4 Tips for Moving Your IT System
When you must relocate your office to a larger or more state-of-the-art facility, you may feel a combination of excitement and dread. While you love the idea of your business growing and upgrading, you also have to contend with some special challenges, including the relocation of your entire IT system.
A clear understanding of the many tasks and potential issues involved will allow you to move your IT team's hardware, connectivity, and personnel as safely and efficiently as possible. Get that move off to a good start by adopting the following four helpful tips for moving that IT department into its new office.
1. Reduce the Number of Items You Must Move
An initial glance at the seemingly endless list of technology on your relocation list can prove disheartening. However, a second look might reveal that you don't have to move so much of that gear after all. Many of your workstations, printers, and other items may have already neared the end of their useful lives.
Assess your IT hardware and network equipment carefully to determine which of the items merit replacement as opposed to relocation. You could simplify your move drastically by throwing out the old gear on your way out of the old facility. You can then purchase their replacements and set them up in the new facility.
2. Schedule Your Connectivity Setup Early
You don't want to go through all the trouble of moving your IT system from one site to another only to discover that nothing works at the new site. You should plan to shift your network connectivity as early in the process as possible. Give yourself several months' lead time to arrange the transfer with your internet service provider.
Even when you feel assured that your new site will have all the necessary cabling and connectivity service ready by moving day, you should anticipate any contingencies that might cause serious downtime. Smart fallbacks could include a WiFi connection to back up your hardwired network or the use of redundant ISP services.
3. Plan Your Move Around a Weekend
No matter how precisely you fine-tune your move, the transition from the old space to a new one will inevitably require a certain amount of downtime. This problem can prove especially vexing for employees who rely on the facility's computers, network, and IT team to assist them with their everyday technological needs.
If your business runs on a standard Monday through Friday workweek, do whatever you can to schedule your move over a weekend. Your movers can pack, move, unpack, and help you set up the entire IT system so your employees can simply come to the new facility on Monday, find their new desks, and get to work. At Hudson River Moving & Storage, we do everything we can to ensure business continuity.
4. Choose a Mover With IT-Friendly Skills and Experience
The deconstruction and reconstruction of an entire IT department or system benefit from detailed project management. Your IT team must figure out where everything will go in the new space and then make sure it gets there without confusion. A mover with project management experience can streamline this step.
The project manager assigned to your move will work closely with your senior IT personnel and any other leaders involved in the overall move. This specialist can then supervise such critical tasks as tagging and/or numbering each server, workstation, and peripheral device to indicate its exact location and connections.
If you need to navigate a complex move involving lots of high-tech equipment, let Hudson River Moving come to your rescue. In addition to standard moving and storage services, our skilled professionals can offer high-level project management for your move as well as technology disassembly and reassembly. Learn more when you reach out to the team at Hudson River Moving. Contact us today.