Questions answered
The short version is above. Each heading below answers one question a buyer actually asks, with the answer in the first sentence. You can skip straight to a quote at any point.
Deeper dives
- Office move IT checklist for Dallas businessesThe IT side of an office move, laid out by timeline: what to order eight weeks out, what to label four weeks out, what to test the week before, and what to check on the first Monday.
- Moving office IT over a weekend without losing a business dayShut down Friday at five, work normally Monday at eight. Here is what has to be true before the weekend, how the two days run, and the honest cases where one weekend is not enough.
- How much does it cost to move office IT in Dallas?The honest answer is that it depends on desks, drops, servers and how much of the old office is worth moving. Here is what drives the number, with typical market ranges, and how I quote it.
- Getting internet into a new office: who coordinates it and whenInternet is the slowest item in any new office and the one nobody owns. Here is who should coordinate it, what the lead times look like, how fiber, cable and fixed wireless compare, and the order list for the week you sign.
How far in advance should you plan an office IT move?
Start six to eight weeks before the move date; business internet installation is usually the longest lead time. Fiber into a Dallas office building can take weeks to install and nobody can speed it up once the order is placed, so everything else in the plan is scheduled backward from the circuit date.
- Six to eight weeks out: internet circuit ordered. I check which providers actually serve the building, place the order, track the ticket and manage the installation appointment.
- Four to six weeks out: Cat6 drops, rack or wall cabinet, patch panel, switch, firewall and Wi-Fi access points go in while the space is still being finished.
- Two to three weeks out: inventory and labeling at the old office, the phone decision (move it or replace it), and any new computers ordered so they arrive before the move.
- Move week: the new network is configured and tested on the live circuit before anything at the old office is unplugged.
Every step has an owner and a date, and I update the plan as the construction schedule changes, because it always changes. The full list, in the order to do it, is in the office move IT checklist for Dallas businesses.
What has to be working at the new office before the computers arrive?
Three things: an internet connection, a network to carry it, and a phone system that reaches your customers. All three are built and tested at the new address while your old office keeps running.
Internet. If the primary circuit is late, I arrange a temporary connection so you are not dark on day one. What to order, and when, is covered in getting internet into a new office.
Network. Your firewall, switches and access points either move with you or get replaced if they are due. Either way, I rebuild the configuration ahead of time so shared drives, printers, VPN and Wi-Fi come up with the same names and passwords your staff already know.
Phones. Cloud desk phones need only power and a network port. An older on-premises system is often worth replacing with a cloud service at move time; I schedule the number port for the move weekend so the main line never goes unanswered. Dental and medical practices have a few extra requirements, covered in phone system and IT support for a dental clinic.
What happens on the move weekend?
Friday evening: servers are shut down cleanly after a final verified backup, then every computer, monitor, dock, phone and cable is labeled with the person's name and their desk at the new office. Network gear travels in its own labeled cases. A server rides with me, not in the moving truck; the steps for that are in server room relocation.
Saturday: the rack is reconnected first and the internet and network confirmed. Desks then go up in the order that matters most to you, usually reception and the people who see clients first. Each desk gets the same four checks: log in, open the shared drive, print a test page, make a call. Printers, scanners, conference-room screens and Wi-Fi are tested last.
Sunday evening: you get a short report of what was tested, what was replaced and anything still waiting on the landlord or the internet provider. The whole weekend, hour by hour, is described in moving office IT over a weekend.
Can you set up a new office that has no IT at all?
Yes. For a first office, a second location or a shell space with nothing in it but power, I read the construction plans, mark up where the drops and the IT room should go, and work alongside the general contractor and the electrician so the space is wired and configured before the furniture arrives.
A build-out covers Cat6 to every desk and device, the rack and patch panel, firewall and switches, access points placed for real coverage rather than convenience, the internet circuit, phones, and new computers joined to Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. In a dental or medical office the cabling also has to reach operatories, imaging equipment and the sterilization area, which I plan from the first drawing. The cabling itself is described on the data cabling page; how a second location differs from a first is in opening a second office: IT setup.
