“Technology Moving Checklist - USA Voice and Data€¦ · •This Technology Moving Checklist...

© 2008 USA Voice & Data.All Rights Reserved.

Your Trusted Telecom Advisor

USA Voice & Data’s Technology Moving Checklist will help you prepare & manage your entire Technology Relocation safely, efficiently and without disruption to your business.

© USA Voice & Data.All Rights Reserved.

If you have questions about your moving your telecom and IT infrastructure

call USA Voice & Data LLC at 312-604-3070

or email us at [email protected]

“Technology Moving Checklist”

http://usavoicedata.com/

Contents

1. Why a solid game plan for managing your technology move is essential

2. Review whether your current infrastructure is meeting your current and projected

future needs.

3. Top Four Considerations before you get started planning your IT move

4. Top Six Assumptions NEVER to make while planning your IT move

5. A game plan built for success – Technology Moving Checklist

6. Know the provisioning steps and typical provisioning timeline for your new

telecom and internet services

7. Have all your contacts lined up for installing your new operations infrastructure

8. About USA Voice & Data



1. Why a solid game plan for managing your technology move is

essential

• Quite simply, these days, technology and IT are the lifeblood of any business.

• 80% of businesses which loose their data and their ability to communicate with their clients and vendors for any significant period of time are out of business within 18 months.

• If your phones and internet aren’t working your business is in serious jeopardy.

• Getting your office move wrong will have dire operational and financial consequences for your business so you’ve got to have a game plan and a solid playbook to minimize your risk of downtime.

• This Technology Moving Checklist will help you plan for and execute a successful low cost move.

2. Review whether your current infrastructure is meeting your current

and projected future needs.

• If your current infrastructure is falls short of your projected needs in any way then it is time to review more modern solutions for your telecom and IT needs.

• When you fully understand your desired future solution requirements then it’s time to review different solution options, weigh up pros and cons and select a solution which best fits your projected needs. A good 3rd party independent solution advisor will greatly speed up this process and can provide an objective opinion and first hand experience with the different solutions you might be considering.

• Collect competitive quotes from leading providers of your selected solution(s). This can take some time, unless you use a quality telecom broker who will have tools to automate the collection of competitive bids from multiple providers. If you need assistance with this heavy lifting then please contact USA Voice & Data at [email protected] or by calling us at 312-604-3070, this is our forte.

• Once you have collected competing bids it is time to evaluate each bid and provider’s capabilities to deliver their solution against your leadership team’s business priorities.


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3. Top Four Considerations before you begin planning your

IT move

• Why incur costs of moving outdated infrastructure?You could be taking advantage of this opportunity to upgrade your infrastructure and business

productivity with more modern, scalable, robust and feature-rich solutions.

• Despite your very best efforts to handle your equipment gently through the move there is a serious risk with IT and phone equipment that it might not restart and work as it should at the end of a move. How many days would replacement equipment (if available) take to get delivered, installed and configured? What would that down time cost your business?

• Implementing new infrastructure at your new location, allows you to test everything is working in advance.Test everything prior to terminating operations at your old location, eliminating risk and downtime.

• We find the risk of moving outdated infrastructure typically outweighs the cost of implementing new infrastructure many times over.Oftentimes the savings we generate for our clients brokering more competitive telecom, internet and cloud services more than pays for any necessary new premise-based equipment.


1. 30 days is enough time to get your telecom and internet services installed at your new location.

Business services can take 90 days or sometimes even longer depending on what construction might be

necessary to deliver the local loop for your selected services.

2. Installed cabling goes where you expect and is functional.

Test the cabling and jacks before access is restricted behind office furniture

3. 3rd Parties will execute their portions of your move plan as you expect.

Having a well documented plan, identifying and communicating responsibilities and timing expectations is

essential for avoiding the unexpected.


4. Your old equipment will boot up with configurations and data intact.Every time you power down equipment there is a risk that it might not power back up again. Back up your

configurations and data somewhere safe.

5. You’ll be able to look up contacts, account numbers, passwords & escalation contacts during a move if

unexpected situations arise.Create a physical moving binder which has paper copies of any and all critical information which you might need to

access during the move. Don’t assume electronic records will be accessible.

