Switching provider
Most people stay with an IT provider they have outgrown for one of three reasons. They think it will be too hard, too risky, or too expensive. This page answers all three.
8 weeks
to your first posture report
90 days
exit option, any time
Zero
gap in cover during handover
Covered
your onboarding, and Layer3 free until your old contract ends, on a three-year term
Layer3 has run IT for New Zealand organisations since 2005, from offices in Upper Hutt, Wellington and Auckland, and operates an ISO/IEC 27001-certified ISMS.
Sound familiar
Most organisations do not leave their managed service provider (MSP) because something broke. They leave because the service stopped moving and nobody noticed. These are the six we hear most.
01
Nobody will commit to a response time
You log a ticket and wait. There is no target to hold anyone to, so there is nothing to escalate against.
Layer3 publishes its response targets. A critical issue is acknowledged within 15 minutes and resolved within four business hours.
02
Support hours are rationed
You have an allowance to manage, and the interesting problems are always out of scope. You end up deciding whether an issue is worth spending an hour on.
In-scope support is unlimited on every Layer3 plan. Nothing to count, nothing to bank, nothing to run out of.
03
You only hear from them when something breaks
No roadmap, no budget forecast, nobody thinking a year ahead. The relationship is entirely reactive.
Every plan carries a review cadence in writing, from annual to quarterly, with a vCIO and a maintained roadmap.
04
Security keeps arriving as another quote
Every control is an upsell. You are never certain whether you are covered, or whether you simply have not bought that part yet.
Endpoint detection and response, SIEM collection and application control are on every plan. The 24/7 SOC and MXDR start at Protect. None of it is an add-on.
05
You cannot evidence anything
Your insurer asks a question and you have to ask your provider. Your board asks about posture and you get a screenshot.
Every plan targets a named SMB1001 maturity level, Bronze through Gold, with a posture report against it. Layer3 operates an ISO/IEC 27001-certified ISMS.
06
You are locked in and cannot tell what you pay for
One number on one invoice. The contract rolls over. Leaving feels like a project you do not have time for.
Your service schedule itemises the managed fee, the licensing and any transition work separately. Managed agreements include a 90-day exit option.
The honest version
Each one has a different answer. Here they are in order.
"It will be too hard."
It is not your job to project-manage your own exit. We contact your current provider, agree the handover and collect credentials, tenant access and documentation. A named project manager and a senior engineer own it on our side. Your part is a decision and a couple of conversations.
"It is too risky."
Nothing is switched off until its replacement is verified live. Documentation and asset data first, then monitoring and patching, then the security stack, each layer checked before your old provider's agents are removed. There is no gap in cover at any point. Every managed agreement also includes a 90-day exit option, so the decision stays reversible.
"It will cost too much."
You get a fixed transition price before anything moves, not an estimate that grows. On a three-year term that is 100% off your onboarding. And if you are still tied into another provider, we waive your Layer3 fees for the time you have left to run, so you are never paying two providers at once. How long that is depends on your current agreement, and we confirm it in your switch assessment.
The real blocker
Being locked in is the most common reason a switch never happens. It is also the one we can do something about.
01
We find out where you actually stand
Send us your current agreement and we will tell you your notice period, your auto-renewal date and what leaving actually costs. Most people find the date is sooner than they assumed.
02
We waive our fees until your old contract ends
On a three-year term we waive your Layer3 fees for the time left to run on your current agreement. Six months still to go means six months of Layer3 at no charge. How long that is depends on your agreement, and it is confirmed in your switch assessment.
03
You get your number before you commit
The switch assessment is free. It produces a written transition plan and a fixed transition price, and there is no obligation to go ahead.
Eight weeks, typically
A structured handover led by a dedicated project manager and a senior engineer, planned around the path of least disruption to your people.
01
Weeks 1-2
Discovery and scope
We audit users, devices, sites, systems, licences and contracts, and validate what you have against what you are paying for. You get a final service schedule and pricing before anything moves.
What we need from you
Access to your current documentation, and an hour with whoever knows the environment best.
02
Weeks 2-3
Transition plan
A shared plan with milestones and named owners on both sides. Notice periods, data ownership, administrator credentials and licence transfers are mapped before the first change is made.
What we need from you
Sign-off on the plan, and your current agreement so we can handle the notice.
03
Weeks 3-6
Controlled handover
Documentation and asset data first, then monitoring and patching, then the security stack. Each layer is verified live before your previous provider's agents are removed.
