Guide
Changing IT provider without losing anything
Changing IT provider takes preparation: recovering access credentials, checking that your domain names are in your name, obtaining the documentation, switching over your email without losing messages. Here is the checklist and a typical timeline.
Updated on 18 October 2026 · Figures are sourced at the bottom of the page; opinions are those of IT CyberWall.
Before you notify your provider
Reread your contract: term, notice period, exit conditions, what happens to the data. If the provider processes personal data for you, the contract must provide for its destruction or its return to you or to the new provider, with copies destroyed[1]. Then list everything the outgoing provider manages for you.
Access credentials
- Microsoft 365. The Global Administrator has almost unlimited access; Microsoft recommends having as few as possible[2]. At least one Global Administrator must be a company account. To remove the rights delegated to a partner: Microsoft 365 admin centre, Partner relationships, Remove roles[3]. Removing the roles does not end the commercial relationship if the partner resells you the subscriptions: you then need to contact them[4].
- Servers, firewall, Wi-Fi, hosting provider: recover the administrator accounts, then change their passwords once the switchover is done.
- Provider accounts: disable them on the end date, not before.
Domain names and email
- The domain name holder is the person listed as such in the Whois database: they hold the rights to the name[5]. Check that it is your company, not your provider.
- Changing registrar is possible at any time: the holder obtains a transfer code (“auth-info”) from the current registrar and gives it to the new one[5].
- Keep your contact details accurate: for a .fr domain, AFNIC may ask for supporting documents; without a reply, the name is frozen, then blocked and deleted[5].
- Email depends on the domain name and on the Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace account: only change the DNS records once the new provider is ready, so you do not lose messages. Remember SPF, DKIM and DMARC (our guide).
Documentation
Ask in writing for: the inventory of workstations, servers and licences; the network diagrams; the list of administrator accounts; current contracts (hosting, telephony, licences) with their expiry dates; any specific procedures (business software, backups, remote access).
Backups and recovery
Taking your backups with you (where the copies are, who holds them, how to recover them) and switching over the recovery plan are your backup provider’s responsibility. Never let the backup stop during the changeover: WeDoBack describes the recovery plan on its Disaster recovery plan page.
A typical timeline
- Before giving notice: inventory, check of domain names and owner accounts.
- During the notice period: handover of documentation, creation of the new provider’s access, backup restoration test.
- On switchover day: passwords changed, outgoing provider’s rights removed.
- Afterwards: written confirmation that the data held by the outgoing provider has been destroyed.
What IT CyberWall does
We manage the takeover: inventory, recovery of access credentials, transfer of domain names, email switchover and documentation of everything we take over. Your owner accounts remain yours.
Want to change provider?
We prepare the takeover with you, with no interruption for your teams.
Sources
Sources consulted on 18 October 2026. Supplier prices are shown excluding tax, in the currency and region of the published price list, and may change: always check the official page before deciding.
- CNIL – Guide du sous-traitant (September 2017) — cnil.fr/sites/default/files/atoms/files/rgpd-guide_sous-traitant-cnil.pdf
- Microsoft Learn – About administrator roles in the Microsoft 365 admin center — learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/admin/add-users/about-admin-roles?view=o365-worldwide
- Microsoft Learn – Customer-led termination of a GDAP relationship — learn.microsoft.com/en-us/partner-center/customers/gdap-customer-terminate
- Microsoft Learn – Manage Microsoft-certified solution provider partner relationships — learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/commerce/manage-partners?view=o365-worldwide
- AFNIC – Guide pratique du titulaire d’un nom de domaine en .fr — afnic.fr/wp-media/uploads/2020/11/Guidepratique_Titulaire_VF.pdf
Backup and restoration are operated by WeDoBack.