6. Furniture & carpeting decisions won’t affect the business technology relocation.Identifying the accurate position of furnishings will help you ensure your power sockets, phone and LAN jacks are

properly located, so make sure to have an accurate floor plan drawn up by your architect or interior designer.

4. Top Six Assumptions NEVER to make while planning your IT move

A successful office move is 90% in the planning and 10% in the execution.

The devil lies in the details and this moving checklist will help you to avoid

last minute “gotcha’s” that will play havoc should you overlook them. Your

playbook is divided into managing five activities and below we summarize

these activities and some recommended timeframes for these activities:

a) Scouting the opponent, preparing for change - 180+ days before you move

1. Confirm Business Priorities

2. Relocation Planning

3. Technology Equipment Review

4. Telecom and IT requirements review

5. Site Visit checklist

b) Developing your game plan - 90+ days before you move

1. Telecom and IT ordering/provisioning

2. Business Continuity checklist



c) Pre – game walk though – 3 to 5 days before you move

1. Final walk through

d) It’s Game Day, lets move people! - Moving Day

1. On site testing

e) Post Game Review - 3-5 days after your move

1. Carrier services cancellation

2. Celebrate and relax, you done good!



I. Confirm Business Priorities. Every business has their own priorities and you need to make sure your leadership team clearly communicates their priorities. Make your leadership prioritizes the following so you understand your marching orders:

Timeframe – Completing the move by a certain date

A Smooth Move – No surprises

Minimizing The Risk To The Business

Minimizing Downtime During The Move & The Associated Costs To The Business

Minimizing One-Time Moving & Capital Costs

Reducing Ongoing Operational Costs

Minimizing Change

Upgrading & Improving The Resilience Of Operations Infrastructure

Improving Ongoing Productivity

Enabling Mobility

Migrating to Cloud Based Services


a) Scouting the opposition, preparing for change


II. Relocation Planning. Determining the best new location for your business includes evaluation of not only the physical space but also the potential telecom services that may or may not be available to your company. Make sure you’re covered.

Select and hire an experienced Telecom advisor or broker to help evaluate available services at your new location.

Check to see what internet speeds are available at your new location well in advance as it might even influence your choice of new office locations if high speed services are not available or very expensive.

Check to make sure your phone numbers will be able to be ported to the new location. If you have analog POTs services you may need to switch to more modern PRI or SIP services to avoid paying expensive call forwarding fees if you are moving to another switch center.

If you are terminating service agreements with telecom carriers, ensure you give plenty of notice as some insist on extended notice periods, most demand 30 days notice but some demand as much as 12 months.




III. Technology Equipment Review. It’s time to take inventory of your technology and determine if it’s adequate for your needs and suitable for your new environment.

Inventory all of your business technology to assess whether it’s adequate for your need and suitable for the new environment.

Determine what equipment is and isn’t required in the new office.

List any technology equipment that need upgrade.

Determine what kind of growth you expect in the next 3-5 years. This will determine whether you need to consider a new business phone system for your new office

Consider what phone system is best for the new office. You will want to look at options such as Cloud-based VoIP services and premise-based VoIP systems. Discuss these options with your telecom advisor and broker.

Assess your future voice and data networks and identify what can be moved and what should be replaced and what if any extra network cabling is required.

Evaluate your new server room requirements. Determine what will be needed to accommodate hardware.

If appropriate, evaluate the benefits of server consolidation.




IV. Telecom and IT Requirements Review. Best practice says that companies should use an office move as an opportunity to review all of their IT and telecom vendors and service agreements.

Select and hire a Telecom advisor or broker to help evaluate your new requirements and available services.

Check to see what internet speeds are available at your new location well in advance as it might even influence your choice of new office locations if high speed services are not available or very expensive.

Check to make sure your phone numbers will be able to be ported to the new location. Otherwise you may need to obtain all new phone numbers or pay high call forwarding fees.

Inventory all telecom service agreements, who the service provider is and what you are paying for each.

If you are terminating service agreements with telecom carriers, ensure you give plenty of notice as some insist on 12 month notice period.

Review configuration plan of new office with your telecom advisor.




V. Site Visit Checklist. Try to plan and implement the network design and cabling well in advance. It will greatly minimize disruption and avoid any delays prior to your move.

Arrange for a site visit of the new location with your IT and telecom advisor to review network cabling.

Confirm your minimum requirements for the server room are met. (electrical, cooling, dimensions & security).

