Avoid Pitfalls When Changing Your Business' ISP

When a business makes the decision to change its Internet Service Provider (ISP), some serious and potentially debilitating network issues can arise if the switch is not handled properly. These may include Internet outages, lost or delayed email, loss of remote services such as Remote Desktop Connection, Outlook Web Access, and/or Virtual Private Network; decreased quality of Internet service; vendors not being able to provide adequate, timely support; and loss of Line of Business application connections to outside vendors and/or websites.

In order to avoid these pitfalls and ensure a smooth transition to a new ISP, there are some minimum guidelines and specific steps that your business should follow. The following items give a glimpse of what needs to occur in order for your business to make a smooth ISP switch:

1. Your network management provider will need to gather the necessary information from your current Internet Service and DNS (Domain Name System)/webhosting provider, facilitate the coordination of the service changes, make adjustments to the firewall internally, and perform the follow-up after the change takes place.
2. A week prior to the change, your new ISP will typically provide you with new IP addresses, which you should give to your network management provider as soon as possible.
3. At least two days prior to the change-over, your network management provider will need to create some additional mail server identification records to make the change-over as smooth as possible for your email services.
4. Your network management provider will contact the new ISP to request that a reverse DNS be created for your new IP addresses (the unique Internet addresses for each computer on your network) to help ensure that email will not get rejected once the change is made.
5. On the day of the change-over, several steps will be performed by your network management provider. With proper planning and collaboration, these will go smoothly and the switch can occur without a glitch!

Proper planning for implementation can significantly reduce the chance of your business being negatively impacted when changing your ISP. As with all major changes that are made to a business network, enlisting the assistance of a qualified network management provider can help make the transition go more smoothly. For more information on how 3D can help your business change to a new ISP and provide your business with many other valuable network management services, please visit our website at http://www.3dcorp.us/, email us at info@3dcorp.us, or call us at (360) 671-4906.