Get a complete working handover from a departing supplier

What this means for your practice

Build the handover inventory around the ability to operate and change the service. Agree the deliverables and authorised recipients before the final transition.

How to review the arrangement

Ask the incoming authorised maintainer how they would make a change, investigate a failure and restore service using the pack. Where do they still need the outgoing supplier's memory? Resolve those gaps before closing the transition. A folder being delivered is an earlier step than the next team being ready.

Build the pack around everyday work

List what the incoming team needs to make a routine change, investigate a fault and restore service. That may include files, settings, design assets, account arrangements and instructions for work performed by another provider. Ask the outgoing supplier to explain anything that cannot simply be handed over as a folder.

Agree the authorised recipients and who accepts each part. The incoming team should check the materials while clarification is still available, rather than waiting until the old relationship has ended. Use a representative task to expose missing context: can they update a sample page in a safe test setup and explain how the approved change would reach the public site? Keep unresolved dependencies visible with an owner. The practice should know what has been received, what has been demonstrated and what still needs agreement. Receiving source files is useful progress, but it is not the same as having a replacement maintainer ready to operate the service.

How to check the result

Track accepted handover items and unresolved operational gaps.