Office Move IT Checklist: What to Do 2 Months Out, 2 Weeks Out and on Moving Day

A move is the one moment when you can build your IT infrastructure right, from scratch. It’s also the moment when it most often gets done in the final week — cables along the baseboards, “we’ll redo it later.” This checklist comes from our experience launching offices; at the end is a list of what gets forgotten most often.

2 months out: planning

• Seating plan — everything else depends on it. How many workstations, where the meeting rooms, printers and server room will be.
• Outlet and cable route plan. Two network outlets per workstation (computer + phone), outlets for printers, ceiling Wi-Fi access points, cameras, door access control. All of this before the walls and ceilings are closed up. Cutting channels into finished walls costs three times as much and looks bad.
• Server room. A separate room or a lockable cabinet, air conditioning, two power circuits, space for a UPS. Not under the stairs and not next to the kitchen.
• Internet. Find out which providers serve the building and order two lines from different carriers — installation takes anywhere from two to six weeks.
• Telephony. Decide whether to port your numbers or get new ones, and whether to switch to an IP phone system or keep the old one.
• Budget for cable, racks, switches, Wi-Fi access points and UPS units — and agree with the contractors on who runs the cable routes.

2 weeks out: installation and preparation

• Structured cabling is complete; every line is labeled and tested, with a test report.
• The rack, switches, router and Wi-Fi access points are installed; the network is configured and tested under load.
• Internet from both providers is connected; failover is tested by shutting off the primary line.
• Missing computers, monitors and UPS units are ordered; deliveries are checked for completeness.
• Full backups of all servers are taken — and restores are tested. A move is the most common time for data loss.
• A VPN links the old and new offices so employees can keep working during the transition.
• Clients and partners are notified of the new address; call forwarding is set up for the duration of the move.

Moving day

• Servers move last — on Friday evening or over the weekend, after a full backup and with all services stopped.
• Each workstation is connected according to the plan and tested: network, internet, printing, 1C, phone. Checked off on the checklist.
• Telephony: test calls to every number, the voice menu, call forwarding.
• Cameras and access control are on, recording is running, access credentials are issued.
• An engineer is on site on the first working day — there will be plenty of questions, and that’s normal.

What gets forgotten most often

1. A second provider. One line means one careless excavator operator, and the office is offline for a day.
2. A UPS. A server and network rack without a UPS die at the first power surge in the new building.
3. Server room cooling. In summer, a closed cabinet without air conditioning reaches +45°C, and the server shuts down from overheating.
4. Documentation. Six months later, no one remembers which cable goes where. The diagram and labeling must be ready on moving day.
5. Old access. Cancel internet and security service at the old office, collect the equipment, change any passwords the contractors knew.

One contractor or five

One company does the network, a second the internet, a third the phones, a fourth the cameras, and the computers are left to “our admin.” On moving day, each one waits on the others, and no one is responsible for the fact that 1C isn’t working. We deliver turnkey IT for new offices: one project, one estimate, one go-live date. It’s best to reach out at the fit-out design stage — 1–2 months ahead.