Planning an Office Relocation? 3 Things to Keep in Mind
by Stephanie Faris on Monday, August 11 6:00
Any organization that remains in business for a while will likely need to move to a new location someday. As your company grows, adding team members, your space needs will change. You may even find that technology has changed your needs. If the vast majority of your employees begin working from home, for instance, you may find that you can save money by cutting back on the amount of space you lease each month.
While an office relocation can seem overwhelming, there are professional IT movers who can help your business plan and implement a successful move. An experienced IT moving company has likely logged years of successful moves and can put that experience to use helping your company. You can turn your move over to these professionals and take advantage of their years of experience. But long before the movers arrive, there are a few things you should do.
Asses Your Needs
Even before you choose a location for your new office space, you might find it beneficial to determine your current needs. How many physical workstations do you have? Do you need multiple areas for copiers/printers, or will one tabletop in a common area do? If you have employees who mostly work in the field, is a shared workspace an option or do you need a dedicated cubicle for each employee?
A floor plan may be the best way to keep things consistent throughout the move. Your IT moving company will want copies of those floor plans in order to give you a quote. You can also have both plans side by side for comparison as you try to fit your current environment into the new one.
Determine Server Needs
If your servers are completely cloud based, your needs will be different than if you have your own servers on site. In the case of the latter, you'll benefit greatly from working with server movers to ensure your equipment is moved safely and all connections in place when your workers occupy their new offices on Monday.
If you're connected to a cloud server, you'll need to take connectivity into account when planning your move. For best results, take a laptop or PC to the new location and ensure you can connect to the server prior to the big day. This will help avoid unpleasant surprises after the move is complete.
Establish a Schedule
In coordination with your IT movers, server moving company, and furniture movers, work to develop a schedule and ensure all involved parties have access to it. A shared cloud-based file is a great way to set up a document for access by your employees and third-party vendors. This calendar will both keep you on track and provide milestones you can check off along the way.
Your next office relocation can easily go smoothly if you utilize all of the resources available. By working with an IT moving company, you'll find that you're able to turn the important items over to specialists and handle the business-related items internally.