SITUATION
SYMBITS was tasked with an IT relocation for A&S Total Cleaning—moving servers, computers, laptops, printers and network equipment from Deerfield Beach to its new offices in Fort Lauderdale. A&S Total Cleaning provides complete managed facility services including daily and weekly cleaning for facilities including hospitals, schools, office buildings, commercial warehouse spaces, restaurants and homeowner associations. The company has 300 + employees, with an office staff of 23 plus seven area managers and seven supervisors, all using company phones, computers, laptops and/or iPads that required technology conversions during the relocation. The challenges were myriad: a timeline of less than a month, a weekday move date that wasn’t fixed, migration to a new phone system, a budget focused on cost savings, and to complete the relocation with as little downtime as possible.
SYMBITS first conducted a walkthrough at the old location in order to create a full inventory that included the server, computers, and access points for WiFi. Next, the SYMBITS team toured the new location to confirm space requirements, network requirements, review the configuration of the server room, and make recommendations for new equipment, including a more robust wireless router. Throughout the month prior to the move, there was daily follow up, in order to confirm that milestones would be met.
The added challenge of changing to a new phone system was streamlined through direct connection with the phone provider—and due to SYMBITS established industry connections, the vendor was a company with which SYMBITS had personal connections, which helped facilitate communication and coordination.
A&S Total Cleaning had arranged for fiber installation at the new location, but to ensure connectivity, SYMBITS arranged for two back-up options. When the utility failed to meet the fiber installation deadline, the back-up WiFi provider was already in place.
Because of the diligence in pre-planning, move day itself was seamless and stress-free, and even the relocation of the server was not time-critical, as SYMBITS had previously moved much of the essential systems and documents to the cloud. On the day of, SYMBITS divided into teams—one engineer responsible for desktop and laptop setup and a second engineer responsible for server moving and setup. The desktop engineer set up the workstations in the new offices, while the server engineer removed the server from the old location, moved and racked it in the new location confirming that all services were again available including file and print, internet connectivity, email, authentication etc.
RESOLUTION
SYMBITS was able to successfully deliver a seamless, efficient and cost-effective IT relocation for the client, taking care of the technological infrastructure, servers and network equipment. Despite limited manpower, a tight timeframe, and the added challenge to migrating to a new phone system, SYMBITS was able to complete the IT relocation in a single day, with more than 95% of all systems set up and working in their new office by end of the day, and all remaining issues (such as connectivity to a new printer) were completed by the following day.
SERVICES PROVIDED:
- Onsite IT audit
- Dedicated team and specialist IT engineers
- Disconnecting on-site server & IT infrastructure devices required (firewall, switches, UPS, rack and cables)
- Upon delivery to new office: reconnect all relocated devices, set-up, connect to network
- Telecom set-up (Voice and ISP)
- Reconnect all computers to IT network, connect approved drives and test with all users
- Test and ensure back-up
“Having completed many such IT moves in my career, my professional opinion is that was close to a miracle relocation. It was that good. Excellent people, planning communication and coordination. This was an 11 out of a 10.” – Douglas Czark, CPA, Chief Financial Officer, A&S Total Cleaning
