Customer onboarding plan for a new MSP client
For account managers, onboarding leads, service coordinators and senior technicians at a managed service provider (MSP) who take a newly signed client from handover to live service. Complete 'Handing over to customer success' first. You'll write the onboarding scope with what the client is and isn't buying, plan least-privilege administrative access, sequence the phases with owners and acceptance criteria, handle credentials and data safely, and decide when the client is ready to go live. It draws on the joint CISA and international partners' advisory on MSP security and Microsoft Partner Center documentation on granular delegated admin privileges (GDAP); company names are placeholders for your own runbook.
- Level
- Intermediate
- Length
- About 90 minutes
- Contents
- 5 lessons · final exam
- Status
- Published · updated 10 Oct 2026
Skills you'll practise
- Write an onboarding scope that states what the client is buying and what they aren't
- Plan least-privilege, time-limited administrative access to the client's environment
- Sequence onboarding phases with owners, dates and acceptance criteria
- Write a credential and data handover procedure that keeps secrets out of email and tickets
- Choose go-live readiness checks and plan the first-month review
Course outline
- 1.Writing an onboarding scope: what the client is buying and what they aren'tLesson · 16 min
- 2.Planning least-privilege, time-limited administrative accessLesson · 17 min
- 3.Sequencing onboarding phases with owners, dates and acceptance criteriaLesson · 17 min
- 4.Writing a credential and data handover procedureLesson · 16 min
- 5.Choosing go-live readiness checks and planning the first-month reviewLesson · 10 min
- 6.Customer onboarding plan for a new MSP client: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 13 questions
- 7.Customer onboarding plan for a new MSP client: practical exerciseKnowledge check · 1 question
- 8.Final exam10 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out
Sources it draws on
The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.
- CISA and partners: Protecting Against Cyber Threats to Managed Service Providers and their Customers (AA22-131A)
- Microsoft Partner Center: Introduction to granular delegated admin privileges (GDAP)
- Microsoft Partner Center: Obtain granular admin permissions to manage a customer's service
- Microsoft Partner Center: GDAP least-privileged roles by task
- Microsoft Partner Center: Request a reseller relationship with a customer
See it with your own jobs and topics
Tell us about your team and we'll walk you through setup, from choosing jobs to your first skills check.