When moving offices, both privately and as part of a company, relocating IT equipment is probably the most nerve-wracking task. Nowadays, most of our data required to run a business properly is stored in digital form. And the loss of it would spell disaster. Similarly, no one wants to lose thousands of dollars’ worth of investment into crucial equipment like scanners and high quality printers. So, let’s go over safety tips for relocating IT equipment to prevent this!
Look for the original packaging
It is admittedly not always possible, but there is nothing better for safely relocating IT equipment than packing them away in their original packaging. The cutouts and proper Styrofoam supports that come with the original boxes will protect your equipment every step of the way. If you do not have the original packaging anymore, you will need to eyeball your boxes for dimensions and then judiciously apply box cushioning just to achieve a subpar effect.
Be careful with box cushioning
When relocating IT equipment in boxes, proper cushioning is very important. You need to make sure that whatever you put into the box will not just rattle around in it, of course. However, there is also another danger: putting in too much cushioning. If you do this, you eliminate some of the protective qualities of the box. Any force that acts on it from the outside will immediately also press onto your piece of equipment, which can end up causing damage in spite of all your effort to prevent it. In other words, you need to strike a careful balance between too much and too little. The type of cushioning you end up using is important too, of course. Air cushion box fill is typically a good choice no matter what you are moving. Foam peanuts or strings, on the other hand, could end up slipping into your equipment.
Make use of moving blankets
Some IT equipment, such as professional scanners, are often too big to place inside a box. When relocating IT equipment of this type, it is therefore necessary to use moving blankets. Moving blankets are large and very well padded, which will ensure that you can cover and safeguard your equipment no matter its size. Of course, they are not perfect. They have the same issues any blanket does: they can get wet or dirty very easily during transit. If you are not careful, this means that your IT equipment, in turn, could end up drenched. This is obviously not something you need to worry about if you use plastic boxes, so a lot of people are not prepared for just how much care is needed. Regardless, it’s smart to learn how to clean the inside of your PC so you can ensure no dirt or dust got inside during transport.
Unpack as soon as possible
There are two reasons why you need to hurry and unpack your IT equipment as soon as possible. First, people tend to treat boxes a lot more casually than they should. If you stack a couple of them on top of each other and leave them that way for a while, the added weight of them might damage the equipment in the lower boxes. Second, you can’t guarantee that the equipment is properly oriented in the box. Some IT equipment, such as printers and even computers to an extent, really shouldn’t be left on their side or upside down. This is why when packing, it is smart to let experts help you out. They can ensure that the equipment is properly supported so it stays fixed in the right position. Still, that is no replacement to quickly getting it out of the box and settled in.
Remove all cables and attachments
We really cannot stress enough how unwise it is to leave cables and other types of attachments connected. First, such equipment is relatively fragile. If it is bent wrong and kept that way for a while, it can stop working properly. If all you need to replace is a charging cable, then it might not be that bad. However, connection cables and specialized attachments are often very expensive if you want to acquire them through official sources in spite of the fact that they were treated somewhat like ‘extras’ with your original equipment purchase. Then, there’s a more serious concern: accidentally damaging the equipment they are connected to. If you leave a charging cable connected to a PC, and it gets badly jolted, then it’s entirely possible for it to actually damage the inside of your computer box. Even in the hands of tech repair experts, fixing this isn’t easy.
Avoid jostling as much as possible
This should really be obvious, but you should move boxes with IT equipment carefully and slowly. Sudden and strong jostling of such equipment can end poorly. Let’s take PCs as an example again. While the insides of a PC box are typically secured well, there is still plenty of sensitive tech inside. If you jostle it carelessly, something might come loose or disconnect. At the same time, with how popular partially glass PC boxes have gotten both for their aesthetic and other benefits, you likely use them as well. Careless jostling typically won’t make it break, since the boxes use tempered glass, but as the experts from Divine Moving and Storage like to point out accidents happen more often than you think. It is better to be safe and not tempt fate!
Back up all your data
Finally, there is one crucial rule when relocating IT equipment: backup all your data. And then double and triple check you’ve got all the important stuff backed up. There are ways to fix most types of damage. You can even fix spilling water on a MacBook. But if you get unlucky enough you could end up losing all your data to an accident! Never just assume everything will go perfectly to plan.
Final Word
Following our safety tips for relocating IT equipment, you should be able to make the move safely. Just remember to be extra careful every step of the way, and you’ll be just fine!