Client Onboarding Process
End-to-end process for onboarding new clients from sales handoff through go-live and transition to BAU managed services.
SLA Target: Complete onboarding within 30 business days from sales handoff. Complex multi-site deployments may extend to 45 business days with VP approval.
Process Overview
The ASI AI Solutions client onboarding process comprises seven stages designed to ensure a smooth transition from prospect to fully managed client. Each stage has defined entry/exit criteria, responsible roles, and deliverables.
StartSales Handoff Received
Stage 1Sales Handoff & Kickoff
Stage 2Technical Discovery
Stage 3Solution Design
GateClient Approval of Design & SLA
Stage 4Implementation Planning
Stage 5Deployment & Migration
Stage 6Go-Live & Hypercare
Stage 7Transition to BAU
CompleteClient in Managed Services
Stage 1: Sales Handoff & Kickoff
Duration: 2–3 business days | Owner: Account Manager + Onboarding Lead
Objectives
- Formally transfer the client relationship from Sales to Service Delivery
- Ensure all contractual commitments, scope, and expectations are clearly documented
- Introduce the onboarding team to the client and establish communication channels
Sales Handoff Checklist
- Signed Master Services Agreement (MSA) and Statement of Work (SOW)
- Agreed service tier (Platinum / Gold / Silver) and SLA terms
- Client contact list (primary contact, technical contact, executive sponsor, billing contact)
- Sales discovery notes and any pre-sales technical assessment
- Commercial terms: contract value, billing frequency, payment terms
- Special conditions, exclusions, or custom SLA clauses
- Expected go-live date and any hard deadlines
- Client's current environment summary (if available from pre-sales)
Required Information from Client
| Information Item | Description | Provided By |
|---|---|---|
| Business Overview | Industry, headcount, office locations, operating hours | Client Sponsor |
| IT Decision Makers | Names, roles, authority levels for approvals | Client Sponsor |
| Current IT Provider | Incumbent MSP or internal IT team details, contract end dates | Client IT Lead |
| Compliance Requirements | Industry regulations (e.g., APRA, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, Privacy Act) | Client Compliance |
| Critical Business Applications | Line-of-business apps, ERP, CRM, custom software | Client IT Lead |
| User Count & Locations | Number of users, devices, remote workers, office sites | Client IT Lead |
Kickoff Meeting Agenda
- Welcome and introductions (ASI team and client stakeholders)
- Review of engagement scope, objectives, and success criteria
- Confirm agreed service tier and SLA summary
- Present onboarding timeline and key milestones
- Define communication plan (frequency, channels, escalation contacts)
- Schedule Stage 2 technical discovery sessions
- Distribute onboarding pack and access request forms
- Q&A and next steps
Stage 2: Technical Discovery
Duration: 5–7 business days | Owner: Solutions Architect + Onboarding Engineer
Infrastructure Audit
A comprehensive audit of the client's current IT environment is conducted using a combination of automated discovery tools and on-site/remote workshops.
Network & Infrastructure
- Network topology and diagrams
- WAN/LAN architecture, SD-WAN if applicable
- Firewall rules and security appliances
- Server inventory (physical & virtual)
- Storage systems and capacity utilisation
- Backup infrastructure and schedules
- DNS, DHCP, Active Directory topology
- Cloud subscriptions (Azure, AWS, GCP, M365)
Security & Compliance
- Current security posture assessment
- Endpoint protection and EDR status
- Email security (spam filter, DMARC, SPF, DKIM)
- MFA adoption and identity management
- Patch management status
- Vulnerability scan results (if available)
- Compliance certifications held
- Data classification and DLP policies
Requirements Gathering Workshop
Conduct structured workshops with client stakeholders to document:
- Business priorities: What keeps the CIO/CTO up at night? Top 3 pain points.
- Growth plans: Planned headcount growth, new offices, M&A activity
- Technology roadmap: Planned migrations, upgrades, or new system deployments
- AI readiness: Current AI/ML usage, data maturity, appetite for AI-driven operations
- Support expectations: Expected ticket volume, peak hours, VIP user list
- Integration requirements: Third-party systems, APIs, data flows
Template: Technical Discovery Questionnaire
📄 Technical Discovery Questionnaire
Client Name
[Client legal entity name]
Primary Contact
[Name, title, email, phone]
Number of Employees / IT Users
[Total employees] / [IT-supported users]
Office Locations
[List all sites with addresses, user counts, and whether on-site support is required]
Current IT Environment Summary
[On-prem / Hybrid / Cloud-native. List major platforms: Windows Server, VMware, Azure AD, AWS, etc.]
