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With the ever increasing presence of technology in today’s business environment, fundamental technical expertise is essential in safely and expediently relocating your IT assets. Moving PCs and re-establishing the company data network presents unique challenges and risks. Professional Movers.com minimizes any risk by providing our clients with computer relocation services to disassemble, transport, and reassemble your business-critical IT assets such as computers, printers, telephones and servers.

At Professional Movers.com we offer a proven project migration service that applies to the critical handling and relocation of the physical data equipment infrastructure. Our Certified Office Moving Consultants can offer advice and identify key components that should be engaged to minimize risk, enhance business continuity and expedite the migration process of your technology.

Professional Movers.com IT Specialists are trained to prepare, pack and protect your valuable computer workstations, printers, copiers, scanners, fax machines and delicate electronic devices. As your IT staff concentrates on your network system and infrastructure, our personnel will disassemble and pack all the equipment in your office. These specialized crews will place items in secure containers for transport, accompany them to their new location, and upon final placement, properly reconnect all items and assure they are in good working order. Professional Movers.com is committed to minimizing your company’s downtime while reducing risk exposure by offering seamless, organized data and equipment migration. Of key importance is reducing your internal staff workload while delivering a complete move on time. We do the research, planning and execution to ensure your complete satisfaction. When physically moving your equipment and asset infrastructure, we ask the questions and provide the solutions.

Table of Contents

1. Preparing for an IT Relocation
2. Thorough Planning to Ensure Successful Computer Relocation
3. How Professional Movers.com Relocates Computers & IT Equipment
4. Tips on Moving Computers and Electronic Equipment Yourself

Preparing for an IT Relocation

When planning a move to a new location, companies should conduct a complete technology assessment in order to properly plan and coordinate the relocation of workstation and server equipment. Professional Movers.com has knowledgeable Office Moving Consultants who can assist with an assessment and can help avoid potential pitfalls.

Depending on the size or structure of your firm, some companies consider utilizing their own in-house resources for disconnecting, packing and reconnecting activities. Attempting to do it in this fashion may involve requiring each user to prepare and pack their own equipment, or it may mean utilizing internal technical staff on overtime or during non-business hours to handle simple tasks while critical issues pile up. In practice, neither of these methods ultimately proves an efficient way to get the job done correctly.

Ideally, companies want their workforce at full production at all times. Although one method is the insistence of a uniform hard-stop time, a finite time at which the system (and the company’s productivity) will be brought down. This naturally leads to a hard-start time upon completion of the de-installation, labeling, packing, transportation and reinstallation phases whereupon the system as a whole is brought back up. The time in between the hard-stop and the hard-start is referred to as the blackout time and is totally dependent on a wide variety of factors, some of them in the hands of your own personnel and yet others totally out of your control. The degree to which this blackout window can be minimized has a significant impact on your company’s productivity (even your company’s future); attempting to do everything with limited resources can be disastrous.

Relying on your employees to disconnect and reconnect their computers, monitors, printers and other peripherals is generally never successful. There are a variety of reasons for this. Frequently, connections for power and data are hidden behind desks and other heavy furniture that may need to be disassembled to be moved. And, while users can operate the equipment, competencies surrounding hardware and connectivity are highly varied. The time it takes to disconnect and reconnect it, possible damages that need to be addressed, critical connecting pieces and parts that were not packed as a unit, means that your blackout window is very uncertain. And using internal IT staff diverts them from key tasks related to your network and server applications.

By utilizing Professional Movers.com to handle the disconnections, transportation, and reconnections, we can assure that your computer equipment is ready to be moved at the proper time, all items are packed and bundled as a unit, each item is properly labeled for the destination, and individual system units are brought back on-line according to schedule. While your staff concentrates its efforts on the overall network, our crews will take care of general installation and set-up. By controlling the handling of the equipment and embedding the relocation sequences associated with technology into the overall move plan, we make the logistics between the hard-stop and the hard-start a managed, step-by-step process. Further, we can manage the relocation of specific pieces of equipment in stages, thereby eliminating one overall hard-stop time and instead allowing various departments or areas within a department to continue operating while other areas are being moved and reinstalled.

Thorough Planning

Professional Movers.com is staffed with trained, knowledgeable IT Specialists ready to assist in your company’s office technology relocation. Utilizing our services will result in a seamless, integrated and managed process that assures your business will be operating at full production immediately following your scheduled move.

