How should an IT support company prepare its on-call schedule for a new owner?

Begin with the real schedule, not the one on paper. Note who has answered after-hours calls over recent months, how they were reached and what they were paid or given for it. If the owner quietly covers the gaps, say so. The buyer will need to replace that.

Then write the rules. What triggers a call, which clients have special terms, and what is the order of escalation? Add the contacts for vendors who can be reached outside business hours. Keep it short enough that a tired technician can follow it. Include a short list of known trouble spots: the client whose server fails on weekends, or the alert that always turns out to be harmless. That kind of knowledge saves a new owner many bad nights.

Look at the people. Ask each technician what they think of the rotation and whether they plan to stay. A buyer will want to speak to the team, so decide how and when that happens. Fairness of the rota is something staff notice, and a buyer will too. Finally, hand over the tools: the phone line, the paging method, the shared contact list. Make sure they sit in the company’s name, not a personal account. Ask your lawyer about employment terms that affect on-call work.

Key takeaways

• Document the schedule as it truly runs, including informal cover by the owner.
• Write simple escalation rules and after-hours vendor contacts.
• Put the phone line and paging tools in the company’s name.