Much like moving house, an office relocation can be exciting and stressful. They are typically the result of growth and increased demand, but while success is certainly something to be celebrated, it does come with a high degree of responsibility. After all, a poorly executed relocation can leave your employees unable to get back to work while customers end up being left in the dark and the entire business comes to a grinding halt.
Office IT presents some of the biggest challenges when it comes to relocations because you need things like phones and computers to work from the get go. So to ensure that happens, you’ll want to prepare well in advance and consider partnering with an organization that specializes in office relocations and IT migrations.
Here are the three most important things to consider in any office move so your network gets set up right as soon as you arrive in your new premises.
#1. Keeping Your Data Safe
When it comes to mission-critical data, you have to have a clear step-by-step plan in place for getting it back online. Aside from having up-to-date backups of your data, you also need to think about any potential security risks to it while your systems are being moved.
When moving any data-bearing systems to a new location, you’ll want to ensure you have all the necessary physical, technological, and administrative safeguards in place to ensure it doesn’t end up in the wrong hands. So you’ll need a secure drop-off point at the destination, preferably one that’s monitored by security personnel and CCTV cameras. You’ll also need to create a complete inventory of all data-bearing hardware before you even begin.
#2. Overcoming Infrastructure Limitations
Computers aren’t always as easy to hook up as we’d like them to be. This is especially true of a typical corporate network consisting of servers, workstations, routers, power supplies, and a multitude of other connected devices.
When it comes to infrastructure, you need to think about three key things -- electrical connections, cable management, and space for all your equipment. Provided you’ve chosen the right workplace venue, these factors shouldn’t present a major challenge, but you’ll still need a floor plan prior to moving day. There’s also a high chance you’ll need to buy additional cables, racks for servers, extra tables for other equipment, etc., so plan for that as well.
#3. Transferring Communications Services
Your communications infrastructure is the lifeblood of your business, and it doesn’t take much for that to be thrown into disarray during an office relocation. To minimize the chances of downtime, you’ll want to organize the transfer of your communications well in advance, and preferably allow for some overlap just in case any problems occur.
Since you need to have internet and phone service from day one, you’ll need to carefully coordinate with your providers and make all your internal and external users aware of cut-over times, new logins and passwords, and anything else that they need in order to continue work from the new facility without delay.
Office relocations present the perfect opportunity to digitally transform your organization for improved communications and greater employee mobility. One option is to migrate your apps and data to the cloud and switch to a VoIP internet-based phone system.. Both will allow for more productive employees -- since they can access their apps and data from any location at any time -- and future relocations or expansions will be much easier with the scalability of the cloud on your side.
Safebit Solutions offers office technology relocation to businesses that cannot afford downtime. Call us today for more information about our cloud solutions and office relocation services.
