It is time to change your IT provider when the same problems keep coming back, tickets wait for days and nobody can tell you how well protected the business is. One bad week is not a reason to switch. A pattern is. The ten signs below are the ones owners raise with us most, and a switch is quicker than most expect: about four weeks for a business of 10 to 50 people.
Already thinking about it? Tell us what you have today and when your agreement ends, and a technical consultant will map out the handover. Call 1300 787 429 or read how switching IT provider works.
1. Tickets sit for days
You log a job, then you chase it. Updates only arrive when you ask for one. A good provider triages every ticket quickly, tells you who has it and keeps you posted until it is closed. Ask your current provider for its response targets in writing and how often it meets them.
2. The same problems keep coming back
The printer, the VPN or one person’s laptop fails every few weeks, and each time the ticket is closed with a quick fix. That is a sign the provider is measured on closing tickets, not on fixing causes. Repeat faults should get an owner and a plan before they turn into an outage.
3. Nobody explains what is going on
You get jargon, or silence. You should be able to ask what happened and why, and get an answer in plain English from the person working on it.
4. You cannot say how well protected the business is
You pay for IT, but if an insurer, a client or a tender asked about your security controls you would not know what to say. Multi factor authentication, endpoint protection and a backup that has been tested with a restore are the minimum. Your provider should be able to show you each one.
5. There is no plan or budget for next year
Nobody talks about where your IT should be in a year, which devices are due for replacement or what that will cost. Without a roadmap, every upgrade arrives as a surprise invoice.
6. You have outgrown them
The provider that suited ten people is struggling at fifty. You notice it in slower answers, missing skills in cloud or security, or one engineer who knows everything and is always busy.
7. You do not hold your own admin access
Your domain, Microsoft 365 global admin or firewall logins sit with the provider, not with you. That makes leaving harder than it should be. Admin access to your own systems should be in your business’s name.
8. The invoice keeps surprising you
Extra hours, call out fees and small projects add up, and you cannot predict the monthly bill. A clear per person price with published add ons makes IT a cost you can plan. See what managed IT costs in our pricing calculator.
9. Staff have stopped calling
When people find workarounds, ask a colleague or wait until the problem gets worse, it usually means support is too slow or too hard to reach.
10. Your notice period is coming up and nobody has asked how it is going
A renewal date is a good moment to compare. If your provider has not reviewed the service with you in the past year, that tells you something about how it will treat the next one.
When is it not worth switching?
Not every problem needs a new provider. If the service was good until recently, raise it first. Put what is not working in writing, ask for a review meeting and give them a month to respond. A provider that listens and fixes the pattern may be worth keeping.
Switching also makes less sense in the middle of a big project, such as an office move or a migration, unless the project itself is the problem. Finish the work, or agree a clean break point, then move. And if most of the frustration is with one person rather than the service, ask for a different engineer before you change companies.
How do you compare your current provider with the alternatives?
Use the same questions for every provider, including the one you have.
| Question | What a good answer looks like |
|---|---|
| How fast do you answer? | A published average answer time and response targets in writing |
| Who fixes repeat problems? | A named owner and a fix at the cause, not just a closed ticket |
| What security do we have today? | A clear list: MFA, endpoint protection, tested backups and patching timeframes |
| What is our plan for next year? | A roadmap with costs, reviewed with you |
| What does it cost each month? | A price per person, ex GST, with add ons listed |
| Who holds our admin access? | Your business, with the provider working under it |
| What happens if we leave? | No exit fee and a full handover of passwords and documentation |
What happens when you switch IT provider?
Most of the work happens where your staff never see it. Here is how a handover runs with us for a business of 10 to 50 people.
- Weeks 1 and 2: we meet your key people, then record every device, account, licence and site.
- Weeks 1 to 3: we request admin access, documents, licences and vendor contacts from your old provider, and chase them.
- Weeks 2 and 3: our monitoring and security tools go on quietly, out of hours.
- Weeks 3 and 4: the security baseline goes in: MFA on every account, endpoint protection on every device and backups checked with a test restore.
- Week 4: the help desk switches to us and the old provider’s tools and access are removed.
- By day 90: we review what we found and fixed, and give you a roadmap with costs for the year ahead.
Staff keep their computers, email, files and logins. What changes is who they call for help, and a short welcome email tells them how.
What should you check before you give notice?
- Your notice period and contract end date
- Who owns your domain name and DNS
- Who holds Microsoft 365 global admin
- Where your backups are, and when a restore was last tested
- Which software licences and vendor accounts are in the provider’s name
Once you have given notice, we request everything in writing, check it works and follow up until it is in your business’s name.
How do you reduce the risk of switching?
Ask any new provider what happens if it does not work out. With us, every new managed client gets no onboarding fee and 90 days to judge the service. Tell us in writing what is not working and we have 14 days to fix it. If you are still not happy, give written notice before day 90 and walk away with nothing owing on the rest of your agreement. Admin accounts, passwords, documentation and backups are handed to you or your next provider at no charge. The full terms are on our Proven in 90 page.
Powertech, an engineering firm working in mining, energy, infrastructure and defence, switched to us from its previous provider. It aligned its security with Essential Eight Maturity Level 2 and was approved to start work with a new client. Read the Powertech story.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to change IT provider?
About four weeks for a business of 10 to 50 people. Larger or multi site businesses take a little longer, and we agree the go live date with you up front.
Will my staff notice the change?
Very little. Their computers, email, files and logins stay the same. They get a new number to call and may need to set up MFA on their phone once.
Do we have to deal with our old provider?
No. You give notice and we do the chasing for admin access, documentation and licences.
What if our contract has not ended yet?
We plan the go live date around your notice period, so there is no gap in support and no overlap you do not need.
What if we switch and it does not work out?
Under Proven in 90, new managed clients can walk away within the first 90 days with nothing owing on the rest of their agreement, and we hand everything over at no charge.
Talk to us about switching
If three or more of these signs sound familiar, it is worth a conversation. Call 1300 787 429 or send us a message with what you have today and when your agreement ends. A technical consultant replies within two business hours. You can also see what IT support and managed IT services include, or get your price in two minutes.