Because I also provide managed IT services, the person who wired the office is the same person who supports it afterward, so nothing has to be re-documented or explained twice.
Is a small IT company the right choice for an office relocation?
For a Dallas–Fort Worth office of five to sixty people, yes; for a hundred-desk corporate relocation with a formal project office, no. A relocation company sends a project manager, a cabling crew, a network engineer and a desktop technician, and the handoffs between them are where things get dropped. I wrote the plan, I was onsite for the cabling, the network and the reconnects, and my team worked from the same plan, so when something is wrong on Monday there is no ticket to open and no vendor to blame.
The limits are real. Cross River Tech is a small company, so I take on one move at a time and book them in advance, so the sooner you call after signing the lease, the better your choice of dates. Law firms have extra considerations around client files and confidentiality during a move; start with moving a law firm: the IT checklist.
What does an office IT move cost in Dallas, and where do you do them?
A fixed project price, in writing, after the walkthrough. The number moves with four things: how many desks, whether the new space needs cabling, whether servers are involved, and whether the phone system moves or gets replaced. What each of those adds is broken down in how much it costs to move office IT.
I do moves anywhere in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, by appointment: Downtown, Uptown, North Dallas and Oak Cliff, plus Plano, Frisco, Richardson, Addison, Irving and Las Colinas, Carrollton, Garland, Mesquite, Arlington, Grand Prairie, Grapevine, Lewisville, McKinney, Denton and Fort Worth. Moves along the Dallas North Tollway, Central Expressway and I-635 are the most common.
If you have a lease and a move date, send me the address and the date and I will walk the space, write the plan and quote it. The internet order is the one thing that cannot wait.
Questions people ask about office move & new office setup
Who handles the IT side of an office move in Dallas?
I do, personally. Cross River Tech is a small owner-led IT company in Dallas, and for an office move I plan the timeline, order the internet, run any cabling the new space needs with my team, set up the network and phones, disconnect and reconnect every workstation and test all of it before your first working day. You deal with me from the walkthrough to Monday morning.
Can you move my phone system and network to a new Dallas office?
Yes. Cloud phone systems only need power and a network port at the new office, which I make sure are there. Older on-premises phone systems can be moved, but a relocation is often the right time to replace them with a cloud service and port the numbers, which I coordinate. Firewalls, switches and Wi-Fi are reconfigured for the new site ahead of the move so your staff notice nothing.
How far ahead should I book IT for an office move?
As soon as you have a lease and a rough move date, ideally six to eight weeks out. The internet circuit is the long pole: business fiber in a Dallas office building can take weeks to install and nobody can speed it up. Cabling and the IT room need to go in while the space is still being finished. The computers themselves are the easy part.
Do you also set up a brand-new office that has no existing IT?
Yes. For a first office or a second location I act as the IT project company for the build-out: cabling to every desk, rack and patch panel, firewall, switches, Wi-Fi, the internet order, phones and new computers set up and joined to Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. I work alongside your general contractor so the space is wired and tested before the furniture arrives.
Will the move happen over a weekend so I do not lose business days?
That is how I run most of them. I disconnect and label everything Friday evening, reconnect and test at the new office over Saturday and Sunday, and I am reachable and usually onsite Monday morning. Weekday moves are possible if the building or your schedule requires it, but a weekend move is the surest way to keep every working day.
What does it cost to move office IT in Dallas?
I quote a fixed project price after walking the new space, not an hourly rate. The number depends on how many desks are moving, whether the new suite needs cabling, whether servers are involved and what happens with the phones. You get the price in writing before anything is unplugged, and it covers planning, setup, the move weekend and first-day support.
Do you handle the old office too?
Yes. After the move I decommission the old space: remove equipment and cabling that belongs to you, wipe or securely dispose of anything you are retiring, cancel the old internet and phone services on the right date and leave the suite the way the landlord expects it. Most leases require this, and it is easy to forget in the rush of settling in.