Moving offices in Burbank: an IT checklist and timeline

Office moves in Burbank tend to happen on a tight clock. A lease ends, a production company outgrows its space near Media District, or a professional practice moves a few blocks closer to downtown. The furniture and the movers usually get booked first. The technology often gets a single line on the plan, "IT to set up", and that is where the first week in the new space goes wrong. Phones that don't ring, a Wi-Fi network that drops in the conference room, a server that won't boot after the truck ride. This checklist walks through the IT side of a move in the order it needs to happen, starting well before moving day.

Eight to twelve weeks out: order the internet first

The single longest lead time in most office moves is the internet connection. A new business line, especially fiber to a building that hasn't had that provider before, can take weeks to install, and sometimes longer if construction or permits are involved. Waiting until after you have the keys is the most common reason a team ends up working from phone hotspots for their first days.

• Check which providers actually serve the new address. Availability can vary from one building to the next, even on the same street. Ask the landlord or property manager which carriers already have equipment in the building.
• Order the primary line as soon as the lease is signed, with an install date at least a week or two before you move.
• Consider a second connection from a different provider, or a cellular backup, so a single outage doesn't stop the office. Our business connectivity page covers how failover works.
• Plan the old line's cancellation for after the move, not before. Overlapping by a few weeks is cheap insurance.

Six to eight weeks out: walk the new space with IT in mind

Visit the new office with someone who understands networks, before the floor plan is final. A few questions answered now save a lot of rework later:

• Where will the network equipment live? You want a closet or room with ventilation, a dedicated power circuit if possible, and a door that locks. A storage room next to the kitchen sink is a poor choice.
• Is the existing cabling usable? Older buildings may have cabling that is damaged, unlabeled or too old for current speeds. Have it tested rather than assuming.
• Where will people sit? Each desk, printer, TV and access point needs a network drop or solid wireless coverage. Count them, then add spares.
• What will the walls do to Wi-Fi? Concrete, glass and metal studs all affect wireless signals. A wireless survey of the actual space is the reliable way to decide where access points go. See our network and Wi-Fi solutions for what a survey involves.

If new cabling is needed, schedule it while the space is empty and before the ceilings and furniture go in. Running cable through a finished, occupied office is slower and more disruptive.

Four to six weeks out: phones and numbers

Most offices want to keep their phone numbers, and that usually means porting them from one provider or system to another. Porting has paperwork, and a mismatch in the account details can delay it.

• Get a recent bill for every number, including fax lines and any numbers you've forgotten about, such as an old direct line still printed on business cards.
• Confirm whether you're keeping the current phone system and just moving it, or taking the chance to switch.
• If the phones are cloud-based, they'll work wherever there's internet, which makes the move simpler. Check that the new network will prioritize voice traffic so calls stay clear.
• Update the address registered for emergency calls on every line. With internet phones, 911 location information doesn't update itself when you move.

Two weeks out: inventory, label and back up

Build a simple inventory of everything that will move: computers, monitors, docks, printers, the firewall, switches, any server or NAS. Note where each item is going in the new office. Then label both ends of everything. A five-minute job with a label printer saves hours of guessing on the other side.

Most importantly, take a full, verified backup of every server and storage device before it leaves the old office. Hard drives don't like being bumped, and moving trucks are not gentle. A backup that has been tested by actually restoring a few files is the only kind worth relying on. If you're not sure your current backups would hold up, our backup and disaster recovery service can check them before the move.

This is also a good moment to retire equipment you don't need to carry. Old PCs and drives that are being left behind should have their data properly wiped or destroyed, not just thrown out with the old furniture.

Moving weekend: a controlled cutover

Most businesses move IT over a weekend so Monday starts normally. A sensible order:

1. Shut down servers and storage cleanly on Friday evening, after the final backup.
2. Move core network gear and servers yourself or with IT, not loose in the general moving load.
3. Bring up the internet connection, firewall and switches first, and confirm you can get online.
4. Power up servers and storage and check that shared drives, applications and printers are reachable.
5. Set up desks, then test a sample of workstations end to end: sign in, open files, print, make a call.
6. Test phones inbound and outbound, including the main number, voicemail and any call routing.

The first week: expect small issues and fix them fast

Even a well-run move turns up small problems: a printer that won't connect, a desk whose cable wasn't patched, a weak Wi-Fi spot in a corner office. Plan for someone to be available on Monday morning to walk the floor and resolve them before they become a week of workarounds. Update your address on Google Business Profile, the website, email signatures and anywhere else customers find you, and confirm deliveries and mail are redirected.

Getting help with a Burbank office move

Creative IT USA is based at 547 N Catalina St in Burbank and works with local businesses on every stage of a move, from ordering circuits and surveying the new space to running the cutover and supporting staff on day one. If you're planning a move in or around the city, take a look at our IT support in Burbank page, then give us a call to talk through your timeline.