Key takeaways
- The IT side of an office move is handled by an IT company, not the movers, and it needs to start about eight weeks before the truck arrives.
- Internet service is the item with the longest lead time, so order it the week you sign the lease.
- Cabling and the IT room must be finished before move weekend, otherwise nothing can be plugged in.
- A fresh, tested backup of every server and computer is the only real insurance against a dropped box.
- One company planning, disconnecting and reconnecting your equipment, with the owner as your contact, means nothing gets lost between vendors.
Who handles IT for an office move in Dallas?
An IT company handles the IT side of an office move. The movers carry boxes and furniture; they do not order your internet, run your network cable, disconnect your server, or set your computers back up on Monday. For a small or mid-sized Dallas office, that work is done by a company like mine. I am Anthony Omini, the owner of Cross River Tech, a small IT company in Dallas, and I plan and run office moves and new-office IT setups across the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex.
This article is the checklist I work from. It is organized by timeline because that is how the mistakes happen: not because anyone forgot a task, but because they remembered it too late. Internet ordered three weeks before the move is a problem. Cabling scheduled for the week after the move is a bigger one.
You can use this list yourself if you have someone technical in the office. If you do not, this is exactly the work you can hand me. I do the planning, the disconnect, the reconnect and the first-Monday fixes, and you get one phone number for all of it. Either way, read it now rather than the week before the move.
Eight weeks out: decide, measure and order
Eight weeks before the move is when the decisions that cannot be rushed get made. If you are reading this with less time than that, do these first and compress everything else.
- Order internet at the new address. Every internet service provider (the ISP, the company that brings the connection into the building) has an install lead time, and for a new commercial address it can run to several weeks. Ask what service already reaches the suite. If a fiber build-out is needed, ask for the date in writing.
- Walk the new space with a floor plan. Mark every desk, printer, TV, conference room and reception counter. Each one needs a network drop, and the count of drops sets the cabling job.
- Pick the IT room. A lockable closet with a dedicated power circuit and some airflow. Not the kitchen, not under a sink.
- Book the cabling. If the space is a fresh build-out, cable goes in while walls are open. If it is a finished suite, check what the previous tenant left and whether it is usable.
- Inventory what you own. Computers, monitors, phones, printers, switches, firewall, access points, server or NAS. Note what is old enough that moving it is a waste of a truck slot.
- Decide what changes. A move is the cheapest moment to replace a failing server, drop the phone system for a cloud one, or move files to Microsoft 365. Decide now, not on move weekend.
If you want a second set of eyes on this stage, that is exactly what the planning part of my relocation service is for. Send me the floor plan and the lease start date and I will tell you what is tight.
Four weeks out: cabling, equipment and a labeled plan
By four weeks out, the orders are placed and the work turns physical. This is the stage where a small office often discovers the new suite has three network jacks for twelve desks.
- Cabling in progress or done. Cat6 from the IT room to every drop, terminated on a patch panel, tested and labeled. I cover the details in data cabling and IT room setup. If a low-voltage contractor is doing it, get their test results and labeling scheme.
- Rack, patch panel, switch, firewall, access points ordered. Reuse what is sound. Replace what is out of support. Buy the switch with enough ports for every drop plus growth.
- Confirm the ISP install date. Call and ask again. Dates slip, and you want to know now.
- Phones. If the phone system stays with you, it needs its own plan. If numbers are moving to a new carrier, porting takes time and a signed form.
- Write the seating chart with drop numbers. Desk 7 goes to drop 7. Every computer, monitor and phone gets a label that matches. This one sheet of paper is what makes the reconnect fast.
- Tell staff what to expect. When to shut down, what to take home, what not to pack themselves.
Do not let the movers pack computers unsupervised. Monitors and desktops travel fine in the original boxes or padded crates; a server does not travel well in a wardrobe box with the coffee mugs.
One week out: backups, testing and the written cutover plan
The last week is about making the move survivable if something breaks. Equipment does get dropped. Drives that have spun happily for five years sometimes refuse to spin up after a truck ride. The fix for both is the same: a backup you have actually tested.
