How to Switch IT Companies Painlessly in Four Steps

Changing IT service providers was once a nightmare. We’re talking about a time-consuming, pricey, labor-intensive, and frustrating.
However not so anymore. With advances in technology, the entire transfer can be carried out remotely. All you need is just a little planning, and your change can be seamless—and painless.

The important thing to switching IT companies is to have a well-documented transition plan before you sign any contracts with your new Managed Service Provider (MSP) … or cancel any contracts with your present one.
Switching MSP LIST

Listed below are the 4 steps to a smooth IT service provider transition:
1. Document Your Assets
2. Build a Transition Team
3. Choose Dates for Each Handover
4. Anticipate Some Security Hardening

Step 1: Document Your Assets
Inventory all your assets, together with {hardware}, software program, networking components, operating systems, data storage—all of your IT assets, whether or not on-premises or in the cloud.

Next, compile a listing of passwords to your accounts, support information for applications that you use, and a list of key company contacts, together with email addresses and best-available cellphone numbers.

Documenting your assets ahead of time gives you enough time to track down any missing data. Then, when you do discover a new IT firm, the change can’t be delayed since you’re scrambling at the final minute to present your new supplier passwords, or to inform them who’s the purpose of contact for every space of your IT operation.

Step 2: Build a Transition Team
Assign one particular person or one team leader to supervise your change in IT service providers. This particular person will be your primary point of contact with the new IT vendor and can oversee all communication between your two companies so there are no alternatives for missed communication. This person is your source of reality and must never be left out of a transition discussion.

Your transition supervisor will also work along with your company management team and IT administration to mitigate risks, establish and resolve issues that affect the switch, keep an eye on the timeline and the vendor’s progress in meeting milestones, maintain all company stakeholders up to date on progress, and many more.

Step 3: Choose Dates for Each Handover
When companies switch IT, service providers, they rarely change everything at the same time. Altering vendors shouldn’t be like flipping a switch. Most companies at this time are far too complex for all IT systems to be handed over from one MSP to another all at once.
For this reason, you have to pick dates for each handover.

Consider your backups, for example. If your new MSP is taking out your backup solution and placing it in a new one, you have to coordinate that between both MSPs. You must choose a date when you’ll ultimately switch backups and transfer to the new backup solution.
One other good example is an antivirus. When is your present antivirus solution going to be eliminated and the new one put in? On what date, at what time, and in which time zone? Again, this requires collaboration between each IT service provider. (Usually, we’re talking about a couple of easy processes of open and frequent communication between the two MSPs. Most of them in our business do a very good job of communicating.)

Do not forget that the dates you choose are a part of your contract with your new IT company. Your new provider is answerable for supporting you from a given date and time—and never before. So, ensure you overlap your two MSPs for a time. You need access to every team and their resources throughout the transition.

Step 4: Anticipate Some Cybersecurity Hardening
One of the first things your new MSP should do when taking over your account is to change the locks. They may remove every possible method that your former MSP can access your networks, functions, control panels, and more.

Relying on the size of your organization and the size of your IT footprint, this will likely involve some time and effort dedication on your side. So, anticipate having to set aside some people and time to harden your security as soon as your new MSP takes over.

How Oceancyber Makes Your MSP Change Easier
People don’t usually look to switch IT companies if they’re happy with the one they currently have. Perhaps yours is hard to work with, or they aren’t engaged enough, or they are too busy to look after you.
For both methods, here’s what to add to your guidelines if you want a strategic IT partner who is easier to work with, including during making the switch.

Documented onboarding process
At Oceancyber, we have a documented onboarding process where we undergo a two-phased approach. First is a non-technical onboarding session where we meet your team. We focus on the way you want communication to move, the right way to reach us, and so on.

This sets the foundation for the connection. From there, we introduce dedicated employees to get you onboarded.
We assign you a project manager who runs your project and put collectively a statement of work. Throughout this, we check out your network, document the network, and get all documentation up to date.
Having a documented onboarding process that’s examined and proven ensures your transition happens smoothly.

Automation tools
Much of the work involved in switching IT companies is done remotely. At Oceancyber, we roll out a variety of automation tools to deploy things quickly. This makes your transition simpler and faster, and with fewer roadblocks.

For instance, we use automation tools to push updates to your employees’ devices remotely. Our automation tools give us the flexibility to push different products, such as security patches and antivirus updates, and to manage detection and response—all remotely and all automatically without having to touch a single workstation or bother a single employee.

Technology roadmap
Switching IT companies should be the start of a lovely relationship. And for that relationship to work properly, it needs a technology roadmap. At Oceancyber, we collaborate along with your team to develop a technology roadmap that captures your short-, medium-, and long-term targets, along with the method, budget, and timeline for reaching every goal.

Switching IT Service Providers Can Be Simpler Than Ever
Now, that’s not to say each single service provider switchover is a whole cakewalk. Expect your change of IT, service providers, to be more challenging and to take longer if you:

• Have outdated infrastructure that’s not supported by software providers, requiring an extra hands-on approach.
• Have on-premises databases and physical infrastructure that you simply want to migrate to the cloud.
• Are in a rush and have to transition in days, not the 30-90 days {that a} switch typically takes.
• Are unwilling or unable to spend time documenting your property, constructing your group, and planning your transfer?

Even in case you are among those companies dealing with some hurdles, switching IT companies is nothing like the nightmare it used to be. We now have well-honed onboarding processes, automation tools, and deep experience in helping organizations of all sizes—and IT landscapes—migrate from one MSP to another.

Oceancyber can help you turn out of your current IT services provider in the most seamless and hassle-free way possible. If you’re eager about learning more, check out our recent guide which outlines how top business leaders have successfully outsourced part or all of their IT needs