Confirm whether the new office supports structured cabling.

Check to see if the building requires union technicians for any in building cabling or service extensions.

Confirm where you will need power outlets, telephone and internet jacks.

Decide on the best location for printers, faxes and scanners and confirm analog jacks are available.




b) Creating your Playbook

I. Telecom Services Ordering and Provisioning. New telecom service offerings are constantly becoming available so make sure to check with your advisor to obtain the latest and most affordable service options for your new location.

If your moving your current services to the new location, contact your providers to confirm move date and complete Move/Adds/Changes (MACD) paperwork

Order any additional computers or phones that may be needed.

If you are ordering new services, review your new telecom requirements with your telecom services broker addressing any changes or updates.

Review voice & data quotes for your new telephone and internet circuits.

Confirm all phone numbers to be kept and those no longer needed.

Confirm new IP addresses with IT to facilitate DNS and email service continuity.

Submit orders for the new services to appropriate carriers.

Identify your anticipated move date and request services to be delivered 14 days ahead of that date.

Confirm your move installation and move dates with your IT and phone system vendor to make sure they are available.

Confirm you’re the services you’ve ordered and target installation dates with your inside wiring/cabling contractor.



2. Business Continuity Checklist. Your business continuity plan represents careful planning and established procedures for how to continue serving customers during a resource outage.

Make several backup copies of all company data systems including firewalls and servers.

If possible, arrange for copies of the backup data to be stored at an off site secure data center where it will not be affected by the move.

Create and inventory of all software and hardware, servers, storage and networking equipment.

Where applicable set up temporary resources such as remote offices, cloud servers, and virtual phone systems in case you encounter unexpected problems.

Perform a test to confirm that information and data have been successfully set up to allow for full recovery.

Email important contacts and clients informing them of your move date and potential for service interruption.


b) Creating your Playbook


c) Pre-Game Warm-up

I. Final Walkthrough. Your new space should now be ready for you to move in. Make sure you have a detailed contact list of everyone involved in your move at your fingertips in case something requires your last minute attention. This includes, property manager, cabling contractor, furniture installer, IT resource, telephone system resource.

Double check with your service providers on the installation dates and turn-up dates for internet and voice

Make sure your IT & telecom service installers are going to be with you on day 1 to assist with any questions.

Ensure all wiring and data cables are labelled correctly and to which piece of equipment it belongs.

Confirm all new incoming carrier services have been extended to your server room. Each should be clearly identified with carrier tag.

Ensure all technology equipment and phones are in the right place or on-site and accounted for.

Confirm building engineer is aware of your move date and service elevators or docks are reserved if required.



d) It’s Game Day, Let’s Move People!

I. On Site Testing. If you’re able to install a new phone system you can turn up the new service prior to the move date with new phone numbers. This will limit the impact on actual day of the move.

If your moving an existing phone system, set up call forwarding to a answering service or cell phone while move takes place.

Transport copies of your data backups to the new location separate from the main system and each other.

Check all features of the phone system, auto attendant, hold, transfer, voice mail, and call forward.

Check all individual phone numbers and their locations including each fax, DID and any other working numbers you may have.

Start all servers and test network capability ad whether all data has been successfully migrated.

Perform internet speed test to ensure bandwidth supplied is what was ordered.

Check your website, intranet and extranet connectivity

Check email to make sure it’s operable.



e) Post Game Wrap Up

I. Feedback and Final Steps. Be sure to ask for feedback from your team regarding the new communications infrastructure and if anything needs to be changed or adjusted. This is the time to get it just right before your vendors move onto to other projects.

Contact all your old service provider to request the final bill and cancel remaining services.

Make a file with all carrier, IT and telecom contact info.

Make a file of all new or existing service agreements, note renewal schedule to set reminders to follow up in due time.


II. Celebrate a successful move. Internally and externally celebrate

Christen your new space with a bottle of champagne and take a couple days off to regain your sanity!

Make sure you communicate your new location to your clients and vendors

Update your address on your website and marketing collateral.



Some services may take 3 months or longer to

provision due to construction requirements.

