What Businesses Should Expect During an MSP Transition and What Should Happen After the First 30 Days
Switching managed IT providers involves more than changing the phone number employees call for support. A new MSP needs time to learn the environment, establish administrative access, document critical systems, deploy its management and security tools, verify backups, understand vendors, and identify technical issues that need attention.
For many businesses, the first 30 days should establish control and visibility, while the following 30–90 days are used to deepen documentation, address findings, and establish a steady management process. More complicated environments can take longer to fully understand.
The important distinction is between onboarding and understanding everything about the environment. Your new MSP should be able to take responsibility for support and core systems within a defined transition period. It may take months of technical reviews, ticket history, planning meetings, and ongoing work to develop a complete understanding of the business.
AT-NET’s internal process reflects that distinction. Its two-year client plan begins onboarding during the first 30 days, followed by technical alignment work during the next 30 days. It also includes increased ticket review during the first 90 days and an initial strategic meeting around day 45. Those internal milestones continue into an ongoing schedule of technical reviews, monitoring, strategic conversations, and resilience planning.
Think About MSP Onboarding in Three Phases
Rather than promising that every company can be completely onboarded in a certain number of days, it is more useful to look at the transition in three phases:
PHASE 1 — TAKE CONTROL
Establish access, support, monitoring, security coverage, and visibility.
PHASE 2 — UNDERSTAND THE ENVIRONMENT
Validate documentation, review configurations, investigate recurring problems, and identify technical gaps.
PHASE 3 — BUILD THE PLAN
Prioritize findings, establish ongoing standards, and develop the technology roadmap.
The timing of each phase depends on the size and complexity of the business. So, a 30-person organization operating primarily in Microsoft 365 with one office and limited infrastructure should generally be easier to transition than a 125-person organization with multiple locations, servers, specialized applications, complex networks, numerous vendors, and regulatory requirements.
The MSP should understand that complexity before establishing the transition plan.
Phase 1: Take Control of the Environment
The first priority is making sure the incoming provider has the access and information necessary to support the business.
That usually begins before the outgoing provider is completely removed. The incoming MSP needs to understand who the employees are, which locations are supported, what devices are being managed, how users access Microsoft 365 and other cloud platforms, and which systems are critical to operations.
Administrative access also needs to be established. Depending on the environment, that can include Microsoft 365, firewalls, switches, wireless systems, servers, virtualization platforms, backups, security tools, domains, DNS, cloud services, and business applications.
This is one reason documentation matters so much during an MSP change. If the outgoing provider has current records and credentials are properly organized, the transition is considerably easier. If documentation is incomplete, the new MSP may need to discover parts of the environment while simultaneously assuming responsibility for it.
Support Has to Keep Working During the Transition
Employees should know exactly when the new MSP becomes responsible for support. They need a help desk number, email address or portal, instructions for submitting requests, and guidance for urgent problems.
There should also be a plan for tickets that are already open. An employee with an unresolved application problem should not be caught between two providers, with each assuming the other company is responsible.
Before the transition date, leadership should be able to answer:
Who do employees contact?
Who handles an emergency?
Who owns existing unresolved issues?
When does responsibility officially move to the new provider?
Those details are basic, but getting them right can make the transition feel uneventful to employees.
Security Coverage Needs Special Attention During the Handoff
An MSP transition can involve changing several management and cybersecurity platforms.
The outgoing provider may have installed endpoint protection, remote monitoring and management software, DNS filtering, backup agents, vulnerability tools, or other systems. The incoming provider may use different platforms. Removing one set of tools before the replacements are operational can create gaps.
For example, an outgoing security agent should not simply disappear from 75 computers on Friday afternoon if the replacement security platform will not be deployed until Monday. The providers need to coordinate where appropriate so the business maintains appropriate protection and management throughout the transition.
Administrative access deserves similar attention. The outgoing MSP may legitimately need privileged access during the transition. Once its work is complete, unnecessary access should be removed and important privileged credentials should be reviewed or changed where appropriate.
