mail, certified or return receipt requested, postage prepaid, or
one (1) day following delivery when sent by FedEx, DHL, or other overnight
courier, or one (1) day after notice is delivered by email. Notice sent by
email will be sufficient only if the message is sent to the last known email
address of the recipient or such other email address that is expressly
designated by the recipient for the receipt of legal notices. All electronic
documents and communications between the parties, including email, will satisfy
any “writing” requirement under this Agreement.
ee.
Independent
Contractor. Signal is an independent contractor, and is not your employer,
employee, partner, or affiliate.
ff.
Contractors. Should we elect to use contractors to provide onsite
services to you (such as the installation of equipment or the installation of
software on local devices), we will guarantee that work as if we performed that
work ourselves. For the purposes of clarity, you understand and agree that
Third Party Services are resold to you and, therefore, are not contracted or
subcontracted services; and Third Party Providers are not
our contractors or subcontractors.
gg.
Data & Service Access. Some of the Services may be
provided by persons outside of the United States and/or your data may
occasionally be accessed, viewed, or stored on secure servers located outside
of the United States. You agree to notify us if your company requires us to modify
these standard service provisions, in which case additional (and potentially
significant) costs will apply.
hh. Access Licensing. One or more of the Services may require us to
purchase certain “per seat” or “per device” licenses (often called “Access
Licenses”) from one or more Third Party Providers. (Microsoft “New Commerce
Experience” licenses as well as Cisco Meraki “per device” licenses are examples
of Access Licenses.) With very limited exceptions, Access Licenses cannot be
canceled once they are purchased and often cannot be transferred to any other
customer. For that
reason, you understand and agree that regardless of the reason for termination
of the Services, fees for Access Licenses are non-mitigatable and you are
required to pay for all applicable Access Licenses in full for the entire term
of those licenses. Provided that you
have paid for the Access Licenses in full, you will be permitted to use those
licenses until they expire.
ii. Critical Vendor Status. If you declare bankruptcy, or there is an
assignment for the benefit of creditors, then you agree that we are a “critical
vendor” and you will take all steps necessary to have us designated as a
“critical vendor” entitled to payment and all other statuses and priorities
afforded to any of your other critical vendors.
jj.
Counterparts. The parties intend to sign, accept and/or deliver any
Quote, this Agreement, or any amendment in any number of counterparts, and each
will be deemed an original and all of which, when taken together, will be
deemed to be one agreement. Each party may sign, accept, and/or deliver any
Quote, this Agreement, or any amendment electronically (e.g., by digital signature and/or electronic reproduction of a
handwritten signature) or by reference (as applicable).
Last Updated: October 2025