How To Move Your Data Center

Transcription

1 The IT Management Guide to Business Relocation Relocating your business is a major project that entails careful planning. You want to minimize the disruption to your business, provide a new space that will allow your company room to grow, and increase efficiency and productivity. Once you've determined that planning a corporate move makes good business sense, use the following checklists to create a foolproof relocation plan. Developing the Plan (6 to 12 months before move) Select an internal move coordinator and move team to head up the relocation. If your staff doesn't have the expertise or time to execute an effective move, consider hiring a relocation consultant. Identify and hire external contractors necessary for a move, including a Realtor, architect or space planner. Develop a detailed project plan for the move, including a budget and a project schedule with milestones and deadlines. Take into account lead times for new orders and deliveries, and for contacting vendors to transfer or order new services. Check with all departments to ensure that no major projects or deadlines conflict with your scheduled move weekend. Coordinating the Move (3 to 6 months before move) Develop a floor plan for the new location with cubicle and office assignment, as well as locations of servers, printers, fax and copy machines. Have the IT department consult on technology and wiring logistics. Inform necessary parties of the move including vendors, stakeholders, board members and clients, utility provider, security services and janitorial providers. Inventory office furniture and equipment, and evaluate what should be replaced or upgraded. 1

2 Contact vendors for any leased equipment to ensure that moving won't violate the lease agreement. Research and hire a reliable moving company. Get several competing quotes before hiring. Many moving companies will provide a meeting for your staff, instructing employees how best to pack. Purchase basic valuation, full valuation or more comprehensive insurance. Basic valuation insurance will typically compensate at a minimal rate (such as $.60 per pound) for property lost or damaged during the move. Plan moving day logistics, determining where the movers will park and what entrances and elevators they will use for unloading. The Basics and Updating Marketing (1 month before move) Change the company stationary and update the website. Send out a change of address mailing to all company contacts two weeks before move. File a change of address with the post office. Call your utility provider to schedule a dates for disconnection and a new connection. Tip: Disconnect one day after you move. Connect your new office the day before you will begin setting up. Request any last month deposits from utility, phone or Internet companies. Update business licenses and sales tax exemption certificates. Packing and Moving (2 weeks leading up to move) Place recycling and trash containers in convenient locations throughout the office in the weeks leading up to the move to minimize moving day waste. Encourage purging or archiving of old files. Provide employees a drop spot where they can put reusable office equipment they no longer need. Redistribute, donate, or recycle unwanted equipment. 2

3 Obtain boxes and crates through your moving company for employees to pack their belongings. TIP: Since moving companies charge by the hour, you can save money by directing staff to unplug their own computers, wrap their cords, and do the bulk of the packing before the move. Have staff clearly label boxes and furniture with their full names and departments. Distribute new keys and access cards, and collect old keys and cards. Hire a cleaning service for the old location, if necessary. Educating Staff (Move Day) At the new site, provide your employees with a welcome guide that includes information on emergency preparedness, building operations manuals and a list of the closest places to eat or find an ATM. Have a welcome breakfast and tour for employees at the new location. Talk to your new landlord about scheduling a fire drill and a review of building safety. 3

4 Relocating Your Data Center Relocating your data center is a critical process - staff communications and customer service processes alike depend on phone and data networks for conducting business. Plan carefully to determine how much downtime your networks can afford. Since moving already means a service disruption and rearrangement of equipment, it's an excellent time to upgrade your voice and data systems. If you don't already use VoIP, consider the benefits, including lower telecommunications costs, increased customization features on the back-end, and increased staff collaboration capabilities on the front-end. If any of the following statements apply to your organization, VoIP may be right for you: You have high telephone bills and Inter-office calls comprise the bulk of your calling charges. Your staff regularly uses conferencing, messaging and collaboration software. Employees work remotely, from home, or travel often on business. Employees use company-paid cell phones. Your organization has multiple offices, with minimal on-site tech support. Your company is expanding and hiring new staff, growing by more than 5% a year. Whether or not you decide to upgrade your systems, following these steps will help you execute a smooth data center migration and reduce the risks involved in moving and reconfiguring sensitive equipment. Planning Your Physical Space (1 to 3 months before move) Identify rooms for the telephone and data cabling closet/room and for the servers, with consideration for special requirements such as dimensions, electrical (30 amp dedicated circuit), floor coverings, HVAC with alarm and separate thermostat, and dedicated space for equipment. Evaluate cost and time-line for providing additional electrical service to new location, and schedule wiring according to the construction time-line. Determine what type of Internet access is available at the new location, planning new T1 line installations six to eight weeks in advance. Determine locations on furniture floor plan for voice and data jacks and analog lines. Test all network and phone drops and all power outlets. 4

5 Map locations of desks and estimate necessary cable length for network wiring. Plan on installing extra wiring drops at least two to four drops on every wall of an office space. Run four strands of Cat5/5E cabling to every wall, and terminate with RJ45s in a wall plate. In the computer room, group the four strands that correspond to the four jacks on the wall plate, and punch everything down on Cat5/5E Patch panels. Evaluating and Configuring Equipment (1 to 3 months before move) Once floor plan is approved obtain bids for wiring. Review programming and routing on the voice mail system. Inventory existing equipment, including warranty information, serial numbers, and approximate weight and values for each item, to help you get an accurate quote from the moving company and track items. Identify any parts or equipment that have malfunctioned in the past, or that might fail during a move. Supply spare cables and hard drives. Prepare one or more physical, bootable backups for all servers, and store off-site or transport the backup media separately to the new site. Order new equipment to be delivered to the new site and identify lead-time for the delivery of new equipment. Planning Your New Telephone and Digital Networks (2 months leading up to move) Inventory all telephone numbers to be moved. Disconnect all leased lines, such as T1s, at the old location. Label all phone and network lines before moving use A for analog, V for digital VoIP phone lines, and D for network lines. Label all wires on both ends with information such as room plate and jack numbers, and post a set of floor plans next to the patch panels, identifying room numbers and wall plate locations 5

6 Transfer any ISDN lines. If you are also moving to a new ISP, you will have to register the change with the DNS registry companies and time it right to minimize interruption in service. Then you must also plan to change the DNS resolution for your company's Web addresses if you host it internally. If you have a toll-free number, schedule the transfer date with your vendor. You'll need more time and testing for more complex routing programming on your 800 numbers. If you're using modular furniture, run the network cables before installing furniture. Communicate any changes or relevant information to staff regarding the relocation or reconfiguration of their phone and data systems. Test all devices for connectivity after the move. Copyright 2007, ITManagement 6