Skip to main content

4 min read

How to Switch IT Providers Without Disrupting Your Office

The short answer

Line up the new provider first, then give notice. Before the old provider leaves, make sure your own office holds the admin logins, the domain and the software licenses, and get the documentation and backups handed over. A good new provider runs the handover with you, and most offices are fully moved within two to three weeks.

A person working on a laptop in an office

Changing IT providers feels riskier than it is. Taking over an office’s IT is routine work for a good provider. The trouble comes from the few things only the old provider knows about, or only the old provider can log into: the domain nobody has touched in years, the backup that quietly stopped, the firewall password written on a sticky note in someone else’s office.

The order you do things in takes care of most of that.

When it’s time to move

It’s rarely one bad day that does it. More often it’s months of the same problems coming back, slow answers, or a provider who can’t explain what they do when nothing is broken. Other common reasons are an insurer’s security questions nobody can answer, or finding out you don’t have the admin logins to your own systems.

If you’re on the fence, our guide to the signs your business needs managed IT services covers the usual gaps, and what to look for in an IT provider lists the questions to ask the next one.

Read your current agreement first

Before you call anyone, find your agreement and check four things:

  • The notice period, and how notice has to be given.
  • Offboarding help: whether handing over documentation and access is included, or billed as a project.
  • Licenses: whether your software and Microsoft 365 licenses are in your name or billed through the provider.
  • Equipment: whether anything in your office, such as a firewall or a backup device, belongs to the provider rather than to you.

Then line up the new provider before you give notice, so there’s never a gap with nobody to call.

What to collect before you give notice

Ask for these while the relationship is still friendly. Most of it should already exist in your provider’s documentation; you’re asking for your own copy.

  1. Admin access to Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, through an account your office controls
  2. The domain registrar login, and where your DNS is managed
  3. Admin logins for the firewall, Wi-Fi and any remote access, plus the account numbers for your internet lines
  4. Where your backups go, the login to the backup service, and the date of the last successful test restore
  5. The admin login for your main business software, such as your EHR, practice management or tax software, and the vendor’s support contact
  6. A list of your software licenses, with how many you have, who’s billed and the renewal dates
  7. A list of computers, servers, printers and other devices, and who uses each one
  8. Any shared passwords, and the office password manager if there is one
  9. Network notes: how it’s laid out, fixed addresses for printers and other devices, and anything unusual
  10. Contacts for your other vendors: the phone system, copiers, internet providers and website host

If you’re a medical or dental practice, put a business associate agreement in place with the new provider before they get access to anything that holds patient information.

Remove the old provider’s access on an agreed date

Close the old doors once the new provider has taken over, not before.

In Microsoft 365, IT providers usually manage your account through a partner relationship that you approve. Microsoft calls these granular delegated admin privileges: the provider gets limited, time-bound access, and the customer has to grant it. You can see which partners have access on the Partner relationships page in the Microsoft 365 admin center, and remove their roles there.

Then work through the rest:

  • Remove their remote support tools from every computer.
  • Disable their admin accounts in Microsoft 365 or Google, the firewall, the backup service and your business software.
  • Change any shared passwords they knew.
  • Update vendor records, so the old provider is no longer an authorized contact on your internet, phone or software accounts.

A good new provider does this with you and gives you a list of what was changed. For tax and accounting firms, it’s also part of what the FTC Safeguards Rule means when it asks you to oversee your service providers.

What the first three weeks look like with us

We plan every changeover around how your office works, and most follow the same shape:

  1. Week 1, take stock. We list your devices, accounts and network, gather what the old provider hands over, secure admin access and agree the plan with you.
  2. Week 2, take over. We put monitoring, protection and backups in place, and support moves to us with a documented handover.
  3. Week 3, settle in. We fix the rough edges, answer your staff’s questions and finish writing everything down.

Some offices take longer, depending on size and how much needs fixing first. How we work explains what support looks like after that.

If it’s your in-house IT person leaving rather than a provider, the steps are similar but the risks are different. Our handover checklist for when your IT person leaves covers that case.

Set up the next handover now

The cleanest switch is the one you planned for at the start. Whoever you choose, keep the admin accounts, domain and licenses in your business’s name, ask for a current copy of the documentation from time to time, and know what leaving involves before you sign. A provider who’s confident in their work won’t mind you asking.

If you’re thinking about a move, book a free IT check-in and we’ll talk through how your office runs today and what a changeover would involve. You can also read more about our managed IT services in Orange County.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. For questions about your specific obligations, talk to your attorney or compliance advisor.

Sources

  1. Microsoft Learn: Granular delegated admin privileges (GDAP) introduction
  2. Microsoft Learn: Customer-led removal of a granular admin relationship
  3. FTC: FTC Safeguards Rule, What Your Business Needs to Know

Frequently asked questions

How much notice should we give our current IT provider?
Whatever your agreement says, so read it before you do anything else. Check how notice has to be given, usually in writing, and whether help with the handover is included. Give notice once the new provider is lined up, and plan the handover so it finishes before the notice period runs out.
What if our old provider won't hand over passwords?
You're not stuck. The accounts belong to your business, and each company behind them, whether that's Microsoft or Google, your domain registrar or a software vendor, has a way for the owner to prove who they are and get back in. It takes longer than a friendly handover, and a new provider can do the legwork and write everything down as they go.
Will our staff notice the switch?
A little. They'll have a new way to ask for help, and each computer needs monitoring and protection set up, but their email, files and software stay where they are, so the working day carries on as normal.
Can the old and new provider overlap?
Yes, and a short overlap is usually the smoothest way to do it. The old provider keeps supporting you while the new one takes stock and gets access, then support moves over on an agreed date. Agree in writing who handles what during that window, so nothing falls between them.
Who owns our Microsoft 365 licenses?
Your Microsoft 365 account, and the email and files in it, belong to your business. The licenses may be billed through your current provider, though. Ask how they're billed, and if they come through the provider, plan with both providers how they'll move so nothing lapses on the changeover date.

Related reading