How to move IT equipment safely

When you are moving your office, one of the biggest challenges will be to move your IT equipment safely.  IT equipment is an essential part of every modern office. And because of its importance, sensitivity and possible complications, it requires a special approach. Of course, the easiest way to do it to call office movers suburbs to help you. They will disassemble everything, sort and professionally pack for a safe relocation.

On the other hand, if you have enough employees, you could probably do it without professional help. This will help you save some money but it will require a lot more effort. And the results could be devastating if you make a mistake. So, the first thing to do is to decide whether to hire professional help and pay extra. Or to try to save some money and try to move IT equipment safely, relying on your office’s manpower.

Move IT equipment safely with the professional help

As mentioned above, the easiest, most convenient and safest way to move IT equipment is to hire professional help. Luckily, many moving companies have specially trained staff for packing and moving IT equipment safely. And your only task would be to locate reliable professionals that will give you a hand. 

Unfortunately, finding reliable packing services suburbs can be a daunting task. And it could take you a lot of your precious time. Luckily, there are websites that could help you find appropriate packing services much faster. For this, check FMCSA’s website or Better Business Bureau.

Find an appropriate storage facility

Also, sometimes during the move, you will need to store your items for a short period. If you need to store your office equipment until your relocation is finished, you will also need to track down good storage facilities in suburbs that will offer perfect protection for your important items. 

The important thing with renting storage for your office IT equipment is to visit the facility and see firsthand what the conditions that they are offering are. Storing electronic equipment in a dirty environment could destroy your items in a matter of days. Therefore, it is very important to find a good, well-maintained storage facility that will keep your IT equipment safe.

How to move IT equipment safely on your own

If you are thinking that paying extra for professional packing service is unnecessary when you have employees that you are already paying you could try to move IT equipment safely without professional help. Surely you are aware that every mistake that you make in this process could cause you a lot of problems. 

Therefore, you should make sure that your employees are capable to do it properly. So, one of your first tasks would be to assemble a moving crew from your most reliable and trusted employees. Only then, you can start making a moving plan for your IT equipment.

Prepare your office moving plan

Preparing a proper moving plan is very important. When you are packing and moving IT equipment you can just rush in without any particular order. That is why you should gather your employees and organize a meeting where you will discuss all aspects of your upcoming move. Surely, your employees will have some good suggestions, too. 

Therefore, it would be smart to hear what everyone has to say before you construct your moving plan. Give everyone a role; think about packing materials and the order in which you will start packing. How to pack, how to sort parts, disassemble your IT equipment or not. That is essentially how your plan should look.  

Use quality packing materials if you want to move IT equipment safely

Two things are defining office IT equipment. The sensitivity and importance. That is why it can be very complicated to move it safely. Especially if you never had an opportunity to pack and move before. Nevertheless, with the help of quality packing materials and slow approach, it can be done. Of course, it would best to pack your IT equipment in its original packaging. 

However, if you do not have it you can use regular cardboard boxes along with some bubble plastic padding. To pack your IT equipment properly here is what you will need.

•        Cardboard boxes are the essential when it comes to packing sensitive it equipment
•        Plastic containers with lids
•        Plastic bags
•        Bubble plastic sheeting \Foam sheets for padding
•        Stretch wrap
•        Packing tape
•        Permanent markers
•        Sticker labels

First, deal with the cables

When you start packing your IT equipment it is important to do it one piece at a time. You don’t want to mix up the parts. First, you will have to unplug the cables. If you have many different cables attached to a complicated connection, maybe you should take a picture of the assembly before you start pulling them out. After you unplug them, wrap them, label if necessary, and put them together in one plastic bag.

Think about removing hard drives before packing

Now you can move to the larger pieces. If you are packing a desktop computer, you will have to decide whether to remove the hard drives to store them separately or you will leave them inside. They contain all the vital information for your business. So if you want to give them extra protection, remove them, wrap them in bubble plastic, and store them in a plastic container.

Move IT equipment safely in cardboard boxes

Now, all you have to do before your long distance movers suburbs arrive is to pack everything in cardboard boxes. If you have original packaging, then you should use those. They usually have styrofoam casing inside which gives perfect protection for moving IT equipment safely. If you didn’t keep the original packaging, you can use regular cardboard boxes. 

Just make sure that you fill the empty space inside the box with soft padding material to keep your equipment safe from accidental hits. Tape the boxes with packing tape. Label them properly. And the rest is up to your movers.