Leaving Your IT Provider? What a Good Handover Includes

Deciding to change IT company is the hard part. The handover should be the easy part, but only if you know what to ask for.

A good handover means your new IT partner can take over without guesswork, nothing is lost, and your old provider’s access is switched off cleanly. If you’re still deciding whether to switch, start with our guide on how to switch IT support company without disruption. This article picks up once you’ve made the decision.

First, check you own your accounts

Before you ask for anything, make sure the most important accounts are in your business’s name, not your IT company’s:

Your domain name, the part after the @ in your email address
Your Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace subscription and administrator account
Your website hosting
Your broadband and phone line contracts

If any are registered to your IT provider, ask for them to be transferred to you first. It’s much easier to sort out while the relationship is still friendly.

The handover checklist

Ask your outgoing provider for the following, in writing:

Passwords and access

Administrator logins for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace
Router, firewall and Wi-Fi passwords
Server and computer administrator passwords
Logins for any supplier portals they manage on your behalf

Ask for these to be shared securely, through a password manager or an encrypted link, never in an ordinary email.

Your equipment

A list of every computer, laptop, server, printer and network device
Which items you own, and which are rented or leased
Warranty and support dates for each

How it’s all set up

How your network is set up, including any remote access for staff working from home
Any special settings that business software depends on
Anything unusual that a new provider needs to know

Licences and renewals

Every software licence, who it’s registered to and when it renews
Microsoft 365 licences, and how they’re billed. If your old provider supplied them, they’ll need to be moved

Backups

What’s backed up, where, how often and for how long
How to restore from it
When it was last tested

Your other suppliers

Contact details for your broadband, phone, printer and software suppliers
Account numbers and contract end dates

Agree a timeline

Ideally, give your notice and agree a handover date that leaves a short overlap. Your new provider can then install its tools, check everything is working and take over the support line before the old contract ends, so there’s no gap in cover.

What if they’re slow to help?

Most IT companies handle handovers professionally. They know it’s part of the job, and it’s often written into their contract. If yours is slow or unhelpful:

Check your contract for what they’ve agreed to hand over and when
Put your requests in writing, with a reasonable deadline
Let your new provider talk to them directly. A good new partner does this regularly and knows exactly what to ask for

In the rare cases where information isn’t handed over, a capable new provider can usually still regain control of your systems, because you own the accounts. It just takes longer, which is why checking ownership first matters so much.

Close the door behind them

Once your new provider has taken over:

Change all administrator passwords
Remove the old provider’s accounts and remote access tools
Cancel any services they billed you for that you no longer need

This isn’t about distrust. It’s simply good practice: nobody who no longer looks after your IT should still have access to it.

Start with a clear picture

The best handovers end with a full review of where everything stands. When businesses join us, we start with an audit and a simple red, amber and green report, so you can see from day one what’s been checked, what’s been fixed and what’s planned. We call it Get It Green.

We’ll handle it for you

When you move to My Tech Team, we deal with your old provider for you, so you don’t have to chase anyone. And there’s no lock-in for your first year.

Book a free 30-minute call to talk through your move, or see our IT support pricing first.