You can switch IT providers with an active project on the calendar. A construction firm with 10 to 50 employees typically onboards in 30-90 days, however most of this is handled on the backend and does not disrupt the users. We have expedited onboardings in as quickly as 2 weeks, though this is not ideal in most situations.
The Fear Is Backwards
Almost every firm says a version of the same thing about switching: "We'd love to move, but we can't afford the disruption."
Look at what's already happening. If your provider takes two days to answer a ticket, your project engineer is losing hours a week to workarounds. If your IT person is retiring and there's no documentation, you are one hospital visit away from nobody knowing the firewall password. If the provider has stopped returning calls entirely, you don't have IT support.
Measure the transition against that, not against a fantasy where everything runs fine. A planned cutover costs you a small window and some staff attention. Staying costs you every week, and it costs you most on the week something breaks.
The Five-Phase Transition
- Discovery and documentation.
Full inventory of servers, workstations, laptops, job trailer equipment, network gear, licenses, and line-of-business applications. Network diagram drawn. Everything the outgoing provider never wrote down gets written down.
- Credential and admin access transfer.
Every administrative account identified, transferred, and re-secured.
- Agent deployment and monitoring.
Monitoring, patch management, and endpoint detection agents deployed.
- Backup verification.
New backup running and confirmation of a successful backup.
- Stabilization.
Ticket review, remediation of what discovery surfaced, and a written document covering what was done and what's still open.
Giving Notice - Things to Consider
Read your agreement before you give notice, not after. The mechanics are consistently the four items below, and knowing them changes the order of your steps.
- Notice periods
Thirty to sixty days is common. The notice clock is a planning tool, not an obstacle. Onboarding a new provider can run in parallel with a notice period, which is why a firm can be fully transitioned around the time the old contract ends.
- Auto-renewal clauses
Many agreements renew automatically unless you give notice inside a specific window before the anniversary date. Miss the window by a week and you can owe another full term. Find that date and put it on the calendar before you do anything else.
- Data return obligations
Look for language covering return of your data, documentation, and credentials at termination. If it exists, it's your leverage. If it doesn't, you're relying on goodwill, which is exactly why the credential inventory comes first.
- Transition assistance
Here's the part firms don't expect: a departing provider has no obligation to help you leave unless the contract says so. No obligation to answer questions, document the environment, or attend a handoff call. Most behave professionally. When they don't, we've run hostile onboardings and completed them successfully without the outgoing provider's help.
What the Transition Costs
Onboarding: A flat, one-time fee based on the support, services, and number of devices and users that will be covered. This covers discovery, documentation, and service deployment.
Ongoing managed IT: Runs $100 to $350 per seat per month depending on the security, support, and compliance tier.
Why Construction Firms Work With Alexaur
We've supported architecture, engineering, and construction firms across Katy, TX and Greater West Houston since 2001, and we're still family-owned. The person who answers your call knows why the trailer machine matters.
- 98% of support tickets resolved on the first call
- Average client tenure of more than 10 years
- 100+ combined years of cybersecurity experience on staff
- Clients who have implemented our full security and business continuity recommendations have not reported a business-disrupting security incident.
- Fluent in the software you actually run: AutoCAD, Revit, Bluebeam, SolidWorks, Procore, Navisworks, ProjectWise, and OnScreen Takeoff.
- Dell & Lenovo Partner
- Managed Protection Security Suite Associate Accreditation
- MSP Pro
- Keeper Sales Professional
- Network+ Certified
- SonicWall Certified
Stuck With a Provider You've Outgrown?
If you want a picture of the environment before you make a decision, our free network assessment reveals if your data and computer network are properly backed up and secured, and also if there is anything you need to do now to prevent a major network outage, data loss, cyberattack or other expensive, data-erasing disaster. You keep the documentation regardless of what you decide. Book a 15-minute discovery call and we'll tell you honestly whether this is worth switching over, and if it is, exactly which weekend to do it.
Call 281-646-1200 or email results@alexaur.com.
