What is a Memorandum of Understanding?

Cybersecurity+ Series.
CYSA+
Review
Published

February 9, 2021

This post is for the Review and understanding of concepts related to the Comptia Cybersecurity Analyst+ Certificate.

A Memorandum of Understanding primarily serves as a point of negotiation between two or more parties with respect to their intents. The document serves as a way to find common ground along with set expectations about what individual parties are both responsible for and expect from the other party. Special consideration should be paid to whether the document is Legally binding in the legal context it is being used; these are normally not legally binding. It is best thought of as similar to a Gentlemen’s Agreement: “an informal and legally non-binding agreement between two or more parties. It is typically oral, but it may be written or simply understood as part of an unspoken agreement by convention or through mutually-beneficial etiquette”[2].

Examples

Citations:

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorandum_of_understanding
  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentlemen’s_agreement
  3. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/mou.asp
  4. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/letterofintent.asp