Switching IT support provider
Most businesses stay with an IT provider they have gone off far longer than they should, because changing sounds like more hassle than putting up with it. It is not.
The most common reason businesses stay put is not loyalty. It is the fear that changing provider means a week of chaos, lost email and nobody knowing where anything is.
That fear is reasonable, and it is also avoidable. A handover is a project like any other. It has a list, an order and a date.
What a good handover looks like
Nothing gets switched off until the replacement is running. Monitoring and backup go in first, alongside whatever is already there. Your documentation gets rebuilt from what we find, not from what we are handed. The cutover is the quietest day of the project, because everything has already moved.
If you want the full detail, including what to do if you are mid-contract, read our switching guide and book a free review.
What is included
What you get
A free review first
We look at your setup, your contract and what is actually going wrong, and tell you whether switching is worth it. Sometimes the answer is no.
Notice period planning
We read your current agreement, find the notice period and the exit terms, and plan the move around them.
Getting your information out
Admin accounts, domain control, licence ownership, backup access, documentation. We list what we need and chase it.
The handover conversation
We will deal with your outgoing provider directly if you would rather not. It is a normal part of the job for us.
Discovery and documentation
We document your whole setup as we take it on, so nothing depends on one person remembering it.
A day one fix list
Everything we find that is broken, risky or out of date, with what we would do about it and in what order.
How we work
What working with us looks like
- 1
Review
A free, no obligation look at what you have and what it is costing you.
- 2
Plan
A written handover plan with dates that fit your notice period and your quiet weeks.
- 3
Transition
Access transferred, monitoring and backup installed, documentation built. Your team keeps working.
- 4
Settle in
We work through the fix list and review it with you at the end of the first quarter.
Free, no obligation
Switching is easier than you think
We handle the whole handover, including the awkward conversation with your current provider. You just tell us when.
Case study
Written in 1999. Still running today.
We shipped order processing software to a company in the Odlings Group on the 23rd of July 1999, on seven floppy disks. We still have the disks. Some of what is on them is still running in production, twenty seven years later.
Your understanding of the technology available coupled with detailed discussions on the desired outcome has produced a system with capabilities I did not imagine a business our size would be able to achieve. We have gone from a paper system, to a fully traceable production process. This has enabled our office staff to be able to communicate far more confidently with our customers.
Common questions
We are still in contract. Can we do anything now?
Yes. Most agreements have a notice period rather than a lock-in with no exit. We read the contract, work out the earliest sensible date and plan backwards from it, so you are ready to move the day you can.
What if our current provider will not co-operate?
It happens occasionally. There is very little that cannot be recovered or rebuilt, as long as you own your domain and your Microsoft 365 tenant. We work out what is missing early rather than on the day.
Will there be downtime?
A handover done properly should not need any. We install our monitoring and backup alongside what is already there, then switch the responsibility over. Where a change does need a window, it happens in the evening.
Who owns our documentation and passwords?
You do. That is true with us and it should be true with anyone. If your current provider treats your own passwords as their property, that is a reason to move rather than a reason to stay.
Get in touch
Tell us what is not working
Send us a line about your setup and we will come back with what we would actually do about it. No sales pitch, no obligation.
Or call 01482 586 550 or email [email protected].
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Want a straight answer about your IT?
Tell us what is not working. We will tell you what we would do about it, with no sales pitch and no obligation.