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Company growth means an office move
The growth of your business is unquestionably good news. The flipside is that you’ll need to increase your staff complement and this implies moving to new premises with more space. Nobody enjoys a move, and an office relocation can be an enormous undertaking. Failure to plan and execute the move thoroughly will result in significant delays which, by extension, detrimentally impacts your productivity and bottom line.
In this e-guide you will examine several processes that contribute to making your office move a success: before, during and after the big day. Specifically, you’ll explore ways to ensure that your IT infrastructure remains intact with minimal disruption to business and negligible downtime. Well-organised IT relocation is integral to any office move and should that vital element fail, your business will face a loss of earnings not to mention damage to your brand. Luckily, a move only happens once in a blue moon, so it is worth investing time to carefully consider all the options for moving your IT.
Moving office doesn’t need to be daunting. With thorough planning, collaboration and timing, you can ensure that your IT systems remain stable and secure during the transition. Moreover, you can guarantee that your clients and employees have access to your network and data during the move; moving office doesn’t mean that business should grind to a halt.
Risk assessment
Examining potential risks related to the move is an excellent starting point when you are contemplating a business relocation. There are five fundamental risk areas associated with the office move: planning, security, communication, technology and quality.
1. Office move planning
Sound planning underpins all successful office moves. Having an inadequate plan means that employees will not understand their role in the transition, or what needs to be done and by when. Poor planning will result in the move taking longer than anticipated. Consequently, this implies downtime, loss of productivity, frustrated staff and vexed customers. Together with your executives and IT team, you should devise a comprehensive plan for the move that details a timeframe, delegates responsibilities and one that ensures that your businesses technology will remain unimpaired.
2. Office move security
The risk to data, systems and hardware increases significantly during an office move. Your business becomes susceptible to threats ranging from lost or compromised data and damage to equipment such as computers, printers and servers. If the move is not well planned and managed, you are leaving your physical and virtual IT systems vulnerable to breakage and open to attack from cybercriminals. Your IT infrastructure should be as secure when moving as on any other day to mitigate any risk of disaster or downtime.
3. Office move communication
Communication, both internally and with external stakeholders and partners, is paramount during an office move. Without clear and relevant communication, your company is at risk of ‘dropping the ball’ and an office move can fail.
Lack of communication means that tasks can be forgotten since one employee may presume that somebody else is responsible for an action. This means that deadlines will be missed, the moving process will become disorganised and your staff will suffer increased levels of stress during an already hectic disruption. Appropriate communication is vital in all realms of business; for an office move project, communication is king.
4. Office move technology
The last thing that you want is for your business to be offline. Staying online can prove a nightmare for most businesses during a move. However, for businesses with legacy on-site IT systems, the nightmare can be multiplied tenfold. These businesses will suffer downtime while their IT infrastructure is relocated and loss in productivity and revenue follows. Simply put, if your systems aren’t running, your staff are unable to work and your business is non-operational.
If your SMB uses a hybrid cloud solution, whereby core services are stored securely in the cloud whilst instant access to data is available locally, you are well positioned to remain online. When moving office, technology can either be your friend or enemy. By moving to the cloud prior to relocation, your business will have made a friend in technology.
5. Office move quality
Quality is a factor that is often overlooked when moving office. Before, during and after the move, there is always a lot going on. So much so that individuals negate quality and company processes simply to get something done. A simple and less damaging example would be purchasing inferior quality cables for the new office. Much worse is to forget to perform a complete backup of data and files prior to the big day. This will prove a costly mistake when you turn on your computer or servers to find that your valuable business data is missing or corrupted.
You should realise that quality cannot be sacrificed during the move due to lack of process or improper planning. For businesses that ignore quality, the move will take longer, with many potholes along the way, and at a much higher cost.
