You’ve found the perfect location, hired a moving company, and informed your clients and staff. However, there is one thing left: organizing your IT relocation.
Office relocation is hard. It involves moving not just furniture but also IT infrastructure and network configuration.
To complicate matters further, you need to reduce your downtime to a bare minimum.
Sounds tough? It doesn’t need to be.
Following a simple checklist will make sure that your relocation goes smoothly.
Read on to find out what questions you should ask before making the perfect office relocation in 2022.
Checklist For Moving Your Office Infrastructure
Before writing your checklist, you need to ask yourself four questions that will make your relocation easier.
Your questions will help you create your checklist for your move.
The four questions are:
Question 1: How Should I Plan My Move?
To plan your move do the following.
- Set a schedule and take inventory of items affected by the move.
- Check how business-critical operations will carry on and if they will be interrupted.
- Take an overview of your existing facilities to see what utilities and other IT related factors will be necessary for your new office space.
- Notify service providers and vendors so they can sync with your movement schedule and help with equipment.
- Contact the architect or contractor if new buildings are involved.
- Make a budget and include an emergency fund.
Before visiting the site of relocation, make another checklist for what you’ll need to note during the trip.
These include:
- Hardpoints for printers, routers, network cabling, power points, and so on.
- Check server room for needs such as cooling and ventilation, security, and power.
- A clear blueprint, necessary for easing your move.
Question 2: How do I Assess My Equipment?
Now it’s time to take an inventory of your physical equipment and also consider upgrades if necessary.
A few tips for this assessment are…
- Make an inventory of all your present IT assets.
- Make a comparison between IT infrastructure in the new and present locations.
- Check requirements for cabling and placement for equipment and peripheral items.
- Check if your upcoming upgrades and acquisitions can be done at the same time as the move.
- Make a plan for the disposal of excess or unwanted equipment.
- You may need to purchase new software or hardware for reducing downtime.
Question 3: How Should I Prepare the Telecommunications Systems?
You should ensure that you have access to communications systems during the move. One way to do this is to use VoIP and SIP trunking.
Other considerations include…
- Check the necessary steps for handling voice data while moving and setting up.
- Make an inventory of all communication equipment including phones, handsets, and all mobile devices.
- Check what network strength is needed by your organization.
- Check your line capacity and see if new lines are required.
- Your telecom provider should be notified of your move. They can help with forwarding and rerouting of calls.
While checking your telecommunication systems, you could also determine if you are happy with their services or wish to shift.
Question 4: What Steps Should I Take To Ensure Security?
Cybersecurity is more important than ever. So this could be a great time to enhance your network security and controls.
Some ways to do this are:
- Make an inventory of all your protected assets (those present and those for the immediate future).
- Develop a plan for safeguarding your data in transit. Preferabily, take the help of experienced IT relocation services providers.
- Make a list of all your employees, admins, and their related network access rights.
- Update and detail existing security policies.
- Check the tools and hardware necessary to deploy procedures and safeguard both information and other assets.
- Review contracts with your security provider and negotiates or cancel as it seems needed.
Summary
An IT relocation can be a great time to check your service providers and make upgrades to the overall system.
While there are several complicated steps involved, and it can get difficult without expert help…
Enlisting the services of managed IT providers like My IT Guy has several benefits.
Want to find out which benefits I am talking about?
Our professional services can greatly enhance your experience and improve your security and infrastructure.
Contact our team for Office Moving services today.