Many integrators, freelancers, and digital agencies offer their customers so-called "all-inclusive" packages covering consulting, development… and hosting. This approach may seem natural, even expected, especially for the sake of simplicity for the customer.
But when a provider bills for hosting itself, it takes on much more than the technical service: it becomes legally and financially responsible for the proper operation of that infrastructure.
And that can be dangerous, even fatal, for its business.
A shift in responsibility with heavy consequences
When a provider bills for a hosting service – even if it merely "resells" an OVH, Scaleway, AWS, or other offer – it becomes the single contractual point for the customer. In case of an incident, the underlying infrastructure is not held accountable: the provider itself is.
The risks are many:
- ⚠️ Direct liability in case of downtime, data loss, or security breach
- 🚫 Refusal of compensation by professional liability insurance, if the hosting activity is not declared and insured as such
- 📛 Potential GDPR penalties, if sensitive data is involved
The financial consequences can be considerable. Depending on the customer's business – e-commerce, production management, sensitive data – operating losses can easily reach tens or even hundreds of thousands of euros.
And without suitable insurance, the burden will fall entirely on the provider, with consequences that can endanger the company.
Healthy practices to limit risk
To protect yourself effectively, several good practices can be put in place:
✅ Let the customer subscribe directly to a hosting offer from a recognized provider (Odoo.sh, OVH, AWS, etc.)
🤝 Work with a hosting partner that bills the customer directly and fully assumes the associated contractual commitments (SLA, security, GDPR compliance)
📄 Define your responsibilities precisely in the general terms of sale (exclusion of hosting warranty, limitation of liability, etc.)
🚫 Never bill for a service for which you have neither the contractual guarantees nor the necessary insurance.
Auguria's position
At Auguria, we chose to clarify roles and responsibilities from the start.
Our customers host their Odoo solution and are billed directly:
- either by odoo.sh, the official platform of the Odoo vendor,
- or by ofleet.cloud, our France-based infrastructure partner,
- or, more rarely, in On-Premise mode, when justified.
As an integrator, we focus solely on our core business:
consulting, functional integration, and application maintenance of Odoo.
This approach gives our customers a clear view, well-defined responsibilities, and better resilience in case of the unexpected.
In conclusion
Billing for hosting may seem harmless. But it is actually a source of significant risk for service providers.
The right reflex: separate the roles, make sure each party is properly covered, and clarify contractual commitments at the start of the project.
A healthy relationship also means responsibility that is well shared.