Partnership
Our software vendor is forcing a cloud move. Can we push back?
On the timing, often yes. On the move itself, rarely. The useful move is to get ahead of it: understand the cost, pick your window, and avoid the add-on services you do not need.
Answered by Ryan Sanders, Partnership Director
Why vendors do it
Software companies are retiring their on-premise products and moving customers to subscriptions. It is better business for them, and sometimes better for you, but the letter arrives with a date and a price and not much explanation. Accounting, estimating, agency management and document management systems have all done it in the last few years.
What you can negotiate
The date, often. Vendors would rather move you late than lose you. The price, sometimes, especially the migration fee and the first-year rate. The extras, almost always: the premium support tier, the training package and the add-on modules are where the quote gets padded.
What you probably cannot avoid
The move itself, once the old product has an end-of-support date. Running unsupported software that holds your books or your client files is a security and insurance problem, and the vendor knows you know it.
Getting ahead of it
Read the letter with your account manager the week it arrives. Ask the vendor what changes for your staff, what happens to your history, and what the total cost is over three years. Pick a window that suits your business, not theirs. We have done this migration for accounting, engineering and hospitality clients, and the ones that went smoothly all started early.
Where we did this
Order the internet circuit the week the lease is signed. Carriers take six to twelve weeks. Nothing else on a move fails as often.
The relocation checklist Did you knowA backup that has never been restored is a hope, not a plan. Ask for the date of the last tested restore.
What to actually testPeople also ask
How do you decide what hardware and software to recommend?
By what fits the problem and the budget, not by what we happen to know best. We have changed vendors more often than most firms do, always for a stated technical reason, and we will show you the reasoning.
The full answerWhat happens when you get something wrong?
We tell you, quickly and plainly, and then we run an after-action: what happened, how it happened, and what changes so it does not repeat. Hiding a small problem is how it becomes a large one.
The full answerWhat does a technology roadmap actually contain?
What changes, in what order, over what years, and what each year costs. It is reviewed with the owner and adjusted as the business changes.
The full answer
"Draven was able to restore the functionality of the Excel macro and resolve the issue with the Project Tracker file. He communicated clearly throughout the process and explained the remaining issue. Although one template issue was not fully resolved, he provided recommendations for next steps and offered additional assistance. I appreciate his help and responsiveness."
Vanya, engineering firmMeet Draven- A technician who knows your setup takes every request. Not a dispatcher, not a queue.
- Every closed ticket is surveyed and a partner reads every response.
- 99.5% of surveys come back positive.
- Family-owned since 2005. 21 years in the same corner of Wisconsin, not going anywhere.
"Another great job by Midwest IT. Our company just loves your fast response to our issues."
Client, 2024 surveyTalk to a partner, not a sales script.
Tell us what is going on. A partner will call you back the same business day, look at what you have, and tell you honestly whether we are the right fit. No pricing pressure, no pitch deck.