Critical Business Applications
[List each application, vendor, hosting location, and business criticality (High/Medium/Low)]
Current Backup & DR
[Backup solution, RPO, RTO, DR site location, last DR test date]
Security Tools in Use
[AV/EDR, firewall vendor, SIEM, email security, MFA provider]
Compliance Requirements
[List applicable standards: Essential Eight, ISO 27001, PCI-DSS, APRA CPS 234, Privacy Act, etc.]
Known Pain Points / Priorities
[Top 3 issues the client wants resolved immediately]
Expected Monthly Ticket Volume
[Estimated based on user count and historical data]
Stage 3: Solution Design
Duration: 5–7 business days | Owner: Solutions Architect
Architecture Design
Based on the technical discovery findings, the Solutions Architect produces a comprehensive solution design document covering:
- Target architecture: Network diagrams, cloud architecture, security architecture
- Monitoring strategy: ASI AI Sentinel deployment plan, alert thresholds, dashboards
- Security posture: Essential Eight alignment plan, endpoint protection rollout, SIEM integration
- Backup & DR: Revised backup strategy, RTO/RPO targets, DR runbook
- Service desk integration: Ticket routing, escalation paths, knowledge base seeding
- AI operations: AI-assisted monitoring alerts, predictive maintenance models, automated remediation playbooks
SLA Agreement
The SLA agreement is formalised at this stage, documenting:
| SLA Component | Details |
|---|---|
| Service Hours | 24/7/365 or Business Hours (Mon-Fri 07:00-19:00 AEST) per tier |
| Response Times | Per priority level (P1-P4) aligned to selected service tier |
| Resolution Targets | Per priority level with escalation timelines |
| Availability Targets | 99.9% uptime for managed infrastructure |
| Reporting | Monthly SLA report, quarterly business review |
| Service Credits | Credit mechanism for SLA breaches per MSA terms |
| Exclusions | Third-party outages, client-caused incidents, force majeure |
Approval Gate: The client must formally approve the Solution Design and SLA Agreement before proceeding to Stage 4. Obtain written sign-off from the client's executive sponsor.
Stage 4: Implementation Planning
Duration: 3–5 business days | Owner: Project Manager
Project Plan
The Project Manager develops a detailed implementation plan in Monday.com including:
- Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) with all deployment tasks
- Task dependencies and critical path analysis
- Resource allocation (ASI engineers, client IT staff, third-party vendors)
- Milestone dates with go/no-go criteria
- Risk register with mitigation strategies
- Communication plan and status reporting schedule
- Change freeze windows and maintenance windows agreed with client
Resource Allocation
| Role | Responsibility | Typical Allocation |
|---|---|---|
| Onboarding Lead | Overall onboarding coordination and client relationship | 50% for duration |
| Solutions Architect | Technical design review and implementation oversight | 30% for Stages 2-5 |
| Project Manager | Plan, track, report, risk management | 40% for Stages 4-7 |
| Senior Engineer(s) | Infrastructure deployment, migration execution | 100% during Stage 5 |
| Security Engineer | Security tooling deployment and hardening | 50% during Stage 5 |
| AI/ML Engineer | AI Sentinel configuration and model training | 25% for Stages 5-6 |
| Service Desk Lead | Knowledge transfer, ticket routing setup | 25% for Stages 6-7 |
Stage 5: Deployment & Migration
Duration: 7–14 business days | Owner: Senior Engineer + Project Manager
Execution
The deployment phase follows the approved implementation plan. All changes are executed through the Change Management Process.
