Switching IT providers without losing a day

You can switch IT providers without a day of downtime if the new provider’s monitoring runs alongside the old one before anything is cut over, and every account is confirmed in your name first. The risk isn’t the switch. It’s the gap.

Before you give notice

Read your current agreement for three things: the notice period, any termination assistance clause (what they’ve agreed to hand over, and how quickly), and who owns what. Some providers license software to you through their own accounts, and those licenses may not transfer.

Don’t give notice until the new provider has a plan and a start date. The overlap is the safety net.

What must be in your name

Before anything is cut over, confirm that these are owned by your business, with an administrator account you control:

• Your domain registration and its DNS. Whoever controls DNS controls your email and website.
• Your Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace tenant, with a top-level administrator in your name.
• Firewall and Wi-Fi administrator access.
• Backup accounts and the encryption keys for them.
• Software licenses and the accounts for your line-of-business applications.

If any of these is in your provider’s name, it becomes the first item on the handover list.

The five steps

1. Credentials and documentation. Collect what exists and list what doesn’t, so nothing depends on the old provider’s memory.
2. Monitoring alongside. The new provider’s monitoring runs next to the old one’s, so nothing goes unwatched during the handover.
3. A cutover window you choose. Timed around your business, with a way back if something doesn’t come up.
4. The handover checklist. Every account, password and vendor confirmed as yours.
5. A baseline report. Where you stand on day 30, so the first monthly report has something to measure against.

What to ask your current provider for

• Administrator credentials for every system, or confirmation they’ve been transferred.
• The network diagram and the device list.
• License keys and subscription details.
• Backup locations, retention settings and access.
• Any open tickets and known issues.

Put the request in writing, reference the termination clause if there is one, and keep it polite. Most providers hand over cleanly.

If they won’t cooperate

Most of what matters can be recovered by you, as the owner: domain registrars, Microsoft and the major software vendors all have processes for a verified owner to regain control. It takes longer, and it’s why the ownership checks come first.

How long it takes

With us: monitoring live the day you say yes, your plan’s controls switched on week by week, and everything documented by day 30. Onboardings are scheduled, never squeezed in, so the date we give you is real. How our onboarding works.