The short answer: switching IT providers usually takes four to eight weeks and happens in four stages: secure your accounts, document your systems, migrate tools and services, then start support. The golden rule is simple: don’t switch anything off until its replacement is working, and make sure you hold the keys to your own systems before you give notice.
Most Surrey businesses that switch do it for the same reasons: slow responses, recurring problems, invoices nobody can explain, or a provider that was bought by a bigger company and stopped feeling local. This guide walks through how to leave cleanly.
Signs It’s Time to Switch
- Tickets sit for days and nobody calls back.
- The same problem has been “fixed” more than once.
- Nobody can explain what happens if ransomware hits tomorrow, or when the backups were last tested.
- You’re not sure what you’re paying for each month.
- You don’t have the admin passwords to your own systems.
- You’re the most tech-savvy person in your own company, and you spend hours a week on IT.
If two or more of those sound familiar, it’s worth getting a second opinion. A free IT assessment shows what you have and what condition it’s in, before you commit to anything.
Before You Give Notice: Check Your Contract
Pull out your current agreement and look for five things:
- Term and notice period. Many agreements need 30 to 90 days’ written notice, and some renew automatically for another year if you miss the window.
- Who owns the equipment. Firewalls, backup appliances and sometimes laptops are leased or owned by the provider.
- Who owns the licences. Microsoft 365 is often bought through the provider. Licences can be transferred, but it takes planning.
- Exit and handover terms. Look for what the provider must hand over, and any fees for doing it.
- Your domain name. Check who the registrant is. It should be your business, not the IT company.
Don’t send notice until you know the answers. It is much easier to plan the switch around a known end date.
Stage 1: Secure Your Accounts
Before anything else, make sure your business controls its own keys. This protects you if the handover goes badly, and it is the most important step in the whole process.
- A global administrator account in Microsoft 365 that belongs to the business, protected with MFA.
- Login access to your domain registrar and DNS (where your website and email are pointed).
- Admin credentials for the firewall, Wi-Fi and switches, and for any server.
- Access to the backup system, and confirmation of where backups are stored.
- Admin access to line-of-business software: accounting, practice management, ERP, dispatch.
Your new provider should help you do this quietly and professionally. There is no need to make it adversarial.
Stage 2: Document Everything
Next, build a full picture of what you have. Ask your current provider for their documentation, but don’t rely on it alone. The new team should verify it:
- An inventory of every computer, server, phone, printer and network device, with warranty dates.
- A network map: internet lines, firewall, switches, Wi-Fi, VPNs and how sites connect.
- A list of software, licences, renewal dates and the vendor contacts for each.
- What is backed up, how often, where to, and when it was last restored.
Stage 3: Migrate in Stages
Now the actual move. The order matters:
- Backups first. Start the new backup system and confirm it works before the old one is switched off. For a while you will have both. That is intentional.
- Security tools. Replace antivirus/EDR and email filtering device by device so there is never a gap in protection.
- Monitoring and remote access. Install the new provider’s agents, then remove the old ones, and close any remote access the old provider used.
- Licences. Transfer Microsoft 365 and other subscriptions without interrupting service.
- Passwords. Change shared and admin passwords once the old provider no longer needs access.
Stage 4: Start Support and Review
Leave on good terms. Your outgoing provider has knowledge worth keeping, so give them clear dates, ask for their documentation in writing, and thank them for the handover. A professional exit makes the last few weeks smoother for everyone, and it costs nothing.
On go-live day your staff get the new help desk number, a short introduction to how to ask for help, and a technician on site or on call for anything that comes up. After 30 days, review together: open issues, what the assessment found, and the plan for the next quarter.
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| Week 0 | Free IT assessment, contract review, proposal agreed. |
| Weeks 1–2 | Admin access secured, documentation gathered and verified. Notice given to old provider. |
| Weeks 2–4 | New backups running and verified, security and monitoring tools swapped device by device. |
| Weeks 4–6 | Licences transferred, old access removed, passwords changed. Help desk goes live. |
| Day 30 | Review meeting and a written plan for the next quarter. |
Handover Checklist
Use this list with your outgoing provider. Everything on it belongs to your business.
- Microsoft 365 global admin access
- Domain registrar login and DNS records
- Firewall and network device credentials
- Server and local admin passwords
- Backup system access and storage location
- Wi-Fi network names and passwords
- Software licence keys and renewal dates
- Vendor and support contracts
- Network diagram and IP addressing
- Device inventory with warranties
- Phone system and number-port details
- Any open tickets or known issues
Want help planning the move? Call 604-359-5284. We handle the transition in stages, securing your accounts and backups first, so nothing breaks along the way.