Essential IT Guidance for Office Relocation

Whether you have a huge IT department or just a couple of guys working in tech, relocating your IT team to bigger and better premises during an office move can be a headache to say the least. However, it doesn’t need to be a stressful time and with the right planning and support you can ensure that your move goes smoothly, avoiding any setbacks.

Office Relocation Tips - NECL IT blog

Our guide to office relocation will help you get started planning your move – and if you need any further advice or support, we can help with that too!

Assess the Facilities

If you’re at the stage of planning your move, it’s important to take time to assess the new building’s current IT facilities.

For example:

  • How secure is the space – think about doors, windows and security systems
  • What is the cooling/ventilation/heating like?
  • How modern are the facilities and will repairs and upgrades be needed?
  • Does the space meet current regulations for fire and safety?
  • What floor is your new office on and is there a lift? This could affect the costs of moving equipment
  • How much work will be required to install data points, floor boxes and cabling?
  • You should also have a think about whether you’ll need outside help with IT installation.

Figure Out What Communications Infrastructure You Need

An IT consultation can help determine what you’ll need for your new office in terms of internet and phone connectivity.

It can be helpful to think about:

  • What your current setup is and how it’s working for you
  • Whether you will migrate your existing phone lines or replace/upgrade them
  • How modern are the facilities and will repairs and upgrades be needed?
  • What services and features you will need (e.g. voicemail, conference calling, etc)
  • If you can keep your current business phone numbers
  • What you will need to be up and running and how far in advance you’ll need to setup connectivity
  • You should also have a think about whether you’ll need outside help with IT installation.
  • What type of internet access and broadband speeds you’ll need

It’s also a good idea to consider what level of growth you predict for your business over the next 3 to 5 years, as this can influence your choices.

Create an IT Infrastructure Assessment Checklist

You can hire expert IT support to help you come up with a network and infrastructure checklist. It’s a good idea to do so, as this can help you compare service providers and determine your Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

Things on your checklist could include:

  • Will you outsource to an IT solutions provider?
  • Whether you will migrate your existing phone lines or replace/upgrade them
  • What do you already have that you plan to relocate?
  • What is your current TCO?
  • How does your current infrastructure perform – what could be more efficient?
  • How many power points will you need and what type of cabling will be required?

You’ll also need to assess things like printers and faces, servers, floor boxes and data points and of course backup power (a generator) in the event of a power cut.

Organise Your Relocation

Timing is critical when it comes to relocating your IT department, so you’ll need to set deadlines to ensure everything is up and running on time in your new space. Our IT installation team and IT support team can help if you need support!

The key things to remember are:

  • You’ll usually need to give your ISP at least 90 days’ notice (sometimes more, depending on your contract and provider)
  • Make sure you discard old files and shred sensitive documents (such as those containing personal information)
  • You should designate somebody experienced to oversee packing and tidying up – they’ll liaise with the removal company
  • Take time to schedule a visit to your new office with your IT specialist to outline your company’s needs
  • Appoint somebody to be responsible for helping if anything goes wrong at the last minute

As you can see, planning is the key when ensuring your IT move goes as smoothly as possible. Having a project plan in place for after your move will also help you figure out what needs to be done – for example, setting up new workstations, upgrading software and testing printers.

If you need any advice or support before, during or even after your move, get in touch with NECL today to see how we can help make things less stressful and more exciting.

Office Relocation Tips - NECL IT blog