I'm part of a small business with just five employees, and we're considering letting go of our IT company. Currently, we've got a server running on Windows Server managed by that big tech company, but honestly, it feels like overkill for our needs since we mostly use QuickBooks and have a shared network drive. Office 365 is our email platform. I'm unsure about how to manage this transition; specifically, will it be difficult for them to offload these responsibilities to me? Is it possible to get by without GDAP (Granular Delegated Admin Privileges) from the IT company until we officially part ways? Do I need GDAP to manage our emails linked to our domain? I think I've grasped most of the basics, but the whole offloading aspect seems daunting. Should I just have them reduce our services and carry on as is?
3 Answers
Here’s a thought: explain your plans to the IT company and ask them to help you with an offboarding project. They can document everything for you, which would be a huge help down the road when you run into issues you don't know how to fix yourself.
It sounds like you're trying to take on something pretty hefty without the necessary expertise. It might be better to keep the IT company around during the transition. You're essentially saying, 'I can handle the car maintenance just because I know how to drive!' You could end up spending a lot more later fixing mistakes due to inexperience. Maybe consider a more gradual approach rather than jumping in headfirst.
I get that, but exactly how much are you using the server? If it's just for QuickBooks, maybe talk to them about downsizing instead?
Honestly, if you only have five employees, it might be cheaper to hire a part-time IT person for maintenance instead of taking everything on yourself. Have you thought about switching QuickBooks to their online version and using SharePoint for files? That could save you a lot, and you wouldn't even need the server.
We tried the online QuickBooks before but ran into issues right away. It felt risky to rely solely on cloud services after that.
That sounds smart! Being upfront with them could save you headaches later.