What we need from you
Almost nothing. This is the part we run, and the part your team should not feel.
04
Weeks 6-8
Baseline and evidence
Microsoft 365 hardened to the agreed baseline, backups verified with a test restore, and your first posture report issued against the SMB1001 level your plan targets.
What we need from you
A decision on any remediation discovery turned up. It is quoted separately before work begins.
05
Ongoing
Review and improve
Reporting and scheduled reviews keep the service, and your security maturity, moving with the business rather than drifting behind it.
What we need from you
Attendance at the reviews your plan sets, from annual to quarterly.
Timings are indicative for a typical mid-sized environment and are confirmed in your transition plan.
Both numbers
A provider offering a free switch has priced it into your monthly fee. We show you both numbers.
Managed service
The monthly fee for the people, monitoring and support in your plan.
Licensing
Microsoft 365, security and backup licences, quoted and itemised separately.
Transition
A one-off onboarding project, scoped and quoted before anything moves.
Then we take up to 100% off the transition, depending on the term you choose.
Standard
Quoted up front before anything moves. Typically about one month's service fee.
Two-year term
25% off your onboarding.
Three-year term
100% off your onboarding, plus your Layer3 fees waived for the time left to run on your current agreement. How long that is depends on your agreement, and it is confirmed in your switch assessment.
Onboarding is 100% off for organisations switching from another IT provider. Waived Layer3 fees during an existing agreement depend on how long you have left to run and are confirmed in your switch assessment.
Not a switching bonus
None of this is a signing incentive that expires. It is what the plans include, every month, for everyone.
Endpoint detection and response
A detection and response agent on every managed device, on every plan.
SIEM collection and retention
Endpoint, identity, email and network telemetry collected and kept for investigation and evidence.
Application control
Only approved software runs on managed devices. Included on every plan.
Unlimited in-scope support
Remote and onsite during business hours. No hours to count and none to run out of.
24/7 SOC and MXDR
Human analysts correlating endpoint, identity, email and network signal, with automated containment. From the Protect plan upward.
A named SMB1001 target
Bronze through Gold, depending on your plan. A certifiable posture rather than a feeling.
They already did it
Cuttriss had engaged another service company and was still running staff on old rebuilt PCs. Surveying, civil engineering and planning work was being held up by IT and phone systems that kept breaking down.
It's like we are their only clients.
Jan Bell, Office Manager, Cuttriss
Read the Cuttriss case studyThe New Zealand Police Association runs a distributed workforce of 60 people for whom technology is critical. Several systems needed upgrading at once, and the Association wanted reliability, responsiveness and accountability.
We've had no staff complaints, and service requests have halved since we started with Layer3.
Aksha Shankar, Service Delivery Manager, New Zealand Police Association
Read the case studyBefore you ask
The things that come up in the first conversation, answered before you have to ask them.
Ask us something elseVery little, by design. Onboarding is scheduled around your team, and each layer is verified live before the previous provider's equivalent is removed. What your people will notice is a new way to log a request, and a name to ask for.
Send us the agreement. We will tell you your notice period, your auto-renewal date and what leaving actually costs. And on a three-year term you will not pay twice: we waive your Layer3 fees for the time left to run on your current agreement, so six months still to go means six months of Layer3 at no charge. We confirm the exact period in your switch assessment.
We do. We contact them, agree the handover and collect credentials, tenant access and documentation. Most outgoing providers are professional about it. If yours is not, that is our problem to manage rather than yours.
You do. Data ownership, administrator credentials and licence transfers are mapped in the transition plan before the first change is made, so there is never a question about what belongs to you.
They come off last. Documentation and asset data move first, then monitoring and patching, then the security stack. Each layer is verified live before the equivalent agent is removed, so there is no gap in cover at any point.
Around eight weeks for a typical mid-sized environment, from discovery to your first posture report. Timings are confirmed in your transition plan rather than promised in advance.
Every managed agreement includes a 90-day exit option if the service is not working for you. We would rather you had that than felt stuck, which is the position most people are in when they first call us.
No obligation
Send us your current agreement and we will tell you your notice period, what leaving actually costs, and what we can cover. If it is not the right time, we will say so.
Prefer to talk? Book a discovery call, or call 0508 LAYER3.
Read more: Managed IT and Support, or Co-Managed IT and Support if you have your own team.
Layer3 is a managed IT provider operating an ISO/IEC 27001-certified ISMS, with offices across New Zealand.
Contact
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84-90 Main Street
Upper Hutt, Wellington 5018
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