- Full backup of every server, NAS and computer, stored somewhere that is not going on the truck. I verify by restoring a few files, not by reading a green tick.
- Document the network. Firewall configuration exported. Static IP addresses written down. Printer settings noted. Passwords for every device confirmed to work.
- Internet live at the new site. The ISP should have installed by now. I plug a laptop into the handoff and prove it works before move day, not on it.
- Stage the new IT room. Rack mounted, patch panel connected, switch and firewall installed and configured, Wi-Fi access points up. When the equipment arrives, it plugs into a network that already exists.
- Write the cutover plan. A one-page sequence: who shuts down what, in what order, at what time, and who turns it back on. Include the phone numbers of the ISP, the building manager and the movers.
- Update your address on Google Business Profile, email signatures, the website footer and any vendor that ships to you.
If your firm is a law office or a dental practice, add the confidentiality and HIPAA steps I cover in moving a law firm. Client files and patient data need a chain of custody on the truck, not just a box label.
Move weekend: disconnect, transport, reconnect
Most Dallas offices move on a Friday evening and Saturday so that Monday looks normal. Here is the order I follow.
- Friday afternoon, staff shut down. Save work, close programs, power off. Laptops go home with their owners.
- Friday evening, I disconnect. Servers shut down cleanly, drives noted, cables bagged and labeled per device. Firewall and switches last, so the alarm and building systems that share the network stay up until the end.
- Servers and network gear travel with me or in a padded, upright crate, never loose on a pallet. I do not hand a server to a general mover.
- Saturday morning at the new site. Core equipment goes in first: server, firewall, switch. Internet confirmed. Then workstations by drop number from the seating chart.
- Test from a user's chair, not from the rack. Log in, open the shared drive, print, make a call, join a video meeting.
- Sunday is the buffer. Fix whatever Saturday found. Walk every desk once more.
A move of ten to twenty desks with one server is usually a one-weekend job if the prep in the earlier sections was done. Larger or more complicated moves need more time, and I say so at the walkthrough. I go into the hour-by-hour version in moving office IT over a weekend.
First Monday: the checks that matter
Monday morning is when the move is judged, and I am onsite for it. Here is what I check before staff sit down and what I watch for through the morning.
| Check | Why it matters | Who fixes it |
|---|---|---|
| Everyone can log in | Domain or Microsoft 365 sign-in working from every desk | Me |
| Shared files open | Server or cloud share reachable at normal speed | Me |
| Email sending and receiving | Mail was never tied to the old office, but it is the first thing people notice | Me |
| Printers print | New IP addresses, drivers pointed at the right printer | Me |
| Phones ring | Desk phones registered, main number routing correctly | Me, with the phone carrier |
| Wi-Fi covers every room | Access points placed and tuned, guest network separate | Me |
| Line-of-business software works | Practice management, case management, accounting, anything whose license lives on a server | Me, with the vendor if a license is tied to hardware |
| Backups running again | The first backup at the new site must complete and be checked | Me |
The first week after a move always surfaces a few small things: a scanner nobody remembered, a label printer in accounting, a monitor that lost its cable. If you are on my managed IT plan, those are just part of the month. If you hired me for the move only, I stay reachable and bill the small stuff by the hour.
What goes wrong on office moves, and which step prevents it
Every problem I have seen on a move traces back to one skipped line on this list. Here are the common ones so you can check your own plan against them.
- No internet on Monday. Ordered too late, or the ISP install slipped and nobody chased it. Prevented by the eight-week order and the four-week confirmation call.
- Not enough drops. The suite had a handful of old jacks and everyone assumed they worked. Prevented by the floor-plan walk and the cabling test.
- Server will not boot. An old drive died in transit. Prevented by the tested backup, and often by the decision at eight weeks to replace it before the move rather than after.
- Nobody knows which cable goes where. Prevented by the seating chart with drop numbers and by bagging cables per device.
