If you’re thinking of relying on a combination of corporate office movers and in-house IT staff to successfully manage your IT relocation, you might want to read this first.
Relocating an office is about more than just packing up boxes, moving them across town or across the country, and then unpacking. When it comes to your information technology department, there are a lot of moving parts. IT infrastructure such at networks and cabling, internet connectivity, business workflows and systems, and vendors need to be taken into consideration. All of which requires substantial planning, preparation and time to implement before you are in your new space. Think you’re ready? Think again, or you can also get help from this moving company in Dallas
Corporate Moving Company Versus IT Relocation Service
Corporate moving companies are a dime a dozen, but would you trust them when it comes to your IT assets? For the most part, office relocation movers are not IT relocation services. They will gladly box up your computers and cables and have them shipped and unboxed. But what then? Are the racks and patch panels onsite? Are the networking cables and data ports installed and tested? Will you know if you have enough data ports? Will your server room mirror the old one, or are there necessary changes to implement?
The fact is, your information technology department is not just made up of assets. It’s equipment service contracts and cabling and complex, interdependent networks that are a combination of hardware, software and workflows—none of which can be handled by corporate office movers.
Planning an IT Relocation Project
A well-planned IT relocation project results in a seamless move that has as little an impact on the daily function of your company and the employees as possible, with no unscheduled downtime or budget overages. Success is essentially invisible. But failure is not. Here are just a few of the big-picture questions you need to be asking:
- Are we moving the existing network as-is or do we want to take this opportunity to implement a network design change for future growth?
- Will the new space/staff have new infrastructure and bandwidth requirements?
- How will the move affect existing equipment service contracts?
- Is structured and network cabling ready and tested?
- Are the data ports ready at each workstation and location?
- Is the place wired for WIFI points in a way that provides optimal coverage to the space?
- Has all Audio/Visual cables and hardware been installed?
- What kind of schedule will be the least disruptive to all business units?
- Do you have team members with the kind of skills—and the time—to complete all aspects of the move?
Can your IT department handle a move on its own? In some cases, absolutely. In other cases, however, speed, efficiency and experience are essential to ensuring all aspects of an IT relocation run smoothly and are completed on time and on budget.
Find out if your team is prepared to construct and implement a successful IT relocation. Take the Office Move Readiness Assessment >>