Despite the industry moving to a fully remote or hybrid working model, many businesses still find themselves needing a physical office and may be in the market to move in response to the new way of working. Unlike in the past, office relocations in this modern age can be far more complex, considering the massive IT infrastructure that must also be moved with as little downtime as possible.
This daunting task leaves many opportunities to overlook things and potential headaches when it is time for the move. Thankfully, office relocation services can help mitigate these issues and allow businesses to get up and running on Day One. With that said, developing a business continuity plan is still vital so that work can proceed seamlessly during and after the relocation. Without further ado, below are the best practices to help plan the relocation of your IT infrastructure and stay organised to make the move less stressful.
1. Evaluate the situation
A thorough assessment is the first step when planning your move. This starts with establishing a schedule for the relocation process and taking stock of projects and business-critical operations that may be affected, how they will proceed during the move, and when they will experience interruption.
Analyse the existing location, note down the relevant IT factors that will be needed in the new space, and contact ISPs and other tech partners to coordinate the move so they can properly manage the equipment.
When visiting the new site, it is recommended to make a new checklist of things to note that may include items such as:
- Analyse server room locations for security, ventilation, cooling options, electrical requirements, and more.
- Identify new office and network equipment locations like printers, routers, scanners, network cabling points, etc.
2. Conduct an equipment inventory
The next step is to evaluate the company’s hardware and connections and create a complete inventory. This can also be a good time to consider upgrading older equipment and replacing them with a better installation at the new office and make the move much smoother. A few tips when performing this assessment include:
- Check whether or not existing communication requirements will be met at the new office.
- Identify the new placements of equipment and other hardware.
- Evaluate the current cabling requirements and see if it needs to be expanded for the new location or updated to comply with industry standards.
- Engage with the current ISP and verify if they can continue providing their services at the new office.
- Assess if getting redundant hardware or software is necessary to support operations during the relocation and handle potential network downtimes.
3. Consider potential improvements to network and data security
Many overlook the administrative details when relocating to a new office, but this time is the perfect chance to upgrade the organisation’s network security and control measures. Ensure the steps necessary to improve security and safeguard company data at the start of the move, which starts with taking inventory of all current and expected protected resources and assets and hiring reputable transit protection for business data.
Next, make a detailed list of admins, employees, and business groups and their current network permissions, detail the organisation’s existing security policy, and see if it needs updating. Also, identify which tools are necessary to maintain or enact company procedures and protect its hardware and data and do review the contracts with the business’s security vendors to assess if negotiation, renewal, or cancellation is necessary for the move.
Conclusion
Office relocation is a big and complex project that takes plenty of time and planning to get right with no problems. The modern IT infrastructure every business uses today further adds to this difficulty with many more factors to consider. As such, not every aspect can be covered in this article, but hopefully, the above contents can help your business get started on the right foot.
To make office relocation much more of a breeze, it is recommended to work with companies that offer IT outsourcing in Singapore, and have experience in relocating IT infrastructure, like TYPENT. Check out our article on how to choose an outsourcing company for some helpful tips!
Here at TYPENT, we offer various IT support solutions covering simple maintenance scheduling all the way to fuss-free office relocations and email security services. To learn more about our services, feel free to reach out to us today, and our team will be happy to assist you!
