We all know that moving house can be a fairly stressful and complicated experience. The idea of having to coordinate how things are packed, where they are packed and then where they are unpacked in the property you move to can, for many people, be a complete nightmare! Unfortunately, it doesn’t get any easier when you are moving offices either; in fact, in many cases it can be much worse!
Thankfully, there is a way of making life easier for all concerned, and it’s all down to just one simple thing: planning! If you are in charge of your firm’s IT systems and you are all moving offices soon, this handy guide will give you a techie’s guide to planning your company’s move so that everything is working perfectly for your employees by 9am Monday morning!
Give suppliers plenty of notice
Once you have been informed by your managers of the date that you are required to be in the new offices, your first job will be to give notice to your technology suppliers that you are moving.
Typically, the suppliers you need to contact are telephone line providers, ISPs (Internet Service Providers), and other related service providers. I would recommend that you give at least 4 weeks’ notice of your impending move, so that any issues are ironed out before you move.
Do a site survey
Now that all the relevant third parties know that your firm is going to be moving offices, the next step is to physically go down and visit your new offices. This site visit will be extremely useful for the following reasons:
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Identification – you will be able to determine where your computer systems and servers need to be installed, and calculate what cabling and sockets you will need in order to set up your existing network without any problems;
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Cost – it is expected that your employers will have to pay for certain new components or hardware in order to accommodate your existing IT equipment. Doing a site survey will help you to work out what your requirements are, and how much any new items are going to cost, such as new switches and routers, for example;
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Planning – some work at your new premises will need to be carried out by qualified contractors, such as electricians. Your site survey will identify what you can do and what your firm will need to get outsiders to do for you.
Hire professional movers
Although your company will no doubt hire people to move general office equipment and furniture, you should separately hire a company that specialises in server relocation and IT removals.
This is because they will have transportation suitable for moving your expensive computer equipment, and they will take the utmost care and offer the highest levels of attention-to-detail when it comes to packaging up your computers, servers and other technical equipment.
Professional IT movers will also work with you to plan the order that things need to be moved in, to cause the least amount of disruption to your colleagues and to the business in general.