Switching managed service providers checklist

Why businesses switch IT providers

Managed service provider (MSP) relationships often decay gradually. Businesses start by tolerating delays, lack of visibility and recurring issues. Then the cracks widen. Support becomes inconsistent, security concerns grow, and internal teams quietly pick up the slack. Over time, what was once a valued partnership becomes a liability. The gap between what was promised and what is delivered becomes impossible to ignore.

The drivers vary. Sometimes it is missed service level agreements (SLAs) or one too many outages. Sometimes it is stagnation: no strategy, no innovation, no real leadership. Other times it is security exposure, poor tooling or hidden costs. But in every case, the trigger is the same: the business has outgrown the provider. And staying put means standing still.

The upside of switching

Switching MSPs is not just about fixing what is broken. It is a chance to realign IT with business priorities, to modernise your tech stack and to clean up inherited complexity. A new provider can bring better visibility, integrated cybersecurity, future-proof solutions and a support experience that actually supports your teams. Done right, the switch is a strategic reset. It frees up internal resource, unlocks productivity and builds the foundation for sustainable growth.

What this checklist is, and what it isn’t

This checklist is a practical transition tool. It helps you plan, track and manage the moving parts of an MSP switch with clarity across three parties: your business, your old provider and your new one. It calls out common gaps, flags ownership and reduces handover risk.

This is not a contract negotiation guide. It won’t tell you who to hire or how to benchmark pricing. It is designed for use after the decision is made, not during procurement. This is about execution.

What this checklist covers

The checklist walks through five transition stages: discovery and documentation, access and account control, support continuity, security and compliance, and post-switch review. Each section defines what needs doing, who needs to do it, and where problems tend to occur. It also includes tips: less obvious, real-world gotchas that have derailed others.

Use it as a live document. Share it across stakeholders. Update it as you go. The best transitions are managed like a project, and this turns a high-risk move into a structured, low-friction change.

Discovery and documentation

You

• List all current IT services in scope (including support, backups, security and licences)
• Map critical systems, third-party integrations and dependencies
• Document all service contracts, SLAs, admin credentials and renewal dates
• Capture pain points and service gaps with the current provider
• Notify internal teams of the change and timeline
• Confirm whether your Cyber Essentials renewal falls during the switch, and who will complete it

Your current MSP

• Provide full documentation of the network, infrastructure and device estate
• Release up-to-date credentials, access lists and architectural diagrams
• Supply the current asset register, monitoring tools and ticketing logs
• Identify any services or licences they own or control (for example the Microsoft 365 tenant or domain name system (DNS) records)
• Cooperate on handover planning, not just notice period terms

Your new MSP

• Conduct an onboarding audit and risk assessment
• Identify high-priority fixes and service stabilisation needs
• Set clear roles, timelines and success criteria for the switch
• Begin a parallel onboarding process where possible to reduce downtime
• Assign a named point of contact for the transition

Tip: Neglecting hidden integrations. Many MSP switches struggle when third-party integrations, such as accounting systems or Internet of Things (IoT) platforms, are overlooked. Even if these aren’t central to your IT, undocumented application programming interface (API) connections or licensing dependencies can derail migrations. Double-check every service that touches core data or authentication.

Access and account control

You

• Maintain a master list of who owns and administers each platform
• Remove old supplier email addresses or aliases from critical systems
• Reclaim ownership of DNS, licences and cloud subscriptions if needed
• Remove the outgoing provider’s Microsoft partner and delegated admin (GDAP) relationships from your Microsoft 365 tenant
• Keep at least one emergency (break-glass) global admin account that you control

Your current MSP

• Cleanly revoke their own access after transfer
• Avoid account locks or service disruption during handover
• Flag any shared logins or insecure credential storage practices

Your new MSP

• Establish secure access and authentication policies (for example multi-factor authentication (MFA), privileged access management (PAM) and zero trust network access (ZTNA))
• Centralise credential storage and version control
• Formalise account management (who owns what and who has access)
• Enforce MFA on every cloud service for all users, as Cyber Essentials now requires

Support and service continuity

You

• Define internal expectations: what is changing and what is not
• Clarify business hours, escalation paths and critical service dependencies

Your current MSP

• Maintain baseline service until formal contract end
• Support urgent tickets during the notice period (not just stall or reroute them)
• Provide a post-switch debrief if available

Your new MSP

• Go live with interim support processes from day one
• Review legacy open tickets and incidents still unresolved
• Document early wins and share onboarding progress with your team

Tip: Expect a spike in non-critical tickets. Immediately after switching, users tend to file lots of small requests, not because something is wrong but out of habit. Without filtering or buffering, your new MSP may be overwhelmed, stretching resources. Predefine a triage queue for “familiarity” issues so true incidents don’t get drowned out.

Security and compliance

You

• Review regulatory obligations around data transfer and privacy
• Log all changes to system access and data ownership during the switch
• Ask your new provider how the proposed Cyber Security and Resilience Bill could affect the service they provide to you

Your current MSP

• Return or securely delete stored business data as per the contract
• Provide documentation of past security controls, incidents and patching history

Your new MSP

• Conduct a security posture review immediately after the switch
• Close gaps inherited from the prior set-up (for example unpatched devices or open ports)
• Establish or update the incident response plan with your team
• Identify unsupported devices and software, such as Windows 10 without paid extended security updates, and plan replacement
• Confirm critical and high-risk updates are applied within 14 days
• Take over certificate renewals and automate them ahead of shorter certificate lifetimes

Post-switch review

You

• Set 30-day and 90-day check-ins to evaluate outcomes
• Share feedback internally and with the new MSP on the onboarding experience

Your current MSP

• Confirm final invoicing, asset return and contract exit terms
• Remove their branding or tooling from devices or portals still in use

Your new MSP

• Deliver an onboarding summary and stabilisation report
• Optimise the service stack and tooling based on early learnings
• Shift from reactive fixes to strategic improvements

Tip: Inherited vulnerabilities from vendor-issued certificates. Your current MSP may have issued TLS (often called SSL) certificates or virtual private network (VPN) tokens under its own accounts. With certificate lifetimes now shortening to 200 days and less, losing renewal access can cause outages quickly. If these aren’t transferred or remapped, your new MSP could lose the ability to renew or revoke them, exposing you to expired certificates or stranded assets. Map and reassign every third-party certificate and device associated with the old MSP.

Making the switch work for you

When support lags, risks grow or progress stalls, staying put becomes the bigger gamble. This checklist helps you manage the transition with purpose: clear tasks, clear owners, no chaos.

Choosing the right partner

The switch is just the beginning. The provider you choose next will shape how secure, efficient and scalable your IT becomes. A strong MSP doesn’t just keep the lights on. It streamlines operations, reduces hidden risk and supports transformation at the pace your business demands.

A credible MSP will stabilise your services. A valuable one will challenge your thinking. You want a partner who is accountable, responsive and aligned with your ambitions; one who doesn’t resell the same stack to everyone but adapts to your needs. Switching is your opportunity to raise the bar, so don’t waste it on someone else’s template.

Why Conosco

We don’t do off-the-shelf support. Conosco is built for organisations that need embedded expertise, not just a helpdesk. We combine proactive service, embedded security and real strategic alignment, so your IT isn’t just running, it’s evolving. If you’re switching to grow, not just to fix, we should talk.

Talk to Conosco

Switching MSPs is a chance to fix more than just service, and Conosco makes the move seamless, secure and worth it. Book a call with our team or ring 0345 838 7680 to talk through your switch.