Office Relocation: Our Most Common FAQs

Due to the effects of the pandemic, many enterprises have adapted and altered their business practices to reflect the new working landscape. With many employees having moved to the hybrid work model, enterprises are finding their office space is no longer the best fit for business.

Whether your business decides to downsize in order to support increased home-working and cost-save in the process, or you decide to relocate to reach new markets, it’s essential to be prepared and organised to ensure a smooth move. Having assisted numerous clients with premises relocation and having moved our own office premises in the last year – today we highlight the areas you need to consider when prepping for an office move, and address our most common client FAQs about the process.

Preparing for the Move

Before beginning the move, it’s essential to fully audit your existing IT systems and current office setup in order to make a comprehensive relocation plan. Whilst it may be easy to move your people and clients to a new location, it can pose more of a challenge moving your IT equipment from one office to another. Below we’ve highlighted some of the key IT issues you need to consider prior to moving, touching upon some of the most frequent concerns of our clients:

• Server room location and conditions: when prepping for your move it’s essential to take into account the strict conditions needed for your Comms room. As this room houses your IT equipment, it must be secure and lockable for security purposes. The Comms room must also be an air-conditioned environment to protect your equipment and critical data, overheating can pose significant threat to your hardware, software and data. A final point to consider is the power supply to your Comms room; this must be adequate to support your machines, and our team can advise on the necessary power supply for your business.

• Power supply and electrical points: while the power supply for your comms room is a separate issue, it’s also essential to account for the availability of electrical points and power supply in your office. There must be adequate points of connection for all desks, meaning you need to consider location and capacity. We offer a free survey that helps you determine the best floor-plan and desk locations for your offices, in turn ensuring your office infrastructure is optimal in terms of layout, connectivity and power supply.

• WAP locations: in order to build a wireless network infrastructure in your office, you need to consider the placement of multiple access points around the space. Access points allow for your devices to connect to a wireless network via their connection to a wired network; thus it’s essential to consider the current existence of access points, the number, and their strategic placement to ensure optimum connectivity. We utilise specialist software that delivers a heat-map of the building, telling us where WAP’s need to be located to offer full range across your offices.

• Connectivity: ensuring your office has internet access should be a priority before moving. Lead times can vary, occasionally ranging up to a 3-month period for connection to be ensured. It’s also essential to install a backup connection, incase of issues relating to your primary internet connection – continuity is a critical facet of business, and backup connectivity ensures your systems are always up and running. At Fitzrovia IT we utilise Ekahau software to define your WIFI requirements (with regards to new networks or issue remediation), we also perform pre-deployment site surveys and fine tune the network design. With the implementation of specialist software such as Ekahau, we can ensure a smooth and cohesive transition to a new wireless network.

• Excess hardware: premises relocation often provides businesses with the perfect opportunity to assess how much excess hardware is currently in use. When thinking about moving, it would be advisable to decide whether outdated or excess systems could be migrated to cloud services, helping your business save on space and money.

• Moving your equipment: we would advise clients to allow our engineers to relocate all key equipment via our secure processes. We can ensure equipment is securely packed and transported, also taking liability for clients’ equipment through our moving insurance. Transporting equipment without the assistance of an experienced IT partner can become a more expensive and frustrating experience in the long-run – it’s best to take no chances!

Moving Forward

While moving premises can be an exciting time of growth and development for your business, the auditing, planning and moving process can be stressful. It’s essential to consider all the IT aspects we’ve highlighted, whilst taking into consideration the unique needs and systems of your business. By engaging the services of an MSP or experienced office relocation firm, you can be safe in the knowledge that your equipment will be moved safely, and your new office premises will be fully fitted out to meet the needs of your business.

Having carried out our own premises relocation in the last year, we at Fitzrovia IT understand the challenges and opportunities presented by a move. If you want to engage our team to assist in your business’ premises change, or have any questions not covered in today’s blog, then don’t hesitate to reach out to one of our IT experts today.