Office moves are one of the most common sources of unexpected IT downtime for small businesses. The logistics of moving furniture obscures the technical complexity of moving a working IT environment. Network, phone, servers, ISP contracts, and user setup all need to be planned and tested before the first person sits down at a desk in the new space. Here is the checklist.
Four to Six Weeks Before the Move
Contact your internet service provider. ISP installs in BC typically take 15 to 30 business days for business-grade fibre or cable. If you wait until two weeks before move-in, you will not have internet on day one. Order connectivity as soon as the new address is confirmed.
If you are retaining existing phone numbers, initiate the number porting process now. Number ports take seven to ten business days and can fail if the request is incomplete. Running a number port concurrent with an office move risks two simultaneous disruptions.
Two to Four Weeks Before the Move
Walk the new space with your IT provider. Identify locations for the server rack, patch panel, and network switches. Mark every desk that needs a wired network drop. Specify where wireless access points should be mounted for full coverage without dead zones.
Order any hardware that is not being moved: new switches, access points, patch panels, rack components, or cabling. Lead times on IT hardware remain variable - do not wait until move week to discover a switch is backordered.
One to Two Weeks Before the Move
Update your business address everywhere: Google Business Profile, CRA (for GST correspondence), BC Registry, website, email signatures, and social profiles. This is easy to forget in the logistics of the move and creates confusion when clients try to find you.
Create a documentation snapshot of your current IT environment: network diagram, device inventory, IP address scheme, Wi-Fi credentials, and server configurations. If something does not survive the move, you need this to rebuild it accurately.
Move Week
Have your IT provider on-site for the move, or at minimum for setup at the new location before staff arrive. The sequence should be: infrastructure first (patch panel, switches, server rack), then internet connectivity test, then server bring-up, then workstation setup, then phone system, then printing.
Label every cable before it is disconnected. Use cable ID labels on both ends and photograph the existing setup before disassembly. This saves hours at the new location when you are trying to reconnect the right cables to the right ports under time pressure.
Go-Live Checklist
Before declaring the move complete, verify: internet connectivity from all areas of the office, Wi-Fi coverage in all meeting rooms and work areas, all printers discoverable on the network, VPN connectivity for remote workers, email flow confirmed inbound and outbound, phone system operational with correct routing.
Test critical business applications from a sample of workstations: accounting software, CRM, line-of-business applications. A DNS or network configuration issue can cause specific applications to fail while general internet works fine.
Post-Move Follow-Up
Update your IT documentation with the new network diagram, device locations, and cable labels within one week of move-in. Documentation created during chaos is documentation that gets done - documentation promised after the chaos never happens.
Review your business continuity plan and update it with the new site address, ISP contact information, and updated emergency contact numbers. If your plan referenced the old address, it is now inaccurate.