You're Moving!
When it comes to your moving office technology, the most important factor is that the first day you and your employees enter the new office, they are completely set up and ready to get to work. The environment may be new, but their workstation needs to give them the comfort of full familiarity and immediate utility.
Aside from the physical hardware tagging, the move itself, and situating everyone according to the floor plan, there is a lot of pre-move care to be taken to ensure a seamless transition.
What Can We Do?
There are several sub-projects that relate to your office technology move that we can handle for you:
Internet & Phones: This is the most crucial part as often the internet providers need 90 days to construct a line at the new location. This is not the same as residential where you get a kit mailed to you and you activate it on the day of the move.
Whether you end up working with us or not, we highly recommend to at least send us the address so we can run it through our database showing all the services that are available at the new location (available meaning 30 days to install).
Structured Cabling: We are a fully insured, certified and bonded low-voltage company and we can wire the entire location.
WiFi Assessment: WiFi is very important in any office and must cover the entire work area with no blind spots. A solid Network Management System (NMS) needs to be created and implemented
Conference Room Video/Audio: This is major aspect for every company. We can handle this part for you as well. TVs, projectors, sound system, special low voltage wiring (cables run under the floor or the carpet, with proper wiring to the middle of a conference table, etc.). When you use your conference room, all systems must be ‘Go’.
Server Room Preparation: This is crucial to your network. We design the server room or designated server space to make sure the equipment is properly racked, stacked, cooled, and maintained.
The Actual Move: Having performed a vast number of moves over our 18 years in business, we are fully insured and proficient in safely packing any technology equipment (computers, monitors, servers, phones, peripherals, printers – not the huge business printers, those are handled by the print vendor) , properly labeling, transporting and reassembling at the new location
Technology Vendor Management: You and your staff will have your own concerns during the moving process, and rather than you juggling the various technology vendors, whether brand new or existing, we bring them all under our umbrella, coordinating all vendors’ participation so we all work in harmony – no need for you to juggle those calls. We do some of what these vendors do, and some of it we can recommend vendors that we know will be cost effective and get the job done, so if you need help with those aspects, we can be your one stop shop for technology such as:
- Access Control
- Surveillance Cameras
- HVAC Units
- Electricity
When Should We Do it?
After we have performed the walk-through and studied your floor plan, the first thing that is required is to run cabling.
The best time to do so is when any construction is under way, and if the walls are open, it makes our work easier. Depending on the existing electrical infrastructure, we often need to work with the electrician to request specific conduits.
We are not just IT people schlepping computers around - what makes us unique are our Project Management capabilities, and we take a lot of pride in our exacting methodology.
Just like a general contractor, we are your technology general contractors and we will work with all the appropriate parties to make sure everyone delivers. For example, electricians often do not keep in mind low voltage requirements as that is not their job, so it is important we work together with other vendors to assure we all stay on the same page.
The good thing is that you can continue focusing on your logistics and you can trust us to properly work with the vendors to deliver our solution while meeting your expectations.
Once the lease is signed and confirmed and the date of the move is sealed, we should start getting involved in the process immediately.
I understand the standard conception is to bring in IT last, but we promise you a smooth and worry-free transition if you include your technology partner (whether it is us or someone else) right away!
What is the Next Step?
We like and depend on checklists and timetables. If you are like us, you would appreciate one as well so here is what should happen next:
The first step is ours:
- We provide you with a detailed proposal that will include:
- Cost of the physical move
- Cost of network reconfiguration
- Cost of the cable wiring
- Cost of any hardware you would need to accomplish the project
- Cost of any other labor that you would require of us
The next steps are yours:
- Finalize the lease to make this official
- Make the decision on which company you want to perform the work. If you choose to work with us – provide us with the new address so we can start working on the internet portion of the move.
