Changing your IT company is easier than you think.
Most owners stay with a provider they have outgrown because switching sounds like a headache: lost files, downtime, an awkward breakup. It does not have to be any of that. I handle the whole handoff, so you do not lose a day.
Never had an IT provider at all? Start with the signs it is time to get one. The first call is free either way, and there is no obligation.
Nobody wakes up and decides to change IT companies.
It builds up quietly, and then one small thing makes it obvious. These are the situations I run into most often with small businesses. Read them as a gut check, not a scorecard, and run the test under any one that sounds like you.
If you already have a provider
You are the one chasing the ticket
You open a ticket, then follow up twice to find out what happened to it. Every call starts with re-explaining your setup to somebody new. When you are managing your IT company, you have picked up a second job you did not ask for.
Try thisLook back at your last five tickets and count how many of them you had to chase.
They only show up after something breaks
There is no patching schedule, no monitoring, and no once a year conversation about what is aging out. Everything is a reaction, and the bill always lands on the worst day of your month.
Try thisAsk for your most recent patching report and the date of your last scheduled review. A report, not a ticket.
Nobody has ever proven a backup restores
A dashboard saying the backup ran is not the same as knowing your files come back. Backups fail quietly, and the failure only surfaces on the day you need them.
Try thisAsk for the date of the last test restore and which file came back. If the answer is a pause, that is the answer.
Your insurance renewal asks questions nobody can answer
The application wants specifics on multi factor authentication, backups, and how fast you would be running again. Your provider says they will look into it. You are the one signing the form, so those answers need to be true before you do.
Try thisTake one question off last year's application and ask your provider to prove the answer today, in writing.
The invoice grew, and the contract will not let you go
Fees appear for changes that used to be included, the monthly went up without a conversation, and the agreement auto renews for another year. Paying more for less is one problem. Not being able to leave is the bigger one.
Try thisFind your agreement and read three things: the term, the auto renew clause, and the notice period. Most owners never have.
You do not hold your own keys
Your domain, your email tenant, your admin accounts, and your licenses belong in your name, not your provider's. If they hold everything, leaving is not really your decision.
Try thisAsk for a written list of your domain, email tenant, admin accounts, and licenses, confirming each is in your name. A good provider sends it back the same week.
If you do not have one yet
Your IT person already has a real job
The office manager who is good with computers now spends a chunk of every week on password resets and the printer. That time comes straight out of the work you actually hired them to do.
Try thisAsk them to jot down the time they spend on computer problems for two weeks, then price those hours at what you pay them.
Every new hire turns into a scramble
Somebody starts Monday and by Friday you are still tracking down a laptop, an email address, and the right access. Growth is usually when a loose setup starts costing real money.
Try thisTime your next onboarding, from offer accepted to the person actually working. Then ask what that week cost you.
Somebody clicked, and you got lucky
A convincing invoice, a login page that looked right, a request to change bank details. Nothing bad happened this time. The next one is usually the same email with better spelling.
Try thisAsk your team, with no blame attached, who has clicked something they wish they had not. The number is never zero.
A client or an insurer started asking for proof
A questionnaire lands asking what protections you have in place and who manages them. Answering honestly is hard when nobody owns the setup. Those requests do not go away, and they tend to arrive with a deadline.
Try thisPull the last questionnaire you were sent and try to answer it from memory. Mark every line you would have to guess at.
One person set all this up, and only they know it
Passwords in somebody's head, a server nobody documented, a vendor who will only talk to the guy who retired. If that person is out for two weeks, you want to find out now, not during the two weeks.
Try thisWrite down what happens to your systems if that person is out for two weeks. If you cannot fill the page, that is the risk.
The equipment is quietly aging out
Machines past warranty, an operating system past its support date, a firewall from two owners ago. None of it fails on a schedule you control, and replacing it in a panic always costs more.
Try thisWalk the office and write down the age of every machine. Anything past five years is running on borrowed time.
One of these on its own is usually just a bad week. Two or three together generally means your setup has outgrown whoever is running it. If you are not sure which one you are looking at, start with the free review, or with a network security assessment when what you really want is a written answer on where you stand.
Three steps, and I do the heavy lifting.
A free, no-obligation review
We sit down, on site or on a call, and talk through what you have and what is not working. No pressure and no cost. If you are in good shape, I will tell you that too.
I map your setup
I document your accounts, devices, licenses, and where everything actually lives, so nothing gets lost or locked away in the move. You get that map whether you hire me or not.
I take over on your date
You pick the switch date. I coordinate the handoff, move what needs moving after hours, and confirm every service is running before your team logs in. No gap in coverage.
The reasons people put this off, handled.
No downtime
The cutover happens on a schedule you approve, after hours where it matters. Your team starts the day on the new setup and keeps working.
Your data stays yours
Your accounts, files, backups, and licenses belong to you, not to your provider. I make sure you hold the keys to everything before we switch.
You skip the awkward part
You do not have to manage the breakup. Point your current provider to me and I will handle the technical handoff professionally.
One person who knows your setup
After the move you call one number and reach the same senior engineer who set everything up, not a rotating queue of tier-one techs.
Month to month, cancel anytime
No long-term contract and no cancellation fee. If it is not working, you are free to go, though my goal is that you never want to.
One flat monthly price
Scoped to your size and your risk, with no surprise invoices and no emergency premiums. You know the number before you commit.
What you often get, side by side.
Every provider is different, so treat this as the pattern I see most often, not a rule. It is why owners move.
| SolviTech | A national MSP | The break-fix guy | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who answers when you call | The same senior engineer who knows your setup | A tier-one queue and a ticket number | Whoever is free, if they pick up |
| When they show up | Before it breaks, on monitoring | After a ticket works up the queue | After it is already down |
| What it costs | One flat monthly fee, no surprises | Per seat, plus upsells and change fees | By the hour, most when it hurts |
| Who owns your data | You always do | Often tangled in their tools | Undocumented, wherever it landed |
| The relationship | Local, on site when it counts | Remote, one client of thousands | Transactional, call when broken |
Outgrown your current IT?
Tell me what is not working. The review is free, and if you are in good shape, I will say so.
The first call is free, and there is no obligation.