Finally, you are growing bigger and need for relocation is on the table. Well, relocating to a bigger or better facility means that you are making great profits. As relocation is a cumbersome process, you might have already started the arrangements- finding the best location, booking a credible moving company and notifying your staff about the big change. While you focus on all the core business relocation tasks, it is crucial to address to your IT relocation needs. The best moving companies associated with Moving Apt assert that organizing IT relocation is a crucial job and it is vital to organize it well.
It may sound a little intimidating, but with the right approach, IT relocation is not at all daunting.
Take the charge:
First thing you need to do is take the charge of the move this nowhere means you should take a DIY approach but implies that you must be the planner of the move, as you plan the IT relocation, you must consider each and every detail and plan in advance. You must also consider the lead time required for installation of different tech gadgets and accordingly plan the move. When it comes to relocating your tech gadgets, last minute plans do not work.
You can use this extensive IT relocation checklist to manage your move.
8 must know things when moving IT
- Advance planning is crucial
As aforesaid, you cannot plan an IT move at the last minute. You must start organizing the office move a few months in advance. During this time, you must:
- Visit the new office site and inspect it in context with your IT requirements. The most crucial is network cabling installation and hence you must be thorough with it.
- Contact carriers, ISPs (internet service providers), and technology vendors and intimate them of your move date.
- Audit the equipment inventory
Office relocation is a perfect opportunity to audit your tech. if you have old tech infrastructure with you, you must take the opportunity to replace it. With the right planning, you will be able to set up the new facility with all IT equipment intact way before the moving day. When auditing your equipment, you must:
- Check each and every equipment and its suitability to the current business environment as well as your new office location.
- Make a list of equipment that are old and must be replaced.
- Make list of equipment that are on lease and needs to be returned.
- Dispose of old and broken equipment.
- Check your server room requirements.
- Know your communication requirements:
Every business has different communication requirements and it is important that you assess the cabling and infrastructure needs in advance. To identify the needs of your new office you must:
- Find out the number of phone lines required.
- Assess the cabling requirements-no of Cat 5 Cables and Cat 6 Cables required.
- Count the number of owner outlets.
- Make a site visit checklist
Ow that you have a clear understanding of your communication requirements you know what are the core aspects to notice. It is crucial that you do a site visit at this time. For better results, ask your IT provider to accompany you. Having a professional with you will help in getting the right estimates and ensure that the arrangement works. As you visit the site, you must:
- Check the configuration plan of the new office, Allow the IT provider to offer professional input.
- Identify the place for workstations, power jacks, and network cabling points.
- Check the requirements of the server rooms and if they justify your organizational needs.
- Evaluating the communication option
The market for communication system is ever evolving and there are better technologies and options available around. You must be very cautious as you shop new technology. Make sure they meet the latest tech requirements and are cost effective at the same time. While buying new tech, you must also consider the growth and expansion plans of your business and invest accordingly. When evaluating communication option, you must:
- Check the line capacity and if it meets the mew phone lines requirements
- Establish call forwarding system if you are changing your number.
- Identify the right phone system for your organization.
- Protecting the data
Moving process is full of surprises, especially when you are relocating office. It is critical for you to evaluate what will happen to your data when performing an office move. Data is important for your business and hence when you move, you must:
- Take backup of the data in several places. Make sure you copy all the company data systems.
- Make provisions for full recovery, so, if in case something goes wrong, you have the ability to regain all your data and access it.
- Move cautiously
Moving technology is not easy and it demands great expertise, you must engage with a moving company that has experience of handling IT moves and can handle a moving project like yours. When you reach out to the movers, make sure you ask them a few tech related questions to check their credibility and experience in moving IT.
Office relocation are complicated and the IT moving part is the most cumbersome. we hope this guide helps you in relocating your office easily and make the best use of the modern technology at the new office.