Phase 2: Understand What You Actually Inherited
The next phase involves learning what is really there.
Existing documentation can provide a starting point, but the incoming provider should validate important information rather than assuming every diagram, spreadsheet, or configuration record is current. This is where technical alignment becomes important.
The MSP can review areas such as workstation standards, servers, networking, Microsoft 365, backups, security configurations, warranties, equipment lifecycle, vendor relationships, and documentation. AT-NET’s internal client schedule deliberately separates initial onboarding from subsequent technical alignment rather than treating them as one event.
That approach makes sense because some technical issues only become visible after the MSP has started working in the environment.
The First Tickets Tell You Something
The first few months of support can reveal patterns that were difficult to see during an initial assessment.
Maybe several employees report wireless problems in the same area. Perhaps a line-of-business application generates a disproportionate number of tickets. Or, maybe users regularly have problems accessing a file share, VPN, printer, or Microsoft 365 service.
AT-NET’s internal schedule includes more frequent ticket review during the first 90 days, followed by an ongoing monthly review process. That internal process doesn’t need to become a public promise about how every MSP should operate. The broader lesson is useful:
A new provider should learn from the support activity generated after the transition.
Don’t Expect the New MSP to Change Everything Immediately
A new provider will almost certainly find things it would have designed differently, but that doesn’t mean everything should be changed during onboarding.
Imagine the new MSP identifies an aging firewall, inconsistent workstation configurations, outdated network documentation, several Microsoft 365 settings it wants to improve, and a server approaching replacement. Trying to address all of those simultaneously could create more disruption than necessary.
The findings should be prioritized.
Immediate
Critical security exposures, failed backups, unsupported critical systems, major access problems, and issues creating significant operational risk.
Near Term
Configuration improvements, documentation gaps, recurring support problems, lifecycle concerns, and other findings that should be corrected soon.
Planned
Larger infrastructure projects, hardware replacement, migrations, cybersecurity improvements, and investments that can be incorporated into the technology roadmap.
This gives the company a controlled path forward instead of turning onboarding into a large IT overhaul.
Phase 3: Move From Onboarding to Ongoing Management
Eventually, the relationship needs to move beyond transition work.
The provider should have enough understanding of the environment to begin answering larger questions.
- What technology is approaching replacement?
- Where are the biggest technical risks?
- Which recurring support issues need deeper work?
- Are backups and recovery capabilities aligned with the business?
- Are cybersecurity controls appropriate?
- What projects should leadership anticipate?
- What should the company budget for during the next one to three years?
AT-NET’s internal two-year plan shows ongoing technical alignment reviews, monthly ticket and monitoring reviews, recurring vCIO conversations, and periodic work around disaster recovery and security planning after initial onboarding.
Again, the exact internal cadence doesn’t need to be published. What matters to a prospective client is that ongoing management should have a defined structure after onboarding ends.
Your First Strategic Meeting Shouldn’t Be a Sales Meeting
Once the MSP has enough initial information, leadership should begin discussing what the provider is finding.
That conversation should be practical. There may be immediate issues requiring approval. There may be technical concerns that can wait. There may be projects that need budgeting. The MSP may also need additional information about the company’s plans.
For example, if the business expects to hire 20 employees, open another office, replace its ERP system, or acquire another company during the next year, those plans can change technology priorities significantly.
AT-NET’s internal process schedules an initial vCIO meeting around 45 days into the relationship.
The broader takeaway for a business choosing an MSP is that strategic conversations should begin early enough to influence decisions, but after the provider has had an opportunity to learn the environment.
What Can Slow Down MSP Onboarding?
The biggest onboarding delays often come from the environment being more difficult to transfer than expected.
Incomplete documentation is one example. Missing administrative credentials can be another.
Third-party vendors can also create delays when access needs to be transferred or nobody knows who owns a particular system.
Older infrastructure may require additional investigation. Specialized business applications can require vendor coordination. Multiple offices increase the amount of networking and equipment that needs to be understood. A difficult relationship with the outgoing MSP can complicate matters further.