- If there are vendors that you are transferring services of (alarm, cameras, printers, etc..) , send us their info so we can reach out to each one of them and start the discussion to see what they are going to need from us (everything goes through IT so we are the traffic cop here managing expectations and making sure every vendors gets what they need to be operational the day after the move)
- We schedule a walkthrough at the new place once you have the keys
- You make a decision as to what services you need from us – as we value relationships, we work only with customers that are loyal to their vendors (as long as vendors deliver of course!), because we want you to establish a relationship with us in the future. Therefore, if you have an established relationship with an electrician, contractor, surveillance technology provider, a printer or any other type of vendor, we hope you retain that relationship and we gladly work with them to accommodate your needs, if you do not have one, we have provided the above list of everything we can do (we like to say that if it is a technology vendor or need, we can probably do it)
Please review our complete Office Move Checklist below.
An office relocation is extremely stressful. One small detail overlooked can lead to major problems. Use this checklist to ensure that your move goes as smoothly as possible.
Many of the pre-move logistics are obvious:
- Establish the best date & day for the move. Friday’s allow you the entire weekend.
- Notice in writing to current landlord.
- Price out and reserve moving company well in advance.
- If any construction is to be done at the new location, get estimates and reserve contractor time. If you lease, establish WHAT construction is permissible.
- Plan for any rewiring for phones, electricity and IT, any additional electric outlets, contract for services and reserve date.
- Contact vendors for moving, reinstalling phones, internet, copiers etc.
- Decide seating arrangements, for IT, phones, etc.
- Draw floor plan, Give each item (desk, furniture etc.) a code: A1, (room A, desk 1). TAG each item at TWICE with corresponding code (some fall off during move). You do not want to have to solve a giant jigsaw puzzle after the relocation.
- Arrange with IT provider to de-install and re-install IT infrastructure.
- If far away, establish contract with general office services: janitorial, security etc.
- Arrange for additional/replacement office furniture, set delivery date.
Make sure everyone can find you:
- Change address info on website, social pages (LinkedIn, Facebook etc.)
- Notify Google Search of new address.
- Notify Post Office with change of address form. Do the same with the bank
- For several weeks prior to move, notify clients of new address. Recommended to send mass emails AND have each and every email communique read “Reminder: March 3, 2017 our new address will be “123 Main St. Anytown CA 99999”, and after the move, change to “We have moved”. Keep these add-ons to the emails for at least a month following the relocation.
- Notify ALL vendors. Aside from the obvious (accounting/payroll, attorney), don’t forget insurance, specialty software providers, copier services etc. Don’t have anyone calling to find out where you are.
- Change company car registration, notify vehicle lessor and Insurance provider.
- Change Yellow Pages listing and any advertising materials
- Print new business cards, stationery, anything with your name and address.
- Moving your IT infrastructure: As noted in detail above.
The Nuts and Bolts of Relocation:
- Arrange for building and elevator access for moving company, IT provider.
- Check if there are any special permits needed for the move, including parking of moving vans.
- Find out what restrictions the new building may have for the actual move-in.
- Arrange cleanup of old building, safe removal/recycling of any electronics.
- ALL wiring – electrical, internet fiber optics, should be in place and TESTED prior to move.
- Test EVERYTHING electrical, from computers to security cameras BEFORE the employees return to work at the new office.
- If changing vendors (internet, IT, phones), be sure old providers are cancelled AFTER vacating the old office.
The FINAL step:
Get back to work. If anything has been overlooked, it will rear its ugly head SOON!
Office Moves Q & A
Q: How to project manage an office move?
A: Just as with any managed project, the fundamentals do not change. As a longtime member of the IT Support Los Angeles Community, we have performed many moves of the Network Infrastructure – both for our own clients as well as non-clients, but all the rest – moving non-network items such as desks and plants needs - to be under the umbrella of your General Project Manager (GPM). As a Managed IT services provider, we appoint our own PM who coordinates with the overall GPM for a smooth transition.
The Project Management Institute covers the elements thoroughly, with great attention to detail.
The basic steps for the move are:
1) Initiation:
You have decided the move will happen; you’ve secured a new location and have established a date to begin the move – working backwards from the date at which you want the new office to be fully staffed and operational. Contact the new internet provider FIRST, as setting that up can take some time before your new office can get online.
