Moving your office
Office Relocation
Moving your business premises can be a stressful task. With so many things to consider, the smoother each step can go the better it will feel and the less impact it will have on your business.
You may be moving to upsize, move to a new geographical area or you may be moving due to circumstances entirely out of your control. Whatever the reason for your move, it is an ideal opportunity to make sure that each area of your business is set up in the best possible way.
The old adage is true, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”, and nowhere is this demonstrated as clearly as during an office relocation project. By ensuring that your new premises are set up to suit your business needs you will enhance productivity & reduce business impact. Your staff will be happier and the risk of issues further down the line will be mitigated.
This article focusses on moving the business IT systems, but similar principles can be applied across all your business areas.
Here are a few tips to help you make your office relocation go as smoothly as possible.
- Plan strong building infrastructure
- Keep your office move as a separate project
- Get your 3rd party services organised early
- Meticulously plan
- Use it as a marketing opportunity
Build your house on foundations made of rock.
When moving into new offices it is important to consider that the current infrastructure may not be suitable for your business. There may not be enough network or power sockets to suit your desired desk layout. Also the network cabling may be over 10 years old and no longer reliable.
Once you have decided on your new office layout, any existing infrastructure that you can use must be tested and extra network and power points can be added to suit your own needs.
Be sure to consider business growth when planning your office layout and your building infrastructure.
By making sure that the building has enough network, power and cooling capacity to meet the demands of your business, you will have solid foundations on which to grow your business.
First Stop IT can assist you with every stage of infrastructure design and installation to make sure that your foundations are indeed made of rock.
Keep your office relocation as a project in its own right.
It is often tempting to use an office relocation project to try and solve other issues that your business is having. It may be tempting to install new computers as part of the move, or to install a new software package. In situations like this it is easy to find yourself chasing problems that you were not expecting, with no way of knowing if the problems are a result of the move or the changes that you have made.
Ideally you will make sure that your system is running well before you move it to new premises. This way you will find it easier to narrow down the cause of any problems you face during the commissioning stage of the move.
Get your services organised early
Often with office relocation projects the delays to your moving-in date will be due to 3rd party service providers. Order your telephone lines and your internet services as soon as you have signed your building lease. You can’t move into your new office if you have no internet and often you will find yourself at the mercy of long lead times for new services to be installed.
This is also a good opportunity to assemble your move team and introduce your contractors to one another. You may have an IT support company, a telephone company, an electrical contractor, a removal company and any number of internal stakeholders with responsibilities for different processes during your relocation project. Getting all these people together early on will make for a much smoother project.
For example:
The IT company and the telephone company may both need to put equipment into the server room, and early meetings will allow such co-location to be organised smoothly. If the IT company, telephone company, and electrical contractor only meet after the cabled infrastructure has been installed, any extra requirements may be costly to add.
First Stop IT can recommend and provide a range of 3rd party services such as broadband, leased lines, MPLS services and telecoms services.
Plan, Plan, Plan
Plan your IT equipment move meticulously. Involve your IT company at every stage as they will be able to advise the best order in which to carry out tasks, and the potential problems to look out for.
By planning when certain equipment or services will be switched off and moved, you can manage downtime and mitigate business risk.
It is important to be realistic about the amount of time each step will take and the amount of resources it will need. By carefully planning your move and communicating the plan everyone will feel part of the process and your relocation will be smoother and more successful as a result.
First Stop IT can help you to plan your move in detail. Drawing on 14 years’ experience and many office relocation projects we will make sure that your move goes as smoothly as possible and you own unique business requirements are met.
On the day
When move day arrives, First Stop IT can decommission your computers, servers, printers, telephones, and other IT equipment. Everything will be safely packed and moved to your new premises by experienced removal personnel. Once in place, your equipment will be set up and tested in accordance with your plan.
This is an opportune moment to carry out essential but often neglected maintenance on your IT system.
- Cleaning your computers and servers inside and out.
- Replacing network leads.
- Making sure that power leads are PAT tested
- Disposing of any unwanted IT equipment
Shout it from the rooftops
One your move has been seamlessly carried out, use it as a marketing opportunity and use it to boost staff morale. Have a grand opening party, invite your employees and a selection of your best clients. Involve local business groups, networking organisations, Chamber of Commerce and the local newspapers.
Your business is moving into town and it is a big deal. Shout about it, use it to boost your local profile and share it on your website and using social media.
If you are planning an office move and you would like some help, please don’t hesitate to contact me: solutions@firststopit.co.uk