Over the past few years, we have seen a shift in how businesses approach IT asset relocation. It is no longer just about migrating your IT infrastructure from building to building. As more businesses adopted remote and hybrid work environments, they found that they needed to reposition and relocate their key resources. Regardless of the reason, moving your IT infrastructure can be challenging. Particularly if you fail to plan your move appropriately.
The last thing you want is system issues after you move. It’s imperative that your business avoids as much downtime as possible. This requires meticulous planning for each step of your system's transfer. The following guide will provide you with a collection of helpful tips to ensure that your IT relocation and transition go as smoothly as possible.
What is The Purpose of IT Relocation
The last thing you want is system issues after you move. It’s imperative that your business avoids as much downtime as possible. This requires meticulous planning for each step of your system's transfer.
You must ask yourself what your business hopes to achieve by relocating its IT assets. IT relocations can be expensive and disruptive. However, if you’ve ascertained that it is necessary and would be beneficial in the long run, you can begin to compile an audit of your equipment and staff.
There are various reasons for an IT relocation. For instance, as companies grow, they require more space for resources. However, the increasing speed of the internet and the advent of new easy-to-scale cloud technology has deprecated the need for large data centers. As such, your business may be relocating to smaller and less expensive business quarters.
Cloud migration can be considered a form of IT relocation. Thus, optimisation may be the key objective of your relocation.
Why is IT Asset Relocation so Challenging?
Migrating your IT systems requires extensive cooperation between your staff and the relocation team.
Your IT infrastructure is likely to be the lifeblood of your business. Relocating is a lot like removing a body’s nervous system and not expecting any complications. Migrating your IT systems requires extensive cooperation between your staff and the relocation team. Certain prerequisites must be met before you can begin your move.
For instance, your staff must complete all urgent tasks that require your IT resources. Creating a comprehensive audit that lists all the equipment that must be moved can be tricky. It’s hard to keep track of every component.
Furthermore, relocation can be costly. Thus, it requires scrupulous budgeting. If you find that you can’t afford to migrate, then you should not. Again, moving will require some downtime. It’s essentially an inescapable fact.
How Can Businesses Ensure a Successful IT Relocation?
If you don’t have anyone experienced in relocating IT equipment, you should consider procuring the services of an IT relocation team. The more experienced, the better. They will walk you through the entire relocation process and ensure that it occurs as smoothly as possible.
If your budget can only accommodate logistical expenses, then you can attempt to relocate your IT assets yourself. However, you must ensure that all employees complete important work before the move. Furthermore, you must create a list of all your hardware and furniture. This list should include your cabling, power cords, servers, computers, etc.
Your organisation must plan the move as early as possible. Moving is stressful. The best way to minimise anxiety is through control. Just knowing that you have fall-backs and fail-safes can ease tensions. You must give yourself ample time to inform your internet service providers, any IT support partners, hardware and software vendors, and any other entity that may be affected by your move.
If you don’t have anyone experienced in relocating IT equipment, you should consider procuring the services of an IT relocation team.
What Should Be On Your IT Asset Relocation Checklist?
There are a few steps you need to take to ensure that your IT relocation attempt goes as smoothly as possible. The first thing your team needs to do is compile an audit of all your assets.
1. List All Your Movable Technological Assets
Your company should routinely audit its IT assets, whether it plans to shift premises or not. Auditing will help you determine which assets are outdated, damaged, and/or need to be disposed of. You can cut down costs on your moving budget by omitting equipment that your business no longer requires.
You can also ascertain what new equipment will be essential for your move and thereafter. Once your asset relocation is complete, you can then refer to the list to ensure that all equipment marked to be moved is there. Electrical items tend to be the most at-risk items for damage and theft during removals. An all-inclusive audit will allow you to track your items.
Your item checklist should include:
- Desktop workspaces
- Laptops
- Servers
- Cabling
- Data Centre equipment
- Conference room equipment
- Wireless components
- Phone/VOIP systems
- Monitors
Of course, this list will vary based on your business’s budget, moving requirements, and the reason behind your IT relocation. Again, an IT relocation specialist or company would be able to ascertain which components should be a part of your move.
2. Create an IT Asset Relocation Plan
Again, the success of your IT asset relocation attempt largely hinges on how well you plan. You and/or your team must draft a formal project plan that is routinely updated weeks before the move. This plan should be authored after you take inventory of all movable items. All servers, laptops, and desktop computers should be handled with care during the move.
Your plan should include provisions for network and hardware security. If you plan on decommissioning obsolete computing equipment, you must ensure that all your data is securely and completely erased.
In addition to these contingencies, you must prepare an estimation of the timeline. This includes how long it will take to package and transport everything. It’s best that you perform your relocation on the weekend or when the staff is away.
Your plan should also include:
- IT Relocation Budget
- Partners involved in the move
- Vendors who may be affected by the move
- All stop locations
- Destination
3. Consider the Logistics of Your Relocation
Your moving company will have more to do with this than you do. However, it would be helpful if you could provide them with information such as:
- All building access and exit points (for both the start and destination)
- Number of employees/IT users on-hand
- Transportation size requirements
- The moving schedule
- Floor plans for both the origin and destination
- Safety issues
- Compliance and other legal documentation
Your IT asset relocation plan should include provisions for network and hardware security. If you plan on decommissioning obsolete equipment, you must ensure that all your data is securely and completely erased.
Final Thoughts
These three categories can be executed in phases. Again, this is just a preliminary sketch of what your process should look like. Your business’s requirements may be vastly different from the options listed in this guide. Thus, you should modify these suggestions until they match your needs. Finally, you must choose reliable vendors, IT asset relocation specialists, and partners. This will be key to ensuring the success of your move.
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SPW is Asia's go-to solutions provider for data destruction, data erasure, IT asset remarketing, and environmentally-responsible IT asset disposals. Contact us and learn how you can incorporate an ITAD strategy into your business today.