Typical T1-Based Product Provisioning Timeline (other products vary)

Test & Turn-UpDate

(IT &Phone Vendors test

service & equip with carrier)

Number Port

Date (#s ported to

new serviceand tested by Phone Vendor)

Disconnect Old Services (After new

services have proven stable)

FOC Date

(Circuit is delivered to the building)

Demarc ExtDate

(Riser Mgmt Co extends to

your suite)

Equipment Install & Prep

(Vendors Prep Equipment)

2 Days After

FOC Date

2 Days After

Demarc Ext Dt

2 Days After

T&T Date

20-40 Days

After Ordered

Expedites 10 -20

Days After Ordered

6. Know the provisioning steps and typical provisioning timeline

for your new telecom and internet services


PROVISIONING CONTACTS

Demarc Location Building Mgmt Co

Extended Demarc Location Building Mgmt Co Contact

Approx Demarc Ext Length

(feet)Building Mgmt Co #

Demarc Ext Responsibility Building Mgmt email

Closed Building

Riser Mgmt Co Onsite Contact Co

Riser Mgmt Co Contact Onsight Contact

Riser Mgmt Co # Onsite Contact #

Riser Mgmt email Onsight Contact email

Phone Vendor Co IT Vendor Co

Phone Vendor Contact IT Vendor Contact

Phone Vendor # IT Vendor #

Phone Vendor email IT Vendor email

Carrier

Carrier Provisioning Contact

Carrier Provisioning #

Carrier Provisioning email

7. Have all your contacts lines up for installing your new

operations infrastructure


We are a leading telecom advisory and service brokering (procurement) specialist. (We buy we don’t sell) We help companies boost their bottom line through effectively managing their telecom spend and improving their productivity.

ILECsAT&TCenturyLinkVerizon

CLECs & ResellersXO, Level 3, Windstream, MegaPath, Earthlink, TW Telecom, CBeyond, Access One, FirstComm, ACC Business, Airespring, Bullseye, Dynalink, Excel, Integra, Lightyear, Mosaic Networks, NetWolves, PowerNet Global, Telepacific, Access2Go, etc.

ISPsCogentGTTInternapMasergyPCCWReliance GlobalcomUS SignalZayo Group, etc.

Hosted VoIP Specialists8x8BroadsmartBroadvoxPanterra NetworksReallinxShoretelSkyVocal IP NetworxWest IP, etc.

WirelessAT&TSprintT-mobile Verizon

TEM SolutionsiTEMizeAdvantixCMS etc..

BC/DR/Data Center/CloudTelecom Recovery, Equinix, Server Central, Latisys, 360CS, Sunguard, Telx, NewCloud, etc.

ConferencingConference GroupIntercallPremier GlobalWebex, etc.

We hold independent agent status with an exhaustive list of all the major voice, data, conferencing, wireless & other telecom service providers including:


Our leading online brokering capabilities help businesses realize huge savings (typically 20% to 40%) in their telecom spend and free up operational budgets to handle other critical projects.

CableComcastCharter BusinessTime Warner Cable

USA Voice & Data’s Advisory & Brokering process and leading web-based brokering capability

allows us to proactively manage each clients’ telecom service needs End-To-End

Requirement Definition

RFP Management

Quote Management and Executive

Reporting

Service and Equipment Selection

Order Management

ProvisioningContract

Management

•Internet Connectivity (DSL/T1/Ethernet/DS3 etc)

•Data Network Services (MPLS/PTP)

•Voice Network Services (Local/LD/VoIP/Conferencing/Cellular)

•Data Center/Colo/Cloud Services



Most Customers Come To USA Voice & Data? When They:

• Are MOVING OR ESTABLISHING A NEW OFFICE or FACILITY

• Are RENEGOTIATING EXPIRING CONTRACTS

• Need MORE BANDWIDTH or a NEW PHONE SYSTEM

• Have no BUSINESS CONTINUITY or EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION SOLUTION

• Want to NETWORK THEIR OFFICES or FACILITIES

• Have EXPERIENCED RECURRING OUTAGES

• Are concerned with RISING TRAVEL, TELECOM & INTERNET SPENDING

• Are MOVING to a DATA CENTER or the CLOUD

If You Are Facing These Issues We Would Be Delighted To Talk With YouContact USA Voice & Data for a free consultation

[email protected] or 312-604-3070

www.usavoicedata.com



mailto:[email protected]

http://www.usavoicedata.com/

“Technology Moving Checklist - USA Voice and Data€¦ · •This Technology Moving Checklist...

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