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Switching IT provider: what to check first

IT Support4 min read

Hand ticking items off a handwritten checklist

Plenty of businesses stay with an IT provider they are unhappy with because moving sounds painful. It does not have to be. Most of the pain comes from not knowing what you have, who has the keys and when your contract ends. Sort those out first and the move gets much easier.

Signs it might be time

  • Problems take days to fix, or you chase for updates
  • You do not know what you are paying for, or bills are hard to follow
  • Nobody talks to you about plans, security or budgets
  • You cannot get a straight answer on backups or who has access to what
  • Your business has grown and the service has not

Before you decide, it is worth raising these issues with your current provider. If nothing changes, you have your answer.

The checklist

1. Your contract

  • When does it end? When does notice need to be given?
  • Does it auto-renew, and for how long?
  • Are there early-termination charges?
  • Are there minimum user numbers or licence commitments?
  • Who owns the hardware, and is any of it leased?

Put the dates in a diary. Notice periods are commonly 90 days or more.

2. Your systems and data

Make a simple list of what you have:

  • Email and productivity: Microsoft 365, Google Workspace or something else
  • Servers: on your premises, or hosted in a cloud or data centre
  • Line-of-business applications and who supports them
  • Backups: what is backed up, where, and when it was last tested
  • Domain names and DNS, and who is registered as the owner
  • Phones, broadband and mobile contracts, if the same provider supplies them

3. Access and ownership

This is where moves get stuck. Check that you have:

  • Your own administrator accounts on Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace
  • Ownership of your domain names
  • Passwords or vault access for firewalls, switches, WiFi and servers
  • Licence and warranty records for software and hardware

If any of these sit only with your provider, ask for them now, in writing. They are yours.

4. Documentation

A good provider keeps a record of your network, accounts and procedures. Ask for it. If it does not exist, the new provider will build it during onboarding, which adds time.

5. People

Tell your team early and calmly. Name a person from your side to work with the new provider. Agree a cut-off for changes, such as new starters or software installs, around the move.

What a good move looks like

A well-run migration copies data and builds the new environment while the old one carries on working. Your team is switched across in planned stages, tested with a small group first, and the old systems are kept until you are happy.

Typical stages are:

  1. Review and plan
  2. Build the new environment
  3. Copy data and test
  4. Cut over, outside busy hours where possible
  5. Support, tidy-up and handover

How long it takes depends on the size of the organisation and what is being moved. add Unite’s typical migration timescales, once confirmed by the client

What about cancelling the old contract?

You must give notice yourself. A new provider cannot cancel agreements with your previous suppliers on your behalf. We would tell you when to give notice so you do not pay for services you no longer need, or leave a gap.

Phone numbers

If your numbers are with the old provider, tell them before you move. They may ask for a Letter of Authority on company letterhead, and the new provider then submits the porting request. Allow time for it.

Common worries

“We’ll be offline.” Not if the move is planned. Systems are built and tested alongside the old ones.

“We’ll lose data.” A migration should copy data, not move the only copy. Check backups before you start.

“Our provider will make it hard.” Some do. Know your rights under the contract, and ask for what you are entitled to.

Next steps

Our switching IT provider page explains how we manage moves of cloud services, cloud servers, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace and on-site hardware. Before you move, it is also worth checking your backups, so read backups and business continuity. And a change of provider is a good time to review your security, so see our cyber security hub.

Ready to talk it through? Talk to us about switching.