Moving Offices? Don't leave IT behind!

The following guest post was kindly submitted by Clare Moorhouse, a writer at Help Moving Office, a free online resource that guides companies through the office relocation process.   

If your company is planning to relocate to new offices, make sure you give careful thought to how you are going to seamlessly migrate your company’s most business critical equipment – your IT and  telecom infrastructure. This article will help you plan and execute a smooth transfer of your IT equipment to the new office so that your business suffers zero downtime and disruption.

An office move is a major change for your company, and like any other change, it requires careful planning. Not only will your office furniture and files need to be moved safely to the new facility, you will also need to ensure that your IT Infrastructure is carefully shutdown, packed and moved across to the new offices, where it can then be unpacked and setup correctly.

It is important to minimize disruption when a business relocates, and this relies heavily on setting up your IT infrastructure correctly in the new office to ensure that all critical systems and office workstations, printers, scanners and networking equipment are correctly re-configured to work at the new office. Planning your IT Relocation well in advance will help to achieve this and ensure there are few (if any) technical hitches to overcome on the first morning in your new office. 

This IT Relocation Guide will walk you through the key stages of how to plan a smooth and seamless IT office move:
1) IT Relocation Planning

Prior to the move, you should inventory each piece of IT equipment you are taking with you. Use this time to review what items need upgrading or replace. After all, you will want to use the office move as an opportunity to improve your efficiency and productivity with the technology you use. 

Draw up a scale plan of where your computers and printers are going to be situated, then plan your cables and IT infrastructure around that plan. Identify where phones are going to be and ensure you have enough phone points (and that they’re in the correct location). Pay close attention to the lead times stipulated by Telecom Companies when ordering any new equipment (phone line installation can be notoriously slow!). 

Think about your future business growth plans, particularly over the course of the tenancy. Failure to do so could mean you outgrow the space before your lease has expired. 

2) Hire an IT & Telecom Solution Provider

IT Relocations can be notoriously complex, and even if you have your own dedicated IT team, they may not necessarily have the time, resources or expertise to carry out your IT move.  An IT & Telecom Solution Provider will not only make sure your IT systems are transferred and working correctly in the new office, they will also advise on any new systems or upgrades, and check you are on the right tariff so that you have the best technology solutions whilst keeping your running costs as low as possible. 

3) Moving Day – IT Considerations

Make sure all your valuable data is backed up, and stored off-site, and that you have a contingency plan of how you are going to continue operations should you come across any delays or unforeseen disasters.  Planning for the worst case scenario will keep you, and your Moving Company, on your toes to minimize downtime as far as possible. 

Have a diligent IT Test plan that identifies all the software functions that need to be tested, including incoming/outgoing emails, servers, broadband speed and CRM systems.

The IT Relocation Checklist from Help Moving Office will help you prepare & manage your entire IT Relocation safely, efficiently and without disruption to services.

image credit: pixelthing

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