This is why prospective providers should ask detailed questions before setting expectations for the transition.
A company with 100 employees across four locations, local servers, Microsoft 365, several specialized applications, and multiple security platforms should not receive the same onboarding plan as a 25-person cloud-only office.
What Should Your Business Provide to the New MSP?
The incoming provider will do much of the technical work, but the client still has an important role.
Leadership should identify key contacts and explain which systems are critical to operations. The business should also help identify outside vendors, important applications, upcoming projects, known technical problems, and employees who may need additional support during the transition. Existing documentation and account information should be made available through appropriate secure processes.
Most importantly, don’t hide the ugly parts of the environment. If an application has been unreliable for three years, tell the new MSP. If everyone knows not to reboot a particular server because nobody is sure it will come back up, mention that too.Those details help the incoming provider prioritize its work.
How Can You Tell Whether Onboarding Is Going Well?
Don’t judge onboarding solely by whether employees are able to submit tickets, but look for evidence that the new provider is gaining control and understanding.
By the end of the initial transition period, leadership should have greater clarity about the environment than it had at the beginning.
You should know how employees obtain support. Critical administrative access should be accounted for. Important systems should be identified. Management and security coverage should be established. Major documentation gaps should be visible.
As the relationship moves through the first 30–90 days, you should begin seeing technical findings, recurring support patterns, prioritized recommendations, and a clearer picture of what needs attention next. The MSP doesn’t need to have fixed every technical issue by then but it should be able to tell you what it has learned.
Frequently Asked Questions About MSP Onboarding
How long does it take to switch managed IT providers?
There is no universal timeframe. Business size, locations, infrastructure, cloud services, cybersecurity tools, applications, vendors, and existing documentation all affect the transition. The first 30 days should generally establish significant control and visibility, while deeper technical alignment and planning can continue through the first 30–90 days and beyond.
Can a new MSP take over if our documentation is poor?
Yes, but incomplete documentation can make the transition more complicated. The incoming provider may need to discover and validate network information, administrative access, devices, vendors, applications, and configurations as part of onboarding.
Will employees experience downtime when switching MSPs?
A properly planned transition should be designed to minimize disruption, although no provider can guarantee that every transition will occur without an issue. Support handoffs, security tools, administrative access, backups, and monitoring platforms should be coordinated carefully.
What happens to the old MSP’s software?
The outgoing provider may have remote management, monitoring, endpoint security, backup, or other software installed. Those tools generally need to be removed or transitioned in coordination with the incoming provider so necessary management or security coverage is maintained.
Should passwords be changed after switching MSPs?
Privileged access should be reviewed after the transition, and credentials should be changed where appropriate. Access that the outgoing provider no longer requires should be removed.
What should happen during the first 90 days with a new MSP?
The first 90 days should move the relationship from initial control toward a deeper understanding of the environment. That can include technical reviews, documentation validation, analysis of support patterns, remediation of priority findings, and development of longer-term recommendations.
When should strategic IT planning begin with a new MSP?
Strategic planning should begin after the provider has enough information to make informed recommendations. It should not require waiting a full year. AT-NET, for example, incorporates an initial vCIO meeting around day 45 as part of its internal client process.
About AT-NET
AT-NET has served businesses since 1999, providing managed IT, cybersecurity, infrastructure, cloud, backup and disaster recovery, and strategic technology services.
Managed IT clients have access to an internally staffed 24/7/365 help desk with less than 60-second response, 20+ engineers, a dedicated Technical Alignment Manager, and a dedicated vCIO.
AT-NET uses a structured onboarding and ongoing alignment process designed to move clients from initial transition into proactive technical management and longer-term technology planning.
Are You Planning a Change in IT Providers?
If you’re considering changing MSPs, AT-NET can review your current environment and help you understand what would be involved in the transition before you make the change.
That includes the systems, access, documentation, security tools, vendors, infrastructure, and support requirements that need to be accounted for during onboarding.
