Planning to move to a new office location in the New Year?  Moving your office can be a complex undertaking especially if you are new to office relocation procedures.  The 6 key factors below that determine the cost of office moving are very similar the household move estimate process you may have been through.

At Clancy, our move consultants are experienced with helping customers of all sizes and with a wide variety of needs.   Let us help you with more than just the heavy-lifting.  We are happy to help you plan your office move starting with getting a better understanding of what goes into estimating the cost of office moving.

Know these 6 practical office moving cost factors:

1. Types of office spaces being moved.

To prepare the most accurate office moving estimate, your Clancy representative will conduct a free visual inspection and consultation at your office.   Modular workstations (commonly referred to as cubicles) are much different than open-plan office spaces which is why estimating based on square footage is not enough.

Does your office have a kitchen?  A storage closet?  A server room?  What type of furniture do you have?  Clancy Installers are certified in many lines of commercial furniture and can provide disassembly and reassembly if reconfigurations or office restacking is part of your project.  Clancy techs can assist with disconnecting and reconnecting as well as server relocating computers, VoIP telephone systems as well as servers.  There are many types of office/commercial space that factor into the cost of moving; not all moving companies have the variety of resources and staff that Clancy does.

Clancy offers an efficient, convenient, cost-effective experience saving clients both time and money while delivering Quality and Safety.

2. Size and weight of furniture.

It is highly recommended you instruct staff to NOT try to move heavy items themselves.  Clancy’s movers are trained for Quality and Safety when moving items. Don’t risk workplace injury occurrences that can be avoided.

If your office has oversize furnishings, equipment, sculptures or valuable artwork special care may be required to move them safely.  If needed, Clancy craftsmen are ready to build a custom crate and our Professional Rigging Team can manage even the most challenging projects.

3. Amount of artwork to be removed and re-installed.

Let your staff know ahead of time to bring home any personal artwork hanging on their walls or in their cubicles and to only bring it back after the project is complete. To reduce liability, plan on our professional movers to pack and relocate all company artwork.

4. Plastic reusable Crate rentals and/or boxes.

It’s a good idea in the months and weeks leading up to your move that your team does a “purge campaign” to remove excess.  Purge all the things!  Remove any obsolete, duplicate or non-essential materials from your office.  By enlisting your staff and colleagues help, you can effectively reduce the costs of materials associated with moving your office.

Each employee should be responsible for packing and unpacking their own work area and personal effects.  Personal belongings and artwork should be removed prior to moving day and only brought back once the relocation is complete.

5. Distance being moved.

Relocating your office to a new floor requires labor and packing supplies.  Clancy also provides floor, wall and door/entryway protection which is required by many property managers.  It’s important to ask your building manager what the rules for moving are.   Even moving to a new floor may require professional movers with a certificate of insurance.  Be sure to also ask about elevators and if reserving a service elevator is required.  The tenant must handle arrangements with the building, generally, outside vendors are not permitted to do so.  The majority of building management companies insist that tenants make move in/out arrangements and won’t take instruction from outside vendors.

Moving your office longer distances involves trucking.  Trucks require fuel and a driver at minimum.  Only so many crew members can legally fit into a truck.  Be prepared to see some transportation expenses relative to the distance your office needs to travel.

6. Time frame you choose for moving day.

The summer months are the busiest time of year for moving.  Most businesses choose to move on weekends and/or are required by the property manager to move after office hours.  A move during business hours may cost less than after hours.  To save money on your office move, try to plan a move during the off-season late September through April.  Steer clear of holidays too (overtime).

Now that you’ve reviewed this short list of what goes into determining the cost, we invite you to contact us today to get your office moving quote.  Our team has decades of experience for you to leverage.  We look forward to hearing from you!

In our last post we talked about some of the dynamics that go into orchestrating a harmonious data center migration. When it comes to protecting the backbone of your business operations during a move, there is more than just equipment at stake. There is also the data that resides on your servers and hard drives. That data is exponentially more valuable than the hardware that houses it, especially if it contains sensitive information like patients’ medical information, customers’ financial information or companies’ trade secrets.

Every company, however large or small, has some data that they want to protect from competitors, prying eyes or malicious theft. And in this day and age when data security – or lack of it – makes headlines nearly every day, protecting that data has become a challenge that has business owners on guard.

Not only do outside parties and seasoned criminals pose a threat, but even a disgruntled employee may choose a data center move as an ideal time to vent their frustrations or take retribution into their own hands.

You may also be subject to outside influences like HIPAA compliance that requires specific security measures to be taken with sensitive and confidential data.

Whatever your circumstances, implementing an effective chain of custody strategy during a server relocation is central to protecting your data, maintaining the trustworthiness of your business and ensuring that you fall within any legal guidelines that govern your industry.

What Is Chain Of Custody?

Put simply, it is the careful process of transporting items that contain data from one point to another so that they are visibly accounted for at all times and supported with documentation to track their movement.

An effective chain of custody follows a specific and rigorous process that remains unbroken throughout the move. It can also be verified at any point during transport to ensure its integrity.

