Leaving an IT provider is like changing banks, except the bank knows all your passwords. Most switches go fine. The ones that don't go bad the same way: the business gave notice before collecting what was theirs. Do this in order and the worst case becomes an awkward month instead of a hostage negotiation.
Know when it's time
Slow responses that used to be fast. Quarterly reviews that stopped happening. Every ticket becoming a quote. Turnover on their side so you never talk to the same tech twice. And the big one: you ask for your own documentation and get vagueness. Any of these alone is a conversation. Several together is a decision.
Before you say a word: the collection phase
While the relationship is still normal, gather what's yours. This is all reasonable to request at any time, which is exactly why you request it now.
- Admin credentials. Microsoft 365 or Google admin, domain registrar, DNS host, firewall, server admin accounts, backup console. Verify each login yourself. A password list you haven't tested is a list of guesses.
- Documentation. Network map, device inventory, license list, vendor accounts, and any runbooks. If it doesn't exist, that's informative too. See what documentation should cover.
- License ownership. Confirm Microsoft 365, antivirus, and backup licenses are in your name, not bundled under their agreement. Bundled licenses vanish when the contract does.
- Backup access. Where do backups live, and can you reach them without the provider? Run a restore test before the transition, not during.
- The contract. Reread notice period, auto-renewal date, and offboarding obligations. Missing a renewal window can cost you a year.
The switch itself
Pick the new provider before leaving the old one, and let the new crew drive the technical handover. They've done this dance and know what to grab. Aim for a short overlap window, two to four weeks, where the old provider is still contractually obligated while the new one runs their onboarding. Yes, you'll pay both for a month. It's the cheapest insurance in this whole process.
On cutover day: rotate every admin password, remove the old provider's remote-access agents from every machine, revoke their accounts, and confirm monitoring alerts now flow to the new crew. Offboard the old provider with the same rigor you'd offboard an employee, because access-wise, that's what they were.
If the provider goes hostile
Rare, but it happens: stalled handovers, surprise "offboarding fees" not in the contract, credentials that arrive slowly or wrong. Stay boring. Put every request in writing, cite the contract, and involve a lawyer for one sharp letter if needed. Registrars and platform vendors have ownership-recovery processes when accounts are provably your business's. Hostility is miserable, but it mostly just delays. The collection phase you did earlier is what keeps it from doing worse.
Want this handled instead of homeworked? That's the job.
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