I've moved most of our infrastructure into the cloud, with only the VPN transition left before we can confidently shut down our main headquarters. We didn't have time to implement Intune, so I'm also planning for the possibility that laptops and other endpoints may need more hands-on attention during the move. We'll have access to both locations for about two months. For anyone who has handled an office move before, what worked well, what caused problems, and what do you wish you had known in advance?
4 Answers
Treat physical server transport as a last resort if you can avoid it. If equipment must be moved, shut it down properly, document every connection, protect the racks from vibration, and use a specialist mover when the hardware is valuable. For large data sets, make sure you have a verified backup before touching anything; restoring from backup is much safer than discovering a damaged storage array after the move.
For remote access, reconsider whether the VPN needs to remain tied to a physical office now that the infrastructure is in the cloud. A cloud-based access solution may be simpler than moving the existing concentrator, although pricing depends on your user and device count. If you keep the current firewall setup, test the cloud-hosted VPN, certificates, routing, and failover well before changing the public IP.
Use the overlap to build and test the new site before moving anything. Get the primary and backup internet circuits installed as early as possible, verify failover, and test the network while the old office is still running. A long circuit-install lead time is one of the easiest things to underestimate.
Plan and document everything before the move. Label every cable, device, rack position, and destination—colored painter’s tape can make related equipment much easier to track. Also make sure you know exactly what each system connects to, rather than relying on memory.
This is especially important when only two people are handling the move. I’d make a simple inventory and room-by-room placement map before moving furniture or equipment.
We’re preparing a virtual firewall in our cloud environment and migrating the certificates and configuration. I’ll compare that cost and complexity with a per-user access service before deciding.