3 Things Server Movers Should Know about Your Relocation Risks

by Stephanie Faris on Monday, November 17 6:00

Risk assessment is an important part of any information technology project, reducing costly delays and allowing for measures to be put in place to prevent problems. If your business is planning a server relocation in the near future, your server moving company will likely want to know as much as possible about these risks well in advance.

Before contacting server movers to handle your job, you should first conduct a risk assessment on the move and disclose your findings. Some data center movers will provide a questionnaire to pinpoint risks, but by having this information already, you'll save time. You may also be prepared to provide more information than they've requested, ensuring your server relocation progresses smoothly. Here are three things your server moving company should know about well in advance of the move date.

Obstacles at Location

Ideally, data center movers will be working in single-story buildings with level flooring, both at the original site and the destination. However, in a real-world setting, server movers must deal with uneven flooring, stairs and elevators, and doorways and hallways that are too slim for equipment and racks to navigate. In these instances, IT professionals should map out the clearest route possible.

By measuring and identifying all obstacles, businesses can prepare data center movers for the smoothest move possible. On the day of the move, IT movers can survey the route carefully and identify the obstacles mentioned on the risk assessment, preventing any surprises.

Equipment Condition

IT staff should identify the age and condition of each piece of equipment being moved. Aging equipment poses a bigger move risk than newer equipment, but all servers and PCs should be backed up prior to the move date.

As professionals create a risk assessment and prepare to move servers, a plan should be put in place to quickly replace those servers if something should happen during the move. Unlike PCs, which can be quickly re-imaged and put back in use, some servers contain sensitive databases and applications that can't be set up as quickly. For critical applications, it might be necessary to create a back-up piece of equipment prior to the IT relocation.

Applicable Warranties

Your server movers will likely want to know about all warranties that apply to the equipment that will be moved. Prior to the move, When IT professionals gather this information and have it ready prior to the move, any problems that arise can be addressed quickly. This includes warranty length, phone number for service, and serial numbers of all equipment.

Most server movers will have insurance to cover any damage that occurs as a result of the move itself. However, by identifying all risks ahead of time and having as much information in writing as possible, a business can be prepared for any incidents that might occur during the course of the move. A risk assessment will not only help the server moving company prepare for its part of the move process, it will help the business identify and prepare for the risks it faces in removing equipment from one location and setting it up somewhere new.