How to Plan and Execute the Perfect Office Move

A business without its computers and phones up and running is losing money, so the project needs to be well managed to reduce the amount of downtime.

Early Planning

– Ensure you tell your suppliers at the earliest possible time the move is occurring. Get the account managers to scope out the new premises and ensure your services can be transferred to the new location.
– Make sure your disaster recovery plan is up to date. You don’t want to be caught by surprise if something goes wrong.
– Make sure you have warranties for your hardware and make sure it covers the time of your move. A business day warranty won’t help you if you need help on the weekend.
– Ensure you know where devices will be placed in the new premises. Printers, faxes, computers, etc. should all be drawn out on the office floor plan. Coordinate your efforts with the Office Manager.
– Use removalists that have a specialised team for moving hardware. Ensure you are aware of their practices when handling your precious cargo.

Set a date

– A weekend move has its benefits but if a server or hardware is going to fail you need to make sure that your suppliers will be available.
– Alternatively, a business day move is a good idea. Start as early as you can and tell the business no computer access for the day.
– Do it on a Friday so you have the weekend to complete the setup.

Coordinate your customers/clients

– Make sure they know how to get in contact with you during the move period. With phones out and email down make sure they have been informed of how to stay in touch. Make sure they are made aware of mobiles, the company website address (if it’s still available) or even facebook or twitter details so you can let them know your progress.

Tips and things to remember

– You need to coordinate your service providers. Ensure the phone, internet will be available at the new location and the day of the move. It sounds simple but it is harder to do in practice.
– Ensuring services are set to be cut over on time. Delays can mean thousands of dollars in lost productivity, so double and triple checking with your account managers to ensure everything is proceeding to plan is critical.
– Take photos of the current setup, document where cables terminate so you can easily set things up at the new premises.
– Make sure emails get queued by a 3rd party while your servers are down, phones are diverted or at the least the caller can leave a message.

Day of the move

– Check you have an up to date backup before you start the move.
– Shut down equipment in a graceful manner. Don’t simply flip the power switch as this can cause damage to the hardware.
– Make sure your team is aware of their tasks. Ensure you have someone at the old premises to coordinate activities there and someone at the new premises.