IT before, during and after the move
All business nowadays, whether it be Amazon or a two-person ecommerce operation, are reliant on a stable IT infrastructure to function. Your business is no exception. While ensuring that new premises provide sufficient space, ordering furniture, changing the address on any company-related stationery and obtaining removal quotes are all integral to an efficient moving process, managing your IT before, during and after the move is critical to safeguard your data and continue business as usual.
Before exploring the phases pertaining to IT when moving office, take a quick look at three factors that are often neglected when planning a move: ISP, cabling, and phone systems. Failing to pay attention to these issues will result in disruption to business operations and unexpected costs.
1. Internet Service Provider
In these days of abundant access to Wi-Fi, it is easy to take internet availability for granted. However, connecting to the internet in your new office isn’t as simple as making a few clicks and searching for Wi-Fi service. Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) must be notified well in advance of the move. Ensure that the current ISP is available at the new location. If so, you will need to provide the ISP with at least 30 days notice so they can schedule internet access at your new office in a timely fashion. In the event that the ISP does not serve the area, factor in at least 90 days to evaluate new providers, select the best for your business, and schedule installation.
2. Cabling
Whether you are moving to a new build, or a renovated space, the installation of appropriate cabling to meet all your IT requirements is essential. Planning for the cabling you need and where it must be installed should involve all relevant vendors: your new landlord, interior designers and fitters, the cabling vendor and your IT Managed Service Provider (MSP). Neglecting to install the appropriate cabling and outlets means that your employees will find themselves using extension cords to power technology. Worse still, the necessary outlets for your printers or servers may be non-existent. Early collaboration with all involved parties will ensure that you remain within the budget for your office move and that there is optimal usage of new space.
3. Telephonic communication systems
Moving your phone system or Voice-Over-IP (VoIP) isn’t a simple unplug and plug in procedure. For on-site telecommunications systems, your provider needs to disconnect and reconnect each phone. Moreover, your phones may be tied to your ISP and hence phones may not work at the new premises unless you have requested an ISP location change. With a VoIP service, as with your ISP, confirm that you’ll get service at the new location and provide enough time for your vendor to process the move.
IT before the move
Once you have completed a risk assessment and constructed a sound plan, you can begin to prepare for the move. If possible, you should delegate all technology related activities to the in-house IT team. Your company’s MSP should also be provided with a schedule for the move, details of the new premises including a floor plan and space allocation, and an up-to-date inventory of all hardware and peripherals. An experienced MSP will no doubt have an inventory but duplication in this instance guarantees that all your technology is accounted for.
Your IT team-leader should liaise directly with the outsourced MSP for the entire process, involving them in planning and pinpointing all IT requirements before the move. Working together, the MSP and your in-house IT staff will ensure that the new premises have the appropriate tech infrastructure to support business. Before the move, the MSP and in-house IT team should:
IT during the move
So the dreaded day arrives. Your boxes are packed and the removal vans are raring to go. So what role does any in-house IT and MSP play on the day of the move? Again, working in tandem, your IT team and the outsourced MSP will:
It is likely that your MSP will provide an IT consultant to be onsite at the new offices during the move. Hence, your staff have direct access to support so that your network can be appropriately set up and configured.
IT after the physical move
From an IT perspective, the time after the move is when the guidance and assistance of the in-house IT team and the local MSP truly come into play. After the physical move, your IT guys and the MSP engineers will:
Are you ready to move?
Moving office potentially has a transformative impact on your business, giving you room to grow and expand, space to create and greater opportunity to develop and fine-tune your brand. While thoughts of a move may be stressful, you can dilute the anxiety by thorough planning, anticipating all your IT needs with the support of your managed services partner, and scheduling events well in advance. Are you ready to move office in 2018? If so, use the ‘Office Move Checklist’ to get you started.
Office Move IT Checklist
This checklist will give you insight into the complexity of moving office, with specific reference to your IT infrastructure. The list, which is by no means definitive, should also assist you in planning, task delegation and to set a timeframe leading up to the day of the move.
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