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Memorandum of Agreement (MOA)

A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) is a legally binding document that sits between a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding and a full Business Partner Agreement, offering a formal but streamlined way for two organizations to commit to working together.

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About this video

Business relationships often require different levels of formal commitment depending on where two parties stand in their working relationship. A Business Partner Agreement is a comprehensive, legally binding contract that defines the roles and responsibilities of each party, while a Memorandum of Understanding is a non-binding document used to align expectations and work toward a future agreement. A Memorandum of Agreement occupies the middle ground — it is legally binding like a BPA, but far less complex and formal in its structure and language. The MOA is particularly well-suited for two organizations collaborating on a specific project, especially when the relationship is still developing or may eventually lead to a full partnership. It provides enough legal enforceability to give both parties confidence moving forward without requiring the time and resources of drafting a complete BPA. For organizations that need to start work quickly while still establishing clear, agreed-upon terms, the MOA offers a practical and professional path forward.

What you'll learn

Distinguish between a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), and Business Partner Agreement (BPA) in terms of legal enforceability and use cases

What's covered

Memorandum of Agreement (MOA)

Definition & Purpose
- Legally binding document
- Less legalistic than BPA
- In-between agreement
Related Agreement Types
- Business Partner Agreement
  - Legally binding contract
  - Defines roles & responsibilities
- Memorandum of Understanding
  - Not legally binding
  - Establishes common ground
MOA Position on Spectrum
- More binding than MOU
- Less formal than BPA
- Middle ground option
Use Cases
- Two organizations collaborating
- Short-term project work
- Pathway to future BPA

Aligned to

CompTIA Security+

5.1 Summarize elements of effective security governance.

5.3 Explain the processes associated with third-party risk assessment and management.

ISC2 CISSP

1.4 Understand legal, regulatory, and compliance issues that pertain to information security in a holistic context

1.6 Develop, document, and implement security policy, standards, procedures, and guidelines

Key terms

Memorandum of Understanding: A Memorandum of Understanding is a non-binding agreement between parties that documents shared intentions, responsibilities, and expectations, commonly used in security contexts for information sharing, incident response coordination, and interagency cooperation.
Memorandum of Agreement: Memorandum of Agreement is a formal document establishing a cooperative relationship between organizations that defines mutual goals, responsibilities, and security obligations.
Business Partners Agreement: A Business Partners Agreement is a formal contract between organizations that defines mutual security responsibilities and acceptable use requirements when sharing data or systems.

Topics

Memorandum Of Agreement Memorandum Of Understanding Business Partner Agreement Legal Agreements Governance Risk Compliance Third Party Management

Transcript

Another agreement that we could possibly sign with another business or another entity is a memorandum of agreement.

Where it sits between an MOU and a BPA

If we wanted to do business with another partner, we would create a business partner agreement, and it's a legally binding contract that sets out what the roles and responsibilities are of each party.

Now maybe we're not quite ready to sign a business partner agreement. Then we could do a memorandum of understanding. This is not legally binding, but what we can do is we can agree upon things to make sure we're both on the same page, and we can work towards this BPA.

Well, a memorandum of agreement is something in between. It is legally binding, similar to a BPA, but it's not as legalistic — it's not a big long contract like a BPA can be — and it's more legally binding than a memorandum of understanding. So it's a great in-between road between this memorandum of understanding and this business partner agreement.

A good use case

A good use case for this is any two organizations that are working together on a project. Maybe it's not a long-term project, or maybe at some point in time it will establish more of a partnership with this other entity, but it's a good way to get that agreement going so that way you can start in on the project and start working on it.

So let me give you a good example. I created a partnership with somebody that I was working with, and what we wanted to do is we wanted to establish some legal guidelines with how we were going to do business, but we weren't really ready for a full business partner agreement yet. And so this was a way that we could put together something and agree upon something, so we could start moving forward knowing that later on we would get an official BPA.

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