White-Label IT Glossary: Terms Explained

Accelerator

A reusable, pre-built component, template or blueprint, such as a login module, an admin panel or a deployment pipeline set-up, that shortens the delivery of a common part of a project. Accelerators let a team spend its time on what is specific to the client rather than rebuilding standard pieces.

Acceptance criteria

The conditions a deliverable must meet to be signed off as done, written into the statement of work. Good criteria are specific and testable, for example a list of user actions that must work on named browsers and devices. They settle the question of when a milestone can be invoiced.

BAU (business as usual)

The ongoing running of a live system after launch: fixing faults, applying updates, monitoring, and making small changes. It is distinct from project work that builds something new. BAU is usually sold as a retainer with service levels, which makes it a steady source of recurring revenue.

Bench

People a services company employs who are available but not assigned to billable work. Bench cost is salary paid without matching revenue. A white-label model lets an agency avoid carrying a bench, because delivery capacity is drawn from partners when a project needs it.

Blended rate

A single hourly or daily rate charged for a team that mixes people of different seniority, worked out as a weighted average of their individual rates. It makes quotes simpler to read. The supplier must check that the actual mix of people on the work matches the mix the rate assumed.

Change request

A formal request to alter agreed scope, timeline or cost after a statement of work is signed. It describes the change, its effect on effort, schedule and price, and needs approval from both sides before work starts. A simple change process keeps fixed-price projects fair to both parties.

Discovery phase

A short, separately priced stage at the start of a project to understand goals, users, existing systems and risks before committing to a full scope and price. Its output is typically documented requirements, an outline architecture, an estimate and a delivery plan. It reduces the guesswork in a fixed-price quote.

Fixed price

A pricing model in which a defined scope is delivered for an agreed total price. The supplier carries the risk of overruns and the buyer gets cost certainty. It works only when scope and acceptance criteria are precise, and any change goes through a change request.

Gross margin

The difference between what you charge a client and what it costs you to deliver the work, usually shown as a share of the price. In white-label delivery it is your price minus the partner's cost and your own direct costs, such as project management. It funds sales, overheads and profit.

IP assignment

A contract clause that transfers ownership of intellectual property created in a project, such as code, designs and documents, from the creator to the client. Under India's Copyright Act, 1957, an assignment of copyright is valid only if it is in writing and signed by the assignor.

L1, L2 and L3 support

Levels of technical support. L1 is first contact: logging issues and resolving known ones from a guide. L2 does deeper diagnosis and configuration. L3 makes engineering fixes to code or infrastructure, often by the people who built the system. Issues move up a level only when the level below cannot solve them.

Marketplace platform

Software on which many sellers list goods or services and many buyers purchase them, while the operator manages onboarding, catalogue, orders, payments and disputes. A B2B marketplace connects businesses. Building one involves governance and trust rules as much as code.

MSA (master services agreement)

An umbrella contract between two companies that sets the legal terms for all their future projects: confidentiality, ownership of work, liability, payment, termination and how disputes are settled. Each project then needs only its own statement of work, which saves negotiating the legal terms every time.

MVP (minimum viable product)

The smallest version of a product that real users can use, built to test whether the idea works before investing in the full feature set. An MVP is a learning tool. Agreeing in writing what is in and out of it keeps the first release small enough to ship.

NDA (non-disclosure agreement)

A contract in which one or both parties agree to keep information they share confidential and to use it only for a stated purpose. A mutual NDA protects both sides. In white-label work it is usually the first document signed, before any client details are shared with the delivery partner.

Non-solicitation clause

A clause in which a party agrees not to approach the other's clients or staff for a stated period. In white-label work it stops a delivery partner from going around you to your client. In India, section 27 of the Contract Act limits how far restraints on trade can be enforced, so take legal advice on the wording.

Offshore and nearshore delivery

Offshore delivery is done from a distant country, often in a different time zone. Nearshore delivery comes from a nearby country with working hours that overlap. Onshore means the same country as the client. The choice trades cost against overlap in working hours, travel and familiarity with local rules.

Related: Outsourcing

ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce)

An initiative of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Government of India, to run digital commerce over an open network. Buyer apps and seller apps built by different companies can find and transact with each other through shared protocols, instead of every seller depending on one closed platform.

Outsourcing

Moving a function or project to an outside provider that plans, manages and delivers it, usually under the provider's own name. The client often deals with the provider directly. It differs from white-label delivery, where the outside team works behind you and the client sees only your company.

Presales

The work done before a contract is signed to help win it: understanding the requirement, designing a solution, estimating effort, writing the proposal, preparing demos and answering the buyer's questions. Good presales also surfaces risks early, so the price and scope you commit to are ones you can deliver.

Private label

A product made by one company to another company's specification and sold only under the buyer's brand. The term is common for goods and for software products that are rebranded. In practice people often use it and white-label interchangeably; private label usually implies the product was made for one buyer.

Related: White-label

Retainer

A recurring fee, usually monthly, for reserved capacity or an ongoing service such as support, maintenance and small enhancements. It often comes with an allowance of hours and a rule for unused or extra hours. Retainers give the client predictable cost and the supplier predictable revenue.

RFI (request for information)

An early, lighter document a buyer uses to learn what vendors can do before writing a full RFP. It asks about capabilities, experience and approach rather than firm prices. Answering it well gets you onto the shortlist for the RFP that follows.

Related: RFP (request for proposal)

RFP (request for proposal)

A formal document a buyer sends to vendors asking each to propose a solution, approach, team, timeline and price for a defined need. Responses are compared against criteria the buyer sets out. An RFP usually follows an RFI and leads to a shortlist, negotiation and a contract.

SLA (service level agreement)

A set of measurable commitments for a service, such as how quickly issues of each priority are answered and resolved, the hours of cover, and what happens when a commitment is missed. SLAs are central to support and maintenance contracts, where the client is buying reliability rather than a one-time deliverable.

Source code escrow

An arrangement in which a supplier deposits source code with an independent third party, to be released to the client if agreed conditions occur, for example if the supplier stops trading or stops supporting the software. It protects the client's ability to keep a system running.

Related: IP assignment

SOW (statement of work)

The document that defines one project: scope, deliverables, milestones, acceptance criteria, assumptions, who does what, timeline and commercial terms. It normally sits under a master services agreement, which holds the legal terms. A clear SOW is the main protection against disputes over what was promised.

Staff augmentation

Adding individual engineers or specialists from a provider to your own team for a period. You direct their day-to-day work and own the result; the provider employs them and bills you per person per month or per hour. It adds capacity, not a managed outcome.

Subcontracting

Handing part of a contract you hold to another firm to perform. You stay responsible to your client for the whole job, including the part a subcontractor did. White-label delivery is a form of subcontracting in which the subcontractor stays out of sight and works under your brand.

Time and materials (T&M)

A pricing model in which the client pays for the actual time spent at agreed rates, plus any agreed costs. Scope can change as the work goes on and the client carries more of the cost risk. It suits work where requirements are still being discovered.

Utilisation

The share of people's available working time that is spent on billable work. Low utilisation means a company is paying for capacity it cannot bill. It is the number that makes a services company with its own delivery team profitable or not.

Related: Bench, Gross margin

White-label

A product or service made by one company and sold by another under the seller's own brand. In IT services, a delivery partner builds or supports the work while the agency that owns the client presents it, prices it and stands behind it as its own. The client deals only with the agency.

Plain-language definitions for people running an IT services business. Not legal advice.

White-Label IT Glossary