An Effective Process

An effective chain of custody begins by documenting exactly what is being moved. The items are then packaged, put into containers and sealed so they are tamper proof.

The containers are loaded onto the truck where the doors are closed with a padlock. A tamper evident security seal with a serial number is placed on the door and a business representative signs off on the process, acknowledging that the equipment that houses data has been handled securely.

It is important to note that the servers or other vital equipment do not leave the sight of the movers except for the period when they are secured in the truck. Nor does the truck itself ever leave the sight of at least one of the movers.

At the destination point, the truck is unsealed in front of a customer representative who acknowledges that the serial number is accurate. At no point from origin to destination should the cargo seal broken. If it needs to be broken because of truck breakdown or an inspection at a DOT roadside checkpoint, the mover needs to know the procedure for how to handle this. Otherwise, it would be difficult to maintain protection from a security breach.

Professional movers will not vary from their chain of custody discipline, ensuring that your most valuable assets follow a rigorous security protocol.

How A Chain Of Custody Discipline Will Affect Your Move

The security protocols required to transport sensitive data take time to implement, which means the move itself requires more time to execute. This is important to take into account as you plan for the interim period between shutting equipment down and rebooting at the other end.

It also requires at least one extra person on the job so that the moving company can have eyes on your shipment at all times. That in turn may incur additional labor costs, but when it comes to safeguarding your data, there is no price tag that you can put on security.

With careful and expert orchestration, the entire process can be smooth and seamless.

Security Failure Points

Unfortunately, the same businesses that want to protect their data may also be cost-conscious and let that affect decisions in ways that have serious consequences. Failing to implement a chain of custody discipline because of price pressure is the first and most easily avoided point of failure. The cost of an extra hour or an extra mover is a small cost to pay for assurances of a secure move.

The second most avoidable – and common – mistake is hiring cheap labor. When price concerns trump security concerns, risk is exponentially magnified. Entrusting your data to someone who is not experienced or well versed in security protocols is an unnecessary and avoidable risk.

Worse, you may not even notice a breach immediately. You may think you’ve successfully avoided disaster only to learn months or years later that data has been stolen without understanding why.

Finally, if you’re moving data that resides on office servers or workstations, be mindful of your office environment during the move. Remember that disgruntled employee? He doesn’t have to work too hard to steal or even destroy data if your server room is busily trafficked and unmonitored.

Be mindful even of staff who may have security clearance to be in a server room, such as IT personnel. In the chaos of a move, it is too easy to steal or damage data and let someone else take the blame.

An experienced moving company may warn against allowing access to your equipment during a move so heed their advice. You may be inclined to trust your staff or feel defensive if they’re threatened, but an ounce of prevention during a move can save you tons of troubles later.

The lesson: take security seriously and work with a moving company that does, too.

A Final Word Of Caution

We’ve been talking about data center migrations but chain of custody applies to recycling your IT assets as well. No security protocol will protect data that’s been left on a hard drive and dumped on a street corner for trash pickup or into a dumpster when you upgrade to the latest technology.

Take security seriously by destroying old hard drives and obtaining the proper certification for their disposal. Even if you think you’ve wiped them clean, you’d be surprised by what an enterprising criminal may be able to recover.

If you’re moving to a new office space or migrating your data center and want to ensure that your data is protected through a rigorous chain of custody discipline, contact us and let us know. We’ll answer your questions, explain our process and show you how trouble-free your move can be.

Planning to move to a new office location in the New Year?  Moving your office can be a complex undertaking especially if you are new to office relocation procedures.  The 6 key factors below that determine the cost of office moving are very similar the household move estimate process you may have been through.

At Clancy, our move consultants are experienced with helping customers of all sizes and with a wide variety of needs.   Let us help you with more than just the heavy-lifting.  We are happy to help you plan your office move starting with getting a better understanding of what goes into estimating the cost of office moving.

Know these 6 practical office moving cost factors that go into estimating the cost of office moving:

1. Types of office spaces being moved.

To prepare the most accurate office moving estimate, your Clancy representative will conduct a free visual inspection and consultation at your office.  Modular workstations (commonly referred to as cubicles) are much different than open-plan office spaces which is why estimating based on square footage is not enough.

Does your office have a kitchen?  A storage closet?  A server room?  What type of furniture do you have?  Clancy Installers are certified in many lines of commercial furniture and can provide disassembly and reassembly if reconfigurations or office restacking is part of your project.  Clancy techs can assist with disconnecting and reconnecting as well as server relocating computers, VoIP telephone systems as well as servers.  There are many types of office/commercial space that factor into the cost of moving; not all moving companies have the variety of resources and staff that Clancy does.

Clancy offers an efficient, convenient, cost-effective experience saving clients both time and money while delivering Quality and Safety.

2. Size and weight of furniture.

It is highly recommended you instruct staff to NOT try to move heavy items themselves.  Clancy’s movers are trained for Quality and Safety when moving items. Don’t risk workplace injury occurrences that can be avoided.

If your office has oversize furnishings, equipment, sculptures or valuable artwork special care may be required to move them safely.  If needed, Clancy craftsmen are ready to build a custom crate and our Professional Rigging Team can manage even the most challenging projects.

