An office move is one of the few times a small business’s entire IT setup is unplugged at once. Done well, staff leave on Friday and sit down on Monday to a working network, phones and printers. Done in a hurry, the first week in the new space is spent on hold with an internet provider.
The single biggest cause of trouble is starting too late. Here is a timeline that works.
Three months or more before the move
- Order internet service first. Check which providers can serve the new building and order as soon as the lease is signed. Business installs, especially new fibre, can take weeks, and delays are common.
- Walk the new space with your IT provider. Look at where desks, printers, meeting rooms and wireless access points will go, and where the network equipment will live.
- Plan the network closet. It needs power, ventilation and ideally a lock. A rack in a warm, windowless cupboard shortens equipment life.
- Assess cabling. Decide whether existing cabling can be reused or new cabling is needed, and get quotes early. Cabling contractors book up.
- Plan Wi-Fi coverage. Walls, glass and floors change coverage dramatically. A wireless survey or a proper design avoids dead spots in meeting rooms.
- Review what to replace. A move is a natural point to retire an ageing server, firewall or phone system rather than carry it across.
One to two months before
- Book cabling installation and make sure every run is tested and labelled.
- Plan phones. With cloud VoIP, numbers move with you, but each number’s 9-1-1 service address must be updated to the new location. With older phone lines, arrange the transfer with the carrier.
- List everything that uses a phone line: alarm panels, door entry, elevator phones, fax. Arrange how each will work at the new site.
- Order new equipment so it arrives in time to be configured and tested.
- Plan printers, meeting room screens and access control, which are easy to forget.
- Tell your key vendors about the move, especially anyone who has whitelisted your office internet address for access to their systems.
Two weeks before
- Stage and configure network equipment ahead of time, so moving day is installation, not setup.
- Confirm the internet install date and have the connection tested once it is live.
- Take a full backup of anything still on local equipment.
- Share a moving-day plan with staff, covering what to pack, what IT will handle, and when they can expect to be working again.
Moving day
- Shut systems down properly, rather than pulling plugs.
- Label every cable and device with where it goes.
- Move and connect network equipment first, then servers if you have them, then desks.
- Test every desk: network, phone, dock, monitors, printing.
- Test the Wi-Fi in every room people will use, including the boardroom.
- Make and receive test calls, including calls to the main number and the auto-attendant.
After the move
- Have someone on hand on the first working morning for the inevitable small issues.
- Wipe and recycle retired equipment securely, especially anything that stored data.
- Return leased equipment to the old building’s internet provider, and cancel old services only once the new ones are proven.
- Update your address with Microsoft, your domain registrar, your Google Business Profile, your website and anywhere else it appears.
- Update network documentation with the new layout, addresses and equipment.
The short version
- Order internet as soon as the lease is signed
- Plan cabling, Wi-Fi and the network closet early
- Update 9-1-1 addresses for every phone number
- Stage equipment before moving day
- Test every desk, room and phone on the day
- Wipe old equipment, and cancel old services only once new ones work
Office moves are one of the projects in our IT consulting and projects service. We plan the move, coordinate the internet provider and cabling contractor, and are there on the day.