2) Planning: From A to Z, every single thing must be accounted for. You don’t want to be like the campers who set up camp and discover they didn’t bring the tent stakes. Make a list, go over it with key staff, set up the network infrastructure move with your IT support and services provider.
3) Execution: You’ve done the walkthrough with strategic vendors for any construction needed, and with your IT services people for any in-wall cabling and ‘drops’ needed for offices and cubicles. The trucks are here and it’s time to load, transport, and set up your new office in an efficient and orderly manner – always common sense ‘first things first’: Don’t put everything that goes on top of the desk on the floor where the desk will go and THEN bring the desk in.
4) Monitoring/Controlling: The GPM cannot just wind-up the move and let it go because no matter how well anything is planned, there are surprises that must be caught and dispatched. Murphy’s Law, “Whatever CAN go wrong WILL go wrong”, will be in full effect here. The timetable can easily unravel, trucks carrying key components can break down, stalling the entire move and affecting the budget. If your IT Support team has been ordered to arrive at 3PM with computers, monitors, keyboards, and even VoIP phones to set up and the desks to put them on aren’t there – YOU will pay extra for the wait time. Don’t be surprised – expect the unexpected and have solutions ahead of time.
5) Closing: Sounds simple enough, but all too often, this step goes underserved. As long as a single ‘we’ll fix that later’ issue remains, the project is not closed. Once every loose end is tied up, then the GPM needs to hold a closing meeting with everyone involved and examine the processes involved – the failures and successes, and establish what lessons were learned as this input will be crucial to future company projects of any type. As a Managed IT services provider, our PM holds our own meetings to discuss these factors in terms of our part in the move. Never let a project just peter out: Finalize it.
Moving your entire enterprise, even to a different office in the same building is a massive undertaking, and leaves your business temporarily open to certain vulnerabilities. Do not take the move lightly, do not presume that you will sail through it, and plan extensively – not only for what should happen, but for what could happen. Desks and chairs are one thing – network infrastructure is another. If you have been ‘cheaping’ on your IT Support, contract if only for the move with an experienced, qualified Managed Services Provider.
Q: How to coordinate an office move?
A: Appoint a General Project Manager to control all elements and personnel involved in the move, both internally and externally.
Internal: Department heads, facilities managers, IT Support if in-house, or the main company IT coordinator, document managers and administrators, among others.
External: Construction, IT Services, Movers, etc.
Assign tasks and responsibilities, deadlines and accountability. Lay out the scope of the project and discuss possible roadblocks or logjams. Hold regular progress meetings with at your internal personnel and several that include your IT Services representative as well.
Q: How to move a business from one office to another?
A: Firstly, if you are planning an interstate move, you must meet the new state’s legal requirements. For intrastate moves, the process is outlined in the answers provided above. For a more comprehensive checklist, please read on HERE.
Q: How to move office phone lines to a new location?
A: If you have a VoIP phone system, the process is easily handled by your Managed Services Provider or at least by some form of IT consulting services. Land lines present a handful of other issues.
Depending on the sophistication of your analog ‘land-line’ phone system, whether you use POTS (Plain Old Phone System), PRI circuit (Primary Rate Interface), or a T1 line Data Transmission Line), contact and coordination with your carrier (or carriers, if your phone line provider is not available where you’re going. It is they that will need to set up the new system – all you have to do is move the physical phone equipment.
There will be a few variables to discuss with the provider(s): new lines, carrying over phone numbers, what ramifications having an old analog PBX system will entail. This will all require exhaustive monitoring and control to ensure no further disruption in service than will be caused during the move itself. We would suggest that an office move is an excellent time to move to VoIP – it saves between 40% to 90% on your old analog land-lines, and can be easily set up by your IT support and services team and be waiting and ready to go when your staff walks into the new office.
Do make sure that you have call-forwarding set up when the phones are down during the execution stage of the move.
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