By Mashum Mollah
Every move has its own features that make it difficult, time-consuming, and time-consuming. However, unlike moving to a new home, you will not have much time, although the amount of work is considerable. So you will need to move, carefully transpose all the equipment, office furniture and documents and then install them in the usual way for employees.
Perhaps it would be needed to contact office furniture movers in Chicago or search for loading services in Chicago. Proper relocation will ensure that the company will operate without interruption, so there will be no work-related losses and not just carefully transport the equipment. So in order not to have problems with the work of your company, you need to choose a good transport company and cooperate to ensure a fast and quality move.
Specifics of IT Office relocation
An integral part of moving is preparing the technical part of the business for moving. And sometimes it’s not just about disconnecting and installing all the equipment.
Sometimes it makes sense to pack all the equipment securely and mark all the packages as sensitive to moving, this will ensure that the loaders will be very careful when carrying and loading. So you can entrust your IT plan with the relocation of these departments.
Yes, your computers and servers must be very carefully prepared, but in addition to technology, you also need to take care of the preservation of electronic information and data of your company. Therefore, it is necessary to duplicate all information and data on specially prepared spare media.
It is not desirable to give such work to contractors, and it is also desirable to keep it confidential, but the amount of work is very large, and technical limitations still exist.
Therefore, you should start preparing in advance. You should also not forget to take care in advance of the part related to equipment that is obsolete or broken. You should try to sell or give someone a part that is completely usable or can be easily repaired and organize the disposal of equipment that has no prospects. So you can contact Human-I-T, Computers with Causes, or the National Cristina Foundation.
These organizations are free to find people who need equipment. Therefore, even if you have broken and not new equipment, it can help low-income people. If you are going to redo the equipment, you can find information on how to do it on the EPA information resources.
Tips for Moving IT Equipment
It is especially important for any company to ensure the reliability of transportation of IT equipment and office telephones. Because any equipment is very sensitive to mechanical damage and if something happens, the work of your business will be significantly disrupted.
You need to plan your relocation very wisely and be especially careful and rigorous in your implementation. This is necessary to ensure a smooth and uninterrupted processor for transporting IT equipment to a new location.
IT Equipment Packing
The best packaging for IT equipment is the original packaging of the same equipment. They usually fix and depreciate your equipment very well so that the company itself does not have problems with transportation. So if you throw them away, use them for transportation.
Where possible, try to pack your IT equipment into the original packaging. Their containers are generally made to withstand transportation as well as small jolts during handling.
Take time to plan things on time
Because the efficiency of the company depends on the success of moving the office. You need to make sure that everything goes exactly according to the previously invented plan. So if you do not have a clear plan, the people in your team will work inconsistently with each other, and therefore inefficient.
Then you will not only find it difficult to complete the move by the end of the day but also of poor quality. To make a successful move, you should not only make a plan of action and a list of responsibilities but also read the plan of the premises and agree in advance where and how to arrange future work areas.
So you can expand the diagrams and study in detail where the windows will be and think in detail where to install climate control systems. Because after moving, employees should feel comfortable and not have discomfort due to poor lighting or because of a cold due to drafts. So you need to clearly define for yourself the timing of the move and calculate the estimate.
Assign a move manager
When you arrive, the process takes a long time. And even if you plan ahead for who and what work you will do, you will not have enough time and energy to follow every step of your workers. To do this, you can hire a relocation manager, administrative assistant, or just a person who has experience in this type of relocation.
Take time to search for the best moving company
If you decide to relocate your office, you need to monitor many offers in the market. This will help you choose the best option. So from the beginning, you need to decide on the timing of the move and the budget. For a quick move, you will need to use a larger set of services, so you have to count on a large budget.
Many companies do not specify a clear list of services, so you always need to clarify this issue. You can use such a free company feature as a preview, to find out the approximate cost of moving. If the firm does it even without visiting your office, it is a bad sign that suggests that you should not deal with them.