- Software license stops working. Some older programs tie their license to a network address or a hardware ID that changed. Prevented by listing every program with a paid license at four weeks and asking the vendor.
- Phones dead. Number porting not started, or the phone system needed a network setting nobody exported. Prevented by putting phones on the four-week list.
- Old office still billing you. Internet and phone contracts at the old address run until canceled, in writing, with notice. Prevented by putting cancellations on the same calendar as the move. I cover this in office IT decommissioning.
None of these need a big company to prevent. They need one accountable person who owns the whole list and has done it before.
Do you need a technology project manager for an office move?
You need someone to own the IT plan. Whether that person carries the title project manager depends on how big the move is.
For an office of five to fifty people with one or two servers, or none, a separate project manager is usually more overhead than help. What you need is an IT company where the person who plans the move is also the one who runs it. That is how I operate. I write the plan, I make the vendor calls, I show up on move weekend with the crate for the server, and I am the one at the desk on Monday when the printer will not print. My team handles the routine pieces behind me, and there is no hand-off between a planner and a stranger, because the planner stays your point of contact throughout.
For larger moves, with multiple floors, a data center, or several vendors that must be sequenced, a dedicated project manager earns their fee. If your move is that size, I will tell you at the walkthrough and can still handle the network, cabling and workstation side under their schedule.
A good test: if you can list every piece of equipment in your office on one page, you do not need a project manager. You need a checklist and someone accountable for it. If you cannot, start with the inventory in the eight-weeks section and see how long the page gets.
How I run a move as the owner
People sometimes ask whether a small, owner-led company is enough for an office move. For the offices I work with, it is, and it is often better. Here is why.
I know your setup before the move because I did the walkthrough. I know it after the move because I did the reconnect. There is no stranger on Monday reading someone else's notes. When something in the seating chart changes at the last minute, I already have the chart. When the ISP technician needs to know where the handoff goes, I am the person who chose the IT room.
What I do not do is pretend a weekend is enough when it is not. If your move needs two weekends, or cabling that will take a crew a week, I say so up front and schedule it. I also lean on remote work wherever it saves you money: the firewall and switch are configured from my desk before they ever reach your building, so the onsite hours are spent plugging in, not typing.
If you are planning a move anywhere in Dallas–Fort Worth, send me the floor plan and the lease date. I will tell you the same day what is on time, what is tight, and what I would change. Rates for the small hourly pieces are on the pricing page; the move itself is quoted as a project after I have seen both spaces.
Questions people ask
Who handles the IT side of an office move?
An IT company or technician handles it, not the moving company. That covers ordering internet at the new address, arranging network cabling, backing up and disconnecting servers and computers, reconnecting everything at the new office and fixing what surfaces on the first Monday. For a small Dallas office, one experienced company with the owner as your contact can plan and run the whole thing, which avoids anything slipping between vendors.
How far in advance should I start planning IT for an office move?
Start about eight weeks before the move date, and order internet the week you sign the lease. Internet installation at a new commercial address is the item with the longest lead time, and cabling needs to be finished before move weekend. With less than four weeks, a move is still possible, but the internet date drives everything and you may need a temporary connection.
What should be done before the movers arrive?
Internet should be live at the new site, cabling terminated and tested, the IT room racked and configured, and every server and computer backed up with the backup verified. Every device should be labeled with its desk and drop number from a seating chart. If all of that is done, the move weekend is just disconnect, transport, reconnect and test.
Can the movers move my server and computers?
Movers can carry desktops and monitors if they are packed properly, ideally in original boxes or padded crates. I do not recommend letting them move a server, NAS or network rack. Those should be shut down cleanly by a technician, transported upright in padding and reconnected by the same person who disconnected them. A dropped server without a tested backup is the worst outcome of any move.
Do I need a project manager for a small office move?
Usually not. For an office of roughly five to fifty people, an IT company where the person who plans the move also runs it is more effective than a separate project manager handing tasks to technicians. A dedicated project manager makes sense for multi-floor moves, data centers or moves with several vendors that must be sequenced. I will tell you which yours is at the walkthrough.
