We often receive last-minute local calls from businesses across Chula Vista, stretching east to Lakeside and as far north as Carlsbad — and most of these inquiries are about Office Movers for Computer IT Hardware.

When it comes to relocating your office, there are several IT considerations to keep in mind. Proper preparation the first time around can save you a lot of time and frustration. After all, moving IT hardware is a delicate task that requires care and expertise.

NETWORK ETHERNET CABLING

Your Ethernet is old and out of date.  This is a no brainer to replace.   Ethernet cable is cheap provided you get it from a cheap source.  Cat 5e is the typical choice in most new networks

SCALABLE SWITCH

The switch you may use for most office may vary but a 16 port switch is ideal for a business with ten or less users

OLD EXPENSIVE ROUTER OR CHEAP NEW ROUTER

Yes you may have a fancy router but is more than 5 years old and cost effective to maintain?  Perhaps, replacing it with a Sonicwall will you get you rolling without all the expensive up keep?

WiFi HOT SPOT or ACCESS POINT 

Need a stable and reliable Access Point that serves as a switch too?   Again, this is a very cheap option that has a lot of upside for security and easy to maintain.

PRINTER and MFP

Is your current printer killing you on toner and your copier lacking on ease of use?  Look at a low cost alternative from Kyocera.  Their MFP gets you away from the expensive copier lease option.

CABLE GUY

Need a cabler to wire your office and possibly setup some shelves for your server and other gateway devices?   Contact us and we will help facilitate this service for you.

PHONES

PBX phone systems are not practical for today’s telecommuting environment.   Uploads speeds are never considered when migrating to VoIP phones.  100k per phone is a rule of thumb.

INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER

One of the most neglected yet critical pieces to your move is the quality of the internet.  Slow speed will limit your company to some phenomenal services provides through the web.  Think about it.  Webinars, steaming audio and video, remote support, VoIP, and even Skype become incredibly frustrating to use if you lack a stable and fast internet connection.  Pertinent questions should be asked about having a symmetrical of dedicated pipe but are typically too expensive to provide for a small business or simply asking if there’s fiber to the premise.

HOSTING

A lot of services being hosted through the web require a static IP address.  Make sure your business receives a static address for network devices such as your phone system, fax server, and or VPN.  Plan ahead so your SaaS provider is aware of the move.  Do you know where your website is being hosted?  Is it possible you’re paying too much on hosting and upkeep?  Look into hosting companies like Bluehost and Content Management Systems like WordPress to make web edits yourself.

SERVER

Is it time for an upgrade or are you ready for a cloud environment?  Google Apps aka Drive, Box.net, and Dropbox offer a lot of apps and services that may allow you to cut the cord on expensive server maintenance.

SOFTWARE

Maybe it’s time to shelve your ACT! Software and start using a CRM that’s more powerful and web based.  Consider products such as www.capsulecrm.com to improve your workflow.

Office Movers for Computer IT Hardware have a Delicate Task Summary

Some of the best products are free.  Take for instance www.logmein.com.  It allows up to ten computers to have centralized access dashboard for any of your users or IT guys to remote in and support you.  Perhaps, this is the perfect opportunity to look into Managed IT Support at the same time with some SLAs in place for prompt and proactive IT help desk.

For as low as $395 we evaluate your options, create a network assessment, and perhaps migrate your network to something more affordable, flexible, and easier to maintain.  Check out some of the hardware from our prior post to get a ballpark figure on new IT expenses.