Who Owns Your Domain and Microsoft 365 Tenant? An IT Ownership Checklist
Check business account ownership, renewal contacts and secure recovery arrangements before a provider or key staff member changes.
Access and ownership are different questions
Your provider may administer a service while the business owns the account or contract. That can work well when the arrangement is clear. Problems arise when nobody knows the registrant, customer record, billing contact or route to regain control.
Make an ownership register without storing passwords in it. Record the service, business owner, supplier, billing contact, renewal arrangements and secure access process.
Check the important accounts
- Domain registration and DNS hosting.
- Microsoft 365 tenant and subscriptions.
- Website hosting and relevant application accounts.
- Internet and phone carrier accounts.
- Backup and recovery services.
- Finance, point-of-sale, membership and other operational software.
Ask about the domain
Confirm the registered business details, renewal contact and who can approve changes. Check that important notices do not go only to a former employee or an inaccessible address. Identify who manages DNS and which services depend on the records.
Do not transfer a live domain or edit DNS merely to test access. Request an authorised review and agree a controlled process for future changes.
Ask about Microsoft 365
Confirm the tenant identity, customer relationship, subscription arrangement and administrative responsibilities. Establish a secure recovery route for authorised business representatives. Everyday use of a shared administrator account is not a good substitute for a documented access model.
Ask what happens if the provider is unavailable or the relationship ends. The answer should explain approvals, secure access, documentation and any handover work. Avoid leaving the continuity plan dependent on one person's phone.
Make ownership part of supplier selection
Include account ownership and handover arrangements in new proposals. Clarify who retains business information and how it is exported. Check the actual product terms before assuming every service offers the same portability.
If a supplier says the business cannot obtain something, ask for the contractual or technical reason and an alternative continuity arrangement.
Review before a change becomes urgent
Choose one critical service and verify the records with the authorised owner. Work through the remaining accounts, prioritising anything due for renewal or managed by departing staff.
For domain services, visit NOX Domains. Our managed IT services can help organise ownership and continuity across the wider environment.