Month: February 2016

Data Backup During a Move or Company Relocation

For any modern company, an important part of office relocation is ensuring that you have secure and up-to-date backup for your data. Studies have shown that 60 percent of companies that lose their data are out of business within 6 months and a full 90 percent are out of business within two years of a total data loss.  It’s easy for data to suffer loss or damage during a move, so it’s important to take preventative measures by having a data backup in place to minimize risk, and ensure that your data is protected during the moving process.

There are different options for you to consider when deciding on how to keep a backup of your data. Consider both options and choose the best for your company, or use both for extra protection.

Having your crucial data backed up before a move or relocation is a must.

Quality Group can store your data off site.

Storing Your Data Off Site

Keeping it away from the move is a great option. You should ask your internet service provider if they can recommend a good data storage center.

 

 

 

Using the Cloud to Store Data Store your data in the cloud.

The Cloud is a popular and inexpensive storage facility often used by companies. It’s also easy to restore, and can be automatically updated from any location with internet access.

After you choose how you will back up your data, you will need to plan further. These plans will likely feature an IT Test, and planning for any accidents.

IT Test

When you are organizing your relocation, include a test plan to make sure all your critical equipment is working correctly and to check that nothing has been damaged in the move. This needs to be done when everything is on site, and before your staff arrives, to minimize disruption.

Planning for Accidents

Having a plan set in case of disaster is important as well. Any modern business is extremely dependent on equipment and phones so it is important that they’re working. Failing to have a workable backup plan could cause your business to suffer.

Planning and executing these different steps will take different amounts of time, depending on individual business. Taking these essential steps allows you to make your move much smoother.

Pick a moving company with experience in moving data infrastructure.

Whether you have a back up plan in place or not, it is vitally important that you chose a company who has vast experience in moving data infrastructure. This doesn’t just mean a company like the Quality Group, who is insured but also one who can minimize down time in addition to data loss. When you are ready to move into your new office it’s important that data is not only kept safe but also that you have no operational down time.

If you would like to find out more about how the Quality Group goes above and beyond to protect your data, please give us a call today.

The Last Day in Your Old Office After Moving

The movers have come and packed all the office equipment up, moved it to the new location and arranged it all in the new building. All your employees are hard at work in the new place and you are eager to be in the new building hard at work as well. The problem is you still need to finish up a few more things at the old place before you can be officially moved into your new office.

To cut ties with your old office building forever, there are a few requirements you’ll need to complete.

Clean

Clean your office when moving will prevent extra chargesWhether you are renting or selling your old office building, cleaning after you move is a must. This means, vacuuming, wiping down the walls, cleaning the restrooms and fixing any damage. Cleaning up will prevent the landlord from having to charge you to purchase the services after you leave. Or if you own the building, it will prevent the new owners from reducing the buying price due to the condition of the office. You can opt to clean the office yourself or hire a professional cleaning service that will clean for you. With proper planning, The Quality Group can offer this service to you as part of their moving services.

Stop Utilities

Another step to complete before you are officially done with the old office is to stop all utilities flowing to that building. Sometimes this will mean talking to your landlord to make sure you are no longer being billed for the utilities, and other times it means contacting your utility provider and switching it to the new location. In either case, you need to make sure you won’t be paying for utilities you aren’t using.

Turn in Your Key

Turn your key in after you move everything out of your officeAfter you clean everything and make sure you aren’t paying for utilities for the old office, you’ll need to turn in your key. Holding on to the old office key after you move will benefit no one, so when all tasks are complete, turn it over to the landlord or new owners. This will help you avoid further rent charges or allow the new owners to start moving into their new office.

Moving is a big process, but you need to make sure everything is taken care of, and that includes your old office building. Making sure it is ready for the next tenants is important in avoiding further complications. After everything is complete however, you’ll be ready to enjoy your new office worry free.

Get a Quick Easy Office Moving Checklist

During a move, ask your employees to label their itemsWhen you’re faced with the stress of moving your office, it can be easy to forget some of the simpler details. Having an office moving checklist will prevent this from happening. It will also ensure that everything is done in the correct order.

Take the time before your move to make sure the following commonly forgotten steps are completed:

  • Drain out all equipment that holds liquids to avoid leakage. For items such as copiers and faxes that use liquid ink, be sure to take extra precautions to safely transport them and any open cartridges.
  • Empty out all of your desks before moving. Arrange for your staff members to pack and label their belongings.
  • Ask your professional moving company to pack paintings, pictures, bulletin boards, etc., with their fixtures so you can easily hang them up in your new office.
  • When you move, alert your cleaning companyGet rid of any old stationary that is labeled with the old office address.
  • Clear out filing cabinets, or if the contents must stay in cabinet and are private, be sure that the cabinets are locked, and the keys to open them are labelled properly.
  • If your new office is separated across floors, it’s a good idea to color-code each floor’s belongings. That way, identical furniture won’t get mixed up.
  • Make sure you notify your office cleaning company of your move. You should also arrange to receive quotes from 3 office cleaning companies, for your new office cleaning contract.

Making a checklist with these steps beforehand will potentially save you some trouble and headaches later on.

Keeping Your Business Going During a Move

Moving is a hectic and stressful time for your business. On top of everything being shifted, packed and moved, you have to keep your clients happy and operations running. It can be hard to keep everything going normally when such a big disrupter is in your midst. It is possible however, to keep your business functioning during a move with some due diligence and some helpful tips.

Plan

Planning is the most important thing for your move. Research on what you’ll need to do leading up to the move, during the move, and right after the move to get settled is a must. While planning won’t cover everything, it will help things run a lot smoother. Start planning as early as possible so you and your employees can organize the work that needs doing with the move in mind. Stay on track and try to get as much work done as you can before the move so you have less to worry about.

Assign Responsibilities and Communicate

Moving is a hectic time so it’s a good idea to assign defined responsibilities to each employee so everything is covered. Assigning who does what will ensure the tasks that aren’t a part of the everyday schedule get done. With the chaos of a move, it’s also important to keep in touch and communicate more frequently. Moving is a stressful situation so having regular meetings will help ease concerns and keep everyone in the know so they can make informed decisions.

Schedule for the Weekend or Slow Days

There is no avoiding a little bit of disruption in the workflow during a move, but you can minimize it by moving in your off season. Also, try to move either on the weekend or on a typically slow day. Moving during a time when you’re not busy will prevent your employees from having to disrupt a big project. It will also keep their stress level down and lessen the impact for clients.

Hire Professional Movers

Professional movers will reduce your stress by making sure everything is moved correctlyThe best thing to keep your business moving as it should during relocation, is to hire a professional moving company. Hiring a moving company will allow your employees to focus on what is most important: their work. Professional movers will take the stress of moving off of you and your employees and move everything for you. If you hire a moving company like The Quality Group, then they’ll set up everything in your new office as well, so you can jump right back into work. Professional movers will take the stress of moving off of your business so you can focus on just your business.

Maintaining your workflow during a move can be a challenge but it’s definitely not impossible. Remember to plan, communicate and schedule for slow times when moving and to make it a seamless transition, call The Quality Group. We’d love to help you move with no noticeable down time.