But it is better to turn to several companies, and if you see a very attractive and cheap offer, do not immediately rush to it because it can be a scam. There may be many other signs that you will not need to get acquainted with, so as not to lose your office property.
If you have chosen a company, you should find out recommendations about them and check the availability of licenses, all certificates, and insurance policies. All these data are entered in special open databases, so you can further verify their originality.
Assign everyone the task of packing up their own desk
If you decide to turn to a special moving company, in certain cases it will be advisable to do some of the work with the company’s employees. So it will be expedient to entrust the preparation of personal workplaces of employees to employees.
You can prepare special boxes for moving in advance and allocate a few working hours before moving to train employees.
It will not be superfluous to encourage employees to move. You also need to take care of documentation and expensive and special equipment. By instructing the people who are usually responsible for them to prepare them for the move, you may even have to provide assistants.
Call in the Pro’s
It is necessary to take a new office very seriously. So to rebuild your IT infrastructure you will need to hire your IT company experts. As the company will need to resume operations after the relocation is completed, the equipment must be started, adjusted, and tested in advance. Then you will be sure that everything will work.
Make a Backup of your Data
Typically, the means for carrying and storing information are very sensitive and easily damaged during transportation. Because of this, if you plan to transfer all the information, you should make backups.
Disconnect the Cords
Make an effort to prepare all equipment and cables for transportation. Under no circumstances should you keep the cables connected to the devices, as you may damage the cables and the contacts of the devices during transport. Repairing or buying new ones will require considerable financial resources.
Label All the Items
The key to quickly installing your equipment in a new place and quiet assembly is that you are good at sorting and assembling equipment and other items for the office. That’s why you should sign the boxes, indicate where they are, and from which department they are taken.
Get a handle on building rules
There are some nuances to consider when leaving and entering a home with a former/future IT office. So in some houses, there are special rules for moving. There are cases when such activity could be carried out during non-working hours, or when it is necessary to ask for a special permit to use a technical and service elevator. Such issues should be agreed upon in advance with the house management service, it is desirable to do it in a few weeks.
Put address change orders in place
When moving, you should take into account the fact that your address will change in advance. Because of this, you need to inform your partners about the new address in advance, and all envelopes, business cards, and labels should start at the new address in advance. In addition, you should also notify your customers about the change of your address. Also, just in case, your service can contact the courier services and the postal service so that they send your parcels and letters not to the old address but to the new one.
Be diligent about labeling your boxes
So in order to quickly deal with all the property during and after moving, you will need to mark all the boxes. This greatly facilitates the performance of your employees’ work duties so that they can easily find the things they urgently need. For greater reliability, you can mark the box with location and number.
All information about boxes and things in them should be entered into a spreadsheet. It is a time-consuming and labor-intensive process, but in the future, it will save a lot of time and simplify future relocation costs.
Make sure everything will fit
During commercial relocations, as during private ones, transportation of some subjects is not reasonable. For example, furniture or kitchen appliances, conference room furniture, and similar equipment from the old place can be worn out.
In the new place, these items may become impossible to use, as they may not meet the required size or other criteria. Therefore, it may be more profitable in material and time terms to check which of your furniture will fit in the new room. So if you take care of all this first, you won’t have any unexpected problems after moving.
Try to move some non-essentials on your own first
Another way to simplify the move is to take over the transportation of small items, plants, stationery, or others and will be applicable in the new location. If you have time for this and have ideas on how you can apply them in a new place, then you will need to move them to a new office.
Celebrate your new digs
So if you finish such a difficult and responsible process for your company, you need to thank each employee for their work. Since you and your employees will still have to adapt to the new place and the new organization of everything, this must be taken into account. However, such changes can be celebrated. For example, a festive outfit in the first days of being in a new office. This can unite the team and add positivity.
To conclude, moving to an IT office is a daunting task however with proper time planning it can be done at the top level. Assign somebody from your team as a move manager, research thoroughly for the optimal moving assistance, and follow other useful tips from this article and you`ll undoubtedly move your IT office without much hustle and bustle.
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