Our process begins with a full review of your IT infrastructure and your business units. While each company will have different requirements and priorities, a typical Certified Office Moving Consultation will result as follows:

• Meet to thoroughly understand your company’s priorities. Even though the move itself might be divided into multiple stages, there may be differing requirements for the blackout of certain hardware.
• Critical items are pre-determined for priority move status and are identified as last off-line and first on-line. Once identified, a “hot” truck (a dedicated electronics-handling division air-ride vehicle waiting solely to move the designated equipment) is scheduled and assigned. This assures no delays.
• A complete walk-through of your existing space exclusively to examine the office technology. Verify what is to be moved and discuss any unusual requirements.
• Establish target timeliness and milestones.
• Prepare contingency plans in the event of schedule changes, weather impact, hardware failure, system interruption.
• Provide you with an itemized pricing on your moving quote for the IT relocation services requested.

How Professional Movers.com Relocates Computers & IT Equipment

Professional Movers.com IT Specialists utilize rental computer crates to help pack and transport your computer equipment. Our rental computer crates are larger than our standard rental crate. They are specially designed to allow the computer’s hard drive, monitor, and components to be stored in a single crate. Our Certified Office Moving Consultants will work with your IT department to create a complete inventory of electronic equipment that your company would like to move. Based on the number of computers that your company would like to be moved, our Certified Office Moving Consultants will provide the exact number of crates needed to properly pack and transport your computer systems. In addition, our IT Specialists will also provide computer baggies for your keyboard and peripherals. Professional Movers.com IT Specialists can disconnect, label, pack, transport, and reconnect your computers. Included when we pack, our IT Specialists will use paper pads to pack and wrap computer equipment. Conversely, if you elect to perform the packing, Professional Movers.com can provide your employees with rental crates, packing materials, and a formal packing instructional demonstration. Charges for rental Computer Crates and packing will be itemized on your moving estimate included as an optional service on your office moving quote.

Tips on Moving Computers and Electronic Equipment Yourself

Technology plays a huge role in your business. Therefore, if you choose to relocate your computer systems yourself, there are certain procedures to follow which will protect your system from mechanical failure or damage due to normal physical shock which occurs during transport. To protect your computer system from mechanical failure or damage due to the normal physical shock that can occur during moving, you must follow certain procedures. The American Moving and Storage Association has provided the following guidelines to help ensure your computers are ready for packing.

Before you disconnect your computer system, remember to back up all data. If the hard drive is damaged during transport, your important data could be lost. But if you’ve backed up your hard drive, the lost or damaged data can be reloaded or restored. Several back-up methods are available, including copying files to CDs or DVDs or uploading your data to an internet storage provider.

Remove any inserted disks and CDs from the disk drives and CD-ROM drives. These should be left empty. Before packing, follow the hard drive moving instructions for your specific operating system.

1. Prior to Windows 95, contact the manufacturer’s technical support for specific shipping instructions. These systems may need to “park and lock” their recording heads prior to moving to prevent hard drive disk damage.
2. For Windows 95 or newer, “park and lock” is completed automatically when the system is shut down.
3. For Apple Computers, review the owner’s manual or contact technical support for shipping and preparation instructions.

Be sure to properly shut down the computer. Before unplugging any cables, label each cord and its corresponding port with color coded labels. This will allow for faster, easier reassembly at your new office. Pack your system in its original packing carton if possible. If not, ask your Professional Movers.com Certified Office Moving Consultant to recommend proper packing materials.

When preparing a printer, copier, plotter, or fax machine for the move, first remove all paper to prevent paper jams in the equipment’s components during transport. If you are moving a laser printer, remove the ink cartridge as the ink may spill and contaminate the laser engine. If you are moving a pin printer, you should insert a piece of paper in the platen to secure the print head.

If you are still unsure but would like to begin exploring the possibility of working with Professional Movers.com on your next office relocation, contact us at 248-926-9999. One of our Certified Office Moving Consultants would be happy to discuss your options and answer any of your questions. When you are ready, we will schedule an appointment based on your availability to visit your office. Our Certified Office Moving Consultant will provide a detailed assessment of your needs and provide you with pricing.