3. Amount of artwork to be removed and re-installed.

Let your staff know ahead of time to bring home any personal artwork hanging on their walls or in their cubicles and to only bring it back after the project is complete. To reduce liability, plan on our professional movers to pack and relocate all company artwork.

4. Plastic reusable Crate rentals and/or boxes.

It’s a good idea in the months and weeks leading up to your move that your team does a “purge campaign” to remove excess.  Purge all the things!  Remove any obsolete, duplicate or non-essential materials from your office.  By enlisting your staff and colleagues help, you can effectively reduce the costs of materials associated with moving your office.

Each employee should be responsible for packing and unpacking their own work area and personal effects.  Personal belongings and artwork should be removed prior to moving day and only brought back once the relocation is complete.

5. Distance being moved.

Relocating your office to a new floor requires labor and packing supplies.  Clancy also provides floor, wall and door/entryway protection which is required by many property managers.  It’s important to ask your building manager what the rules for moving are.   Even moving to a new floor may require professional movers with a certificate of insurance.  Be sure to also ask about elevators and if reserving a service elevator is required.  The tenant must handle arrangements with the building, generally, outside vendors are not permitted to do so.  The majority of building management companies insist that tenants make move in/out arrangements and won’t take instruction from outside vendors.

Moving your office longer distances involves trucking.  Trucks require fuel and a driver at minimum.  Only so many crew members can legally fit into a truck.  Be prepared to see some transportation expenses relative to the distance your office needs to travel.

6. Timeframe chosen for moving day.

The summer months are the busiest time of year for moving.  Most businesses choose to move on weekends and/or are required by the property manager to move after office hours.  A move during business hours may cost less than after hours.  To save money on your office move, try to plan a move during the off-season late September through April.  Steer clear of holidays too (overtime).

Now that you’ve reviewed this short list of what goes into determining the cost, we invite you to contact us today to get your office moving quote.  Our team has decades of experience for you to leverage.  We look forward to hearing from you!

If you are planning to relocate your company or are an office manager tasked with leading the project, Clancy Relocation & Logistics’ long time professional office moving consultant Ron Cognetta has shared some office moving tips with me to help everyone planning an office move.

Tip # 1.  Some of the most important considerations should be made BEFORE you create a move plan!

Start by making a list of all the pros and cons so you and your staff clearly understand the underlying need for the move and what it should accomplish. Special consideration should be given to the following:

• When is the “best time” to move? Are there seasonal business fluctuations or other considerations that could affect this decision? How will this relocation impact the employees if we moved at a different time of year?  Does the facility you are in allow for moves during office hours or after hours only?
• What effect will relocating the office have on overall productivity? While this question ties to the above, many office moving project leaders may find that careful planning can allow for a move any time of year.  Some business systems are hosted online and remain 100% available during the move, other systems will go offline and then IT will have to bring them “back up” after the move.
• How much will the move cost? Get your numbers together on how many staff are moving and what equipment is being moved with them.  What percentage are you and your staff going to do yourselves?  While most personal items (like framed pictures) are moved by the employee themselves, many companies choose to have PC, Server and other networking equipment moved with the boxes of papers, filing cabinets and furniture. Figure out what your team can move on their own (within reason!) and submit a request for quotation. Clancy’s Office Moving staff are experienced with all moves of all sizes and scope and are well prepared to do all the work including delicate PC/Server moves.

These questions need to be addressed during the earliest planning phases.  Once you start a plan, it is harder to redesign the plan to include these important considerations.  That is why upfront planning is one of our most important office moving tips.

Tip # 2. At least 3 months before your move, select a “Move Team” rather than leaving the whole project to one person.

Select a “move team” at least three months before the actual relocation.  For  larger organizations, you may want to select people to manage specific areas such as office furniture and equipment, electronics and communication technology, plants, employee household relocation (if needed), and budget.  Often several of these responsibilities are given to one person, but make sure each of these areas is assigned to someone or something may get left behind for last minute (which may increase the cost).  Your delegated Move Team should be on hand the day of the move.

Tip # 3. For a budget-friendly move, allow enough time to weigh your options.

Managing the move budget is a critical activity.  It is a good idea to make department managers responsible for their individual budgets and ultimately passing departmental budgets to the decision makers. However you organize your move team, whether it consists of one person or 200, the issues and decisions are similar.

Moving can be “expensive” depending on the scale, and unforeseen expenses tend to be the rule, rather than the exception.  After all, your company may not be the type that relocates every day!  At the same time, there are ways you can be sure save your company money.  Allow enough time to weigh your options, and don’t forget one last very important office moving tip…moving expenses are tax deductible.

About the author, Ron Cognetta:

Ron Cognetta is a long-time professional in the moving and storage industry and has been a key member of Clancy Relocation & Logistics’s Office Moving team since 2000.  Ron resides in Fairfield County and works out of Clancy’s Stamford, CT office.

Ron is a member of several major commercial relocation affiliations including CRN, IFMA and BOMA which allows him to provide Clancy customers with the highest quality office moving experiences and resources.

To speak with Ron about an upcoming move you are planning, please contact us for a quote.