Switching IT providers
Switching IT providers: how the handover works.
A provider switch is a planned handover, not a leap. Your old provider does not need to disappear overnight, and your staff should barely notice. This page is the short version: the five steps, what must be handed over, the red flags, what it costs and what should be true thirty days in.
How switching works
- 1
Discovery
Before anything changes I map what you have: users, devices, Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace setup, domains, licences, backups. This is where the surprises surface.
- 2
Access and documentation handover
Your old provider hands over admin access, and everything is documented as we go, so the knowledge of how it all works lives with your business this time.
- 3
Security baseline
Old-provider access is closed off, admin accounts are secured with MFA, and the risky gaps found in discovery are prioritised.
- 4
Device and user onboarding
Your team's laptops and accounts come under proper management. For most staff this is invisible: they log in like they always did.
- 5
Support commencement
The number changes, and the list of problems nobody bothered reporting finally gets worked through.
What your current provider must hand over
You own the tenancy, the domain and the data. On the way out they should give you:
- Global admin access to your Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace tenancy
- Domain registrar and DNS access
- Licence details: what you are paying for and where it is billed
- Any documentation they hold about your environment
- Backup access, and clarity on what happens to backups they control
What should be true a month in.
The order is the usual one. The exact days depend on the size and state of your environment and on how quickly the old provider hands over.
Day 0
Red flags
Any of these means the handover needs more care, not that it cannot be done:
Domain ownership
The domain is registered in the provider's name, not yours
Admin access
You have never had admin access to your own tenancy, and they will not say why
Licences
Licences are bundled into one invoice line and they will not itemise
Backups
Nobody can tell you where your backups actually live
Documentation
Every request to document or hand over anything gets deflected
That is how Day 0 looks when all of them are present. Most businesses have one or two, not all five.
Day 30
Your first thirty days
- Day 1-3
Admin access held by you, secured properly
- Week 1
Old-provider and ex-staff access closed off
- Week 2-3
A documented environment your business actually owns
- Day 30
A clear list of what was found, what has been fixed, and what is next
- Day 30
Support that answers, from someone who knows your setup
“I am not familiar with any of this, however Ewan always comes through seamlessly to fix any issues that may arise with our company IT.”
What it costs
Two things, quoted separately, then a monthly plan.
The switch itself (discovery, handover, securing, onboarding) is a scoped one-off project, priced on the size and state of your environment. You know the number before anything starts.
Fixing what discovery finds (no MFA, no working backups, unpatched machines) is quoted separately, in priority order. You choose what gets done and when.
After that, ongoing support is a monthly plan with no lock-in and no minimum term.
Common questions
More detail, including why businesses stay too long and what to check before you move, is in the long-form guide.
- Will switching disrupt my staff?
- It should not. Your old provider does not need to disappear overnight; most switches run with the two providers overlapping briefly. Device and user onboarding is invisible to most staff, who keep logging in as they always did.
- What if my current provider will not hand things over?
- The accounts, licences, domain and data are legally yours. Stay polite but persistent: a written request usually resolves it. I have untangled every red flag on this page before, but the longer they run the messier they get.
- What does a switch cost?
- Two separately quoted things: the switch project, priced on the size and state of your environment, and any fixes for pre-existing problems discovery finds, quoted in priority order. Ongoing support is then a monthly per-user plan with no lock-in.
See what a switch would find first.
The free scan checks your domain’s email authentication and website security from the outside. It needs no login and no access to your current provider.
Thinking about switching?
Book a free 15-minute chat. I will tell you what the handover would involve for your setup and what it would cost, before anything changes.