The lease is up, it's time to move, and all your IT needs and requirements are in place, right?  You can answer "yes," because you had the foresight to get in on the ground floor of helping with the move.  An office move is a massive undertaking that requires enormous logistics planning.  When attorneys and staff leave the old space on Friday and arrive in the new space on  Monday, they expect their phones and computers to work.  Your firm's facilities and office managers are, of course, a valuable part of the move team, but IT involvement from the outset is absolutely critical.

In planning a move it's important to understand that you will have to live with today's decisions for years to come.  So before you ever meet with the architects, you need to ask, "What do you like about your current office space?" and "What do you wish you could change?"  With all of its challenges, a move does afford you some great opportunities.  Perhaps it's time for a technology refresh, or maybe you want to incorporate a redundant data center for business continuity.  Dream big.  Purchasing new network switches for your IDF closets would allow you to patch in the new network infrastructure before the first crate or piece of furniture arrives.

Digest the Architecture
When it's time to meet with the architects, volunteer (or insist, if necessary) to participate in the architectural design process.  Just be aware that this will be a major commitment.  This commitment will include weekly design meetings where the topics won't always be relevant to IT.  Nevertheless, pay close attention; learn the buzzwords and anything else to help you make solid, informed decisions later in the process.

The architects will want to know about your communications cabling requirements.  That means it's time to dust off your cable specifications document (you have one, right?).  Technology has a habit of changing, and your cable requirements will probably need a refresh.  Is VoIP in your future?  Have you thought about a copper infrastructure to support Gigabit or the emerging 10GBASE-T standards?  Or maybe wireless is more your cup of tea.   It is not just about what you need today.  You should be thinking and planning for five to ten years from now.

The design meetings will eventually give way to move planning meetings, and you will also want to be an integral part of these.  You have relevant opinions and information that can't afford the risk of being overlooked in your absence.  Since you attended the design meetings, you may be the only person to realize that putting a CRT near a wall shared with an elevator shaft may cause distortion and probably isn't a good idea.

Make Some New Friends
If you are planning a new data center, you will want your new best friends to be the mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) engineers.  A good MEP engineering firm will help you and the architects plan things like HVAC, fire suppression and environmental monitoring.  In fact, they can even help you reroute those "pesky" water pipes that are running directly over your new data center.  But be warned, MEP engineers have lots of questions.  They like to ask about equipment thermal dissipation rates (BTU/hr) and power needs (kVA).  Again, do your homework, and get up to speed in this area.  Although your instinct will be to grab a cup of coffee and avoid the urge to fall asleep, don't – this is really important stuff.

Final control in the IT subcontractor selection process is imperative.  This may include vendors for cabling infrastructure or audio visual design.  And the relationship with these subcontractors does not end the day of the move.  In fact, you will most likely find yourself working with them long after the general contractor has left the job site.

Throughout the construction phase, regular site visits are a good way to catch and correct mistakes as the project moves forward.  Sometimes things don't work out the way they were planned, and being on-site during construction gives you the power to make judgment calls in the field.

Relationships Are Key
At least four months before the move, it's time to start building up (or rebuilding) your vendor relationships.  These relationships (especially telecommunications vendors) can make or break the relocation process.  Those voice and data circuits have to move, and we know your move will take place after business hours over a weekend.  Have you ever tried to get in touch with the phone company on a Sunday?  Remember the move "window" is usually narrow, and anything you can do ahead of time to expedite the process is in your favor.  That includes developing a contact and escalation list that has the cell and home numbers of your vendors.

Depending on the size of your firm, a move coordinator may have been hired.  But did you know you that there are also IT move coordinators?  There is a lot to think about – not just the servers, switches and routers (oh my), but the cables, surge protectors and mice.  Many major server vendors have business services units that can help precertify and relocate your server racks for you.  When in doubt, call on an expert.

Talk It Up!
As the move gets closer, it is important to manage your firm's expectations.  Let everyone know what to expect regarding systems availability throughout the move.  It is not uncommon to be asked to perform some Herculean task in the midst of the move (and especially about an hour before the systems are coming down).  Your best defense is proper (and frequent) communication in advance.  Send them e-mail; send them voice mail; leave paper memos in their chairs – whatever it takes to get your message across.  Do it early; do it often!

Little Things Mean a Lot
Small details are just as critical as the big ones.  Line up your vendors, and be sure you have developed a schedule.  Walkie-talkies are essential during the move so that IT staff, facilities managers and move coordinators can all communicate easily.  And don't forget to plan for adequate IT staffing (during and after the move).  It is not uncommon for moves to take place on holiday weekends to take advantage of that extra day.  If you don't give your staff adequate notice, you may find it hard to get the help you need.

On the first work day in the new space, expect to have some issues.  A move never goes perfectly no matter how much planning is done.  Be sure your helpdesk is fully staffed.  Posting a flip chart on each floor to serve as master "issues lists" is a good technique for both IT and facilities problems (chipped keyboard to chipped furniture).  It can take some of the strain off the helpdesk for the less critical issues.

Is IT Facilities Management?
During a project as large as a move, yes, IT is an integral part of the facilities management team.  Insinuating yourself in as many aspects of the project can only do one thing - benefit everyone.

About our author . . .

John Barney is the Information Technology Manager for Thompson & Knight LLP.  He has worked in the legal technology industry for ten years, where he has focused on network design, implementation and management.  John can be reached at john.barney@tklaw.com.