- Environment preparation: Provision cloud resources, configure networking, deploy monitoring agents
- Agent deployment: Roll out ASI AI Sentinel agents, endpoint protection, and management tools to all devices
- Security hardening: Implement Essential Eight controls, configure SIEM, enable MFA
- Data migration: Execute data migrations per the approved plan (email, files, applications)
- Application configuration: Configure line-of-business applications and integrations
- Backup validation: Configure backups and run initial full backup with restore test
- Service desk cutover: Configure ticket routing, auto-assignment rules, and SLA timers in ServiceNow
Testing & Validation
- All monitoring agents reporting to ASI AI Sentinel dashboard
- Alert thresholds validated with test alerts
- VPN/remote access tested from all client locations
- Email flow validated (internal, external, calendar sharing)
- All critical business applications accessible and functional
- Backup and restore test completed successfully
- Security scan shows no critical or high vulnerabilities
- Service desk test ticket raised, routed, and resolved correctly
- Client UAT sign-off obtained for each workstream
Stage 6: Go-Live & Hypercare
Duration: 30 calendar days | Owner: Onboarding Lead + Service Desk Lead
Go-Live Activities
- Formal cutover from incumbent provider to ASI AI Solutions
- All users directed to ASI service desk (phone, email, portal)
- Enhanced monitoring enabled (reduced alert thresholds for the hypercare period)
- Daily stand-up calls with client IT team for first 5 business days
- Dedicated Slack/Teams channel for real-time escalation
Hypercare Support (30 Days)
During the 30-day hypercare period, the client receives enhanced support regardless of their contracted tier:
- 15-minute P1 response time (Platinum level) for all clients
- Named onboarding engineer available during business hours
- Weekly progress reviews with client stakeholders
- Proactive health checks on all critical systems
- AI model tuning for environment-specific alert patterns
Hypercare Exit Criteria
- All critical and high-severity deployment issues resolved
- SLA metrics meeting targets for at least 2 consecutive weeks
- Client satisfaction survey score of 8/10 or higher
- All documentation completed and uploaded to knowledge base
- Service desk team fully trained on client environment
- AI monitoring models trained and producing accurate predictions
- Client sign-off on hypercare completion
Stage 7: Transition to BAU
Duration: 3–5 business days | Owner: Onboarding Lead + Service Delivery Manager
Handoff to Managed Services
- Formal handoff meeting between onboarding team and assigned Service Delivery Manager (SDM)
- Transfer of all documentation: architecture diagrams, runbooks, known issues, client preferences
- SDM introduced to client as their ongoing primary contact
- Regular service review cadence established (monthly for Platinum, quarterly for Gold/Silver)
- Onboarding retrospective conducted internally
- Client added to regular SLA reporting distribution
- CRM updated: client status moved from "Onboarding" to "Active"
RACI Matrix
R = Responsible A = Accountable C = Consulted I = Informed
| Stage | Account Mgr | Onboarding Lead | Solutions Architect | Project Mgr | Engineers | Service Desk | Client |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Sales Handoff | R | A | I | I | I | I | C |
| 2. Technical Discovery | I | A | R | I | C | I | R |
| 3. Solution Design | I | A | R | C | C | I | C |
| 4. Implementation Planning | I | C | C | R | C | I | C |
| 5. Deployment & Migration | I | A | C | R | R | I | C |
| 6. Go-Live & Hypercare | I | R | I | R | R | R | A |
| 7. Transition to BAU | C | R | I | I | I | A | I |
Templates
Template: Client Onboarding Form
📄 Client Onboarding Form
Onboarding ID
[Auto-generated: ONB-YYYY-NNNN]
Client Legal Name
[Full legal entity name as per MSA]
ABN
[Australian Business Number]
Service Tier
[Platinum / Gold / Silver]
Contract Start Date
[DD/MM/YYYY]
Contract Term
[12 / 24 / 36 months]
Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)
[$AUD]
Account Manager
[ASI employee name]
Assigned Onboarding Lead
[ASI employee name]
Target Go-Live Date
[DD/MM/YYYY - within 30 business days of handoff]
Client Executive Sponsor
[Name, title, email, phone]
Client Technical Contact
[Name, title, email, phone]
Special Requirements / Notes
[Any custom requirements, compliance needs, or constraints]
Onboarding KPIs
≤30
Business Days to Go-Live
≥8/10
Client Satisfaction Score
100%
Checklist Completion
≤5%
Post-Go-Live Escalation Rate