If you’ve ever spent weeks packing up your entire life, eaten pizza every night for a month because you’re too tired to cook, and gone to bed dreaming of packing tape and more boxes than you’ve ever seen before, then you know how stressful moving house can be. Moving offices can be just as stressful as moving house, only with the added complication of having to sort out moving your IT at the same time. However, with good moving office IT planning and the help of your IT support team, it doesn’t have to be a total nightmare.

Yoozoom is highly experienced in helping our clients move and ensuring that all their IT needs are met ready for day one in the new office. Read on for our tips on how to move your IT without losing your marbles.

Moving office IT planning

This is where our checklist and our support can make your life a whole lot easier. Instead of wondering if you’ve remembered everything you need to do and if you’re going to spend day one in your new space with no phones working and your computers on the blink, follow our checklist and relax.

Our top tip: moving office is the perfect time to look at your IT needs and see where you can make improvements. You don’t have to stick with what you’ve currently got. You could find that an IT audit from your IT provider is worth doing before you move. You can then think about how you can make your IT systems the best they can currently be right now and how you can future proof your business too.

1) Plan everything well in advance

You need plenty of time to pack up and vacate your old offices, but you also need time to organise moving your IT equipment and services so they’re ready to go on the first day. Start planning at least two to three months in advance to give yourself plenty of time.

With two months to go, inform anyone involved in providing your IT services, including your IT support team so they can help you with the move, your internet service providers, and carriers.

Plan a site visit with the IT team so you can check what is already in place and what you’ll need to add.

2) Take stock of what you’ve got

Now is the perfect time to take a look at the IT equipment you’ve currently got and decide whether you still need it and if you’d be better with an upgrade. Do a full inventory of every piece of IT kit in your office then go through it and evaluate it.

If you have any leased items that you don’t need, get those sent back, and arrange proper disposal of any broken equipment. Then list any equipment that needs an upgrade so you can decide what to do with it before you move. Do that now and you won’t have to pack things you don’t need!

3) Look at business connectivity

You can’t afford to start life in your new office with no way of communicating. You need to hit the ground running on day one. Take a look at your new office and check whether it has everything you need before you move in.

How many power outlets are there? Do you have enough phone lines and enough cat5/cat6 cables?

If not, get busy arranging those and look at internet access and what type of phone system you’ll need.

4) Visit your new office

Take your IT provider and a cabling company along on a visit to the new premises. This is a vital step in ensuring that everything is set up for you when you move.

Talk through where you will put desks, where computers and printers will go. Check how many power sockets there are, where cabling needs to be, and if the server room (If you have one) is adequate in terms of space, power, security, and cooling.

5) Back up everything!

Don’t just back up your data once, do it multiple times, including backing up to the cloud. Then take your physical backup copies with you to the new office in a separate trip rather than with the main move, so you know at least one version has arrived safely.

You can’t afford data loss or damage during your move, so protect your business and make your backups a priority.

6) Arrange the move

IT equipment needs specialist handling during a move. Get your IT support provider involved and let them deal with carefully moving your IT equipment to the new premises and the set-up at the other end.

It’s helpful to mark up cables, wiring and equipment before you move so that it’s clear where everything needs to go. Keep staff informed of what’s happening and ensure they know how to shut down IT equipment safely on the last day in the old office.

It’s also a good idea to make a list of everyone you need for the move and keep their contact details with you, just in case.

7) Moving day!

It’s finally here and you’re ready to go. Here’s what needs to happen next:

• Your IT support team should be there bright and early to complete set up of your IT equipment.

• All cabling and equipment should be set up in the right places (this is where you’ll thank yourself for labelling everything!)

• Once everything is up and running, fully test your phone system, including if each number works and if call forwarding is working.

• Next, test every network connection and make sure they’re fully working.

• Start your servers and test.

• Once your computers are set up, check they’re all working properly and connected to the network and the internet. Check emails are coming through and that everyone can get to everything they need to do their job.

• It’s also a good idea to walk through the office with IT before they go to do a last-minute check on everything.

Over the next few days and weeks, keep an eye on things and ask your staff to feed back if they’re having any problems.

Moving office IT planning doesn’t have to be hard. Rely on your IT support company for advice and practical assistance during the move and you might even find that it’s a breeze!

Get in touch with our friendly team at Yoozoom to talk about how we can help you move without wanting to poke your eyes out with a sharp stick.