COVID-19 has changed the working landscape. And it may have changed it for good. How has your business’s way of working been affected?
Do you have some or all of your staff working from home? Might that situation continue even as COVID – hopefully – fades away? Or have you weathered the crisis so well that you are looking to expand?
Either way, if the circumstances surrounding COVID have made you consider where and how you work, there’s no need to dread your planned relocation.
With the right plan in place, your next office move could be a whole lot simpler than you think.
Office moves during and after COVID
With a strategy in place, taking your tech with you when you move office – and tailoring your setup so that it fits your new space or new ways of working – can be a straightforward process.
Dial A Geek, for example, has a set way we like to proceed when we assist businesses with their IT relocation and office moves:
1) Assessment and planning
First thing’s first. What is your current IT setup like? What needs to be moved? What really needs to be updated or replaced at the same time?
In many ways, an office move or a change to a partial remote working setup is the ideal time to check that your hardware and software are still ticking all of your boxes. Or investigating whether there might be better options out there.
If your new setup – one which includes some team members working from home, for example – will call for more cyber security, this is the time to assess your needs in this area too.
2) Data backup
Before we help any business with their relocation, we always backup data. We do this via cloud backup storage or NAS (Network Attached Storage).
You should already have good data backup practices in place. Again, if not, this is the perfect time to start doing things the right way from the very beginning.
Even if you are on the ball with your backups, an extra one is vital before any relocation. The data backup phase calls for:
- Practice makes perfect – doing a “dry run” or two ensures that all of your data will be restored to where it needs to be after your move.
- A carefully thought-out contingency plan – what if some or all of your hardware was damaged in transit? A proper disaster recovery plan and data backup ensure you have a strategy in place to deal with the situation.
- Moving to the cloud before you move office – if part of your new IT setup involves taking the sensible step of migrating to the cloud, it’s probably a good idea to do this before you relocate. This way, you have extra redundancy and backups while you move.
3) Preparation
Physically moving your sometimes delicate IT equipment calls for a lot of care and preparation. Not to mention proper packaging so that everything arrives safe and sound.
We prefer to do this the day before your office move is due to take place to minimise your stress on the actual day.
4) Test
Once everything is in your new office, we set up and test everything before you are due to open. This ensures that everything works seamlessly from the moment you first log in.
5) Train
If your new setup is different from your old one, we can provide full training in how to use the new systems.
Making sure that everyone is on board with your new technology is key to successful adoption. As is making sure no one is left behind during the training process.
6) Support
When Dial A Geek handles office relocation, we always leave a Geek on-hand for the first day after your move so that you have someone on the spot to deal with any unexpected issues which crop up.
Office relocation is simple with the right planning
Moving offices and taking your tech with you can be a stress-free and straightforward process.
But you need to be sure that you have someone assess, plan, backup your data properly, prepare your hardware for transport and properly test your new system – as well as train and support your team throughout your move.
When you do though, you guarantee that your office move will go ahead smoothly. With zero downtime for your company involved.
Are you planning an office move because of COVID?
Dial A Geek has already helped businesses across Bristol and the surrounding areas relocate their IT without any of the usual hassle.
Join the more than 900 businesses who have already used us for IT support. Get in touch for a commitment-free chat about your move today.
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