How Hard Is It To Switch IT Companies?
With most parts of the country lifting their lockdown restrictions, businesses are slowly starting to open up. The lockdown presented an opportunity for IT support providers, to outdo themselves in service delivery. However, most didn’t hold the end of their bargain. As a result, a lot of businesses have made known their intention of switching IT companies due to the following reasons:
- Their current IT company was unable to provide IT support to their remote employees.
- The IT company did not adequately transition them to working remotely.
- The company takes too long to respond to technical hitches and downtime.
- You have been continually experiencing network outages.
- The company is no longer meeting the needs of your business.
Switching IT companies may seem like a daunting, long, and tedious process. As a business executive looking to hire a new IT company, you’ve probably asked yourself one of these questions.
- How long will the transition take?
- What if my current IT support provider is hostile?
- How do I ensure that my next IT company adequately meets the needs of the company?
- What if I do not have my IT documentation?
How hard is it to switch IT companies? The truth is it doesn’t have to be such a hassle. The more effort you put in, the easier the transition. The effort you put into the process will eventually payout when you find the right IT partner. The trick is in being prepared. This way, you’ll avoid setbacks along the way.
Check out our latest video on YouTube covering the topic:
How To Strategically Switch IT Companies
The key to switching IT companies is doing it strategically. If your new support provider has experience in transitioning companies, you’re in luck. Here are some critical steps to keep in mind during the transitioning process:
Make Sure You Have A New IT Company Before You Cancel Your Current IT Company
Before terminating your contract with your current IT company, it is crucial to ensure that you find a new IT company that can accommodate you and help you during the transition process. Some IT support providers may be open to signing up new clients while some won’t.
This will also permit your new supplier to begin working on your systems to ease the transition phase. With this arrangement, you’re assured of less downtime when you finally leave your current provider.
Ensure That You Have Full Documentation Of Your Networks
Request for your company’s full IT documentation files from your current IT company and hand them over to your new IT support provider. This information should include all the data, accounts, usernames, passwords, network maps, hardware and software inventories, original software disks, and applications. This information will help your new IT company to identify your system issues and challenges you face and leverage technology to come up with long-lasting solutions.
The success of your transition is determined by the smooth transfer of information from your current IT company to your new one. This transfer will be made easier if your current IT company is willing to provide all this information to your new team.
Get Access To All Your File Backups
Having a duplicate copy of your files is essential when transitioning and moving files. This backup gives you peace of mind as you’re assured that your data will not be lost. When you decide to outsource IT services from a company, you give them access to all your data and systems. It is, therefore, expected that your documents would be stored on the company’s computer systems.
In cases where your current IT company doesn’t support your shifting, they may decide to hold your files and documents ransom. In some extreme cases, they may even lock you out of your systems. Once you’ve successfully moved all your data, you should ensure that you get all backups of your files from your current IT company and change system passwords to avoid such a scenario.
Have Your New IT Company Conduct An Extensive Security Check On Your Systems
Your new IT company should carry out an extensive cybersecurity assessment of your systems to identify areas of risk and vulnerabilities. The results from this assessment will enable them to come up with better security measures that will be integrated into your IT infrastructure and resolve these backdoors.
Give Your Current IT Company Notice
Once you have fully transitioned and your new IT support company is in place, you can cancel the service with your current IT company.
Inform Your Employees Of The Change
Ensure that you inform your staff about the change in your IT support provider, and how they make use of the new service. Also, share the IT company’s contact information for support, procedures, and policies.
Get Help With Switching IT Companies
Switching companies may seem horrifying at first, but with the right IT support, the transition process will be seamless. The right IT company will offer you reliable, efficient, and hands-on services to ensure a smooth transition and reduce downtime to ensure that your business remains productive
Buffalo Computer Help, a Buffalo-based IT support provider, has been servicing companies in Buffalo and Western New York. With years of expertise and experience in providing businesses with IT support, we are your trusted partner in cloud services and security solutions, and general IT solutions. We aim to customize a transition roadmap that will take the needs of your business into account and minimize downtime to maximize company productivity. We also ensure that your new IT environment and support services are optimized from the get-go.
Click here to get in touch with us today, and let us offer you IT solutions that will impact your business.