Moving offices in Dallas: the IT timeline from signed lease to the first Monday

Start six to eight weeks before the move

Plan the IT for an office move six to eight weeks before move day, and order the internet circuit at the new address first, right after the lease is signed, because installation lead times can run several weeks and nobody can speed them up. Cabling and network equipment go in four to six weeks out while the space is being finished, equipment gets inventoried and labeled two to three weeks out, and the new network is tested on the live circuit before anything at the old office is unplugged. The physical move then usually runs from Friday evening to Sunday, so staff sit down on Monday to a working office.

I am Anthony Omini, owner of Cross River Tech in Dallas, and office moves and new office setups are one of our standard services. The moves that go badly almost never fail on the weekend itself. They fail eight weeks earlier, when nobody owned the internet order or counted the network drops. This is the timeline I follow.

Why the internet order comes before everything else

The internet circuit has the longest lead time of anything in the move, and it is the one item nobody in your office controls. A provider may need to survey the building, pull fiber or schedule a technician, and new fiber to an office building can take weeks. If the order goes in late, everything else can be perfect and the office will still open with no connection.

So the first task after signing is to check which providers actually serve the building, place the order and get an installation date in writing. Then confirm it again at four weeks and in move week. When we handle a move, I place and track the order and schedule the install, and the circuit is billed by the provider. If the new building only offers one option, find that out now, not when you are planning the cutover.

Eight weeks out: walk the space and decide what changes

Walk the new space with the floor plan and count everything that needs a network connection. This is also the moment to decide what moves as is and what gets replaced, because replacing a failing server or an old phone system during a move costs far less disruption than doing it separately later.

• Count drops for every desk, printer, TV, conference room, access point, camera and the reception counter.
• Choose a lockable IT room or cabinet with a dedicated power circuit and some airflow.
• Book the cabling now, because work is easiest while walls are still open.
• Inventory every computer, server, printer and phone, and flag aging equipment.
• Decide on changes such as a new server, a move to the cloud or a new phone system.
• Find the building's demarc, where the internet provider's line enters, and check power near the IT room.

Four to six weeks out: cabling and the IT room

In a build-out, Cat6 is pulled after framing and before drywall, alongside the electrician's work, then terminated, tested and labeled after paint. The rack or wall cabinet, patch panel, switch, firewall and Wi-Fi access points go in while the old office keeps running. I buy enough switch ports for every drop plus room to grow. If you want to understand what good cabling looks like and why it is not a weekend project, see where do-it-yourself office networks fail.

On a construction project, this work has to fit the general contractor's schedule. I need a floor plan with agreed drop locations, a rough-in date and a date when the space is clean enough to terminate, and the contractor gets one point of contact for everything network-related, including the internet installer. If the build-out itself is the bigger worry, a commercial builder's view of finishing a build-out before the free-rent clock runs out is worth reading alongside this.

Two to three weeks out: labels, phones and new equipment

Make a seating chart that maps every person to a desk and every desk to a drop number, then label each computer, monitor, dock and phone to match. Order any new computers now so they arrive, get set up and are tested before the move rather than during it. List every piece of licensed software, because some programs check their license against the hardware or the network and will refuse to open in a new location until someone reactivates them.

Phones need their own decision. Cloud desk phones only need power and a network port, so they move easily, and older on-premises systems can be moved or replaced. If the numbers are being ported, start the paperwork at four weeks and schedule the port for the move weekend so the main line is never left unanswered. If the phone system is due for replacement anyway, a phone systems specialist's guide on switching an aging office phone system without chaos covers the options. Brief staff, too: when to shut down, what not to pack themselves, and that laptops go home with their owners.

Move week: prove the new office works first

The rule for move week is that nothing at the old office is unplugged until the new network has been configured and tested on the live internet circuit. Stage the IT room so equipment can plug straight into a working network. Document the old network: firewall settings, fixed addresses, printer settings and device passwords.

Run a full backup of every server and computer, store it somewhere other than the moving truck, and verify it by restoring sample files. A backup that has not been restored is not one you can count on, which is a lesson I explain in the backup myths that leave small offices exposed. Finally, write a one-page cutover plan with the shutdown and startup order, times, who is responsible for each step and the phone numbers you will need.

Move weekend, step by step

A ten to twenty desk office with one server is usually a one-weekend job if the preparation was done. This is how we run it.

• Friday afternoon: staff save their work, close programs and power off; laptops go home.
• Friday evening: servers are shut down cleanly after a verified backup, every device and cable is labeled with the person's name and new desk, and network gear goes into labeled cases.
• Transport: servers ride with me, not in the moving truck.
• Saturday: the rack comes up first, internet and network are confirmed, then desks are connected in priority order, usually reception and client-facing staff first.
• Every desk gets four checks: log in, open the shared drive, print a test page and make a phone call.
• Saturday afternoon: printers, scanners, conference-room screens and Wi-Fi coverage are tested last.
• Sunday: a buffer day to fix anything outstanding, followed by a short report of what was tested, what was replaced and anything waiting on the landlord or internet provider.

What to check on the first Monday

I am on site or on the phone first thing Monday morning, because that is when the problems nobody could test on a weekend show up. Whoever runs your move, these are the checks that should pass before lunch.

• Everyone can sign in, and shared files open at normal speed.
• Email sends and receives, inside and outside the office.
• Printers print with the right drivers and new addresses.
• Phones ring and the main number routes correctly.
• Wi-Fi covers every room, with guests on a separate network.
• Practice, case or agency software opens and passes its license check.
• Backups run again, and the first backup from the new site completes and is verified.

Where office moves go wrong

Most failed moves trace back to one of a handful of causes, and each has a simple prevention. No internet on Monday means the order went in late; place it at eight weeks and confirm it at four. Not enough drops means nobody walked the floor plan; count every device, then add spares. A server that will not boot after the trip is survivable only with a tested backup, and an old one may be worth replacing at the eight-week mark instead of moving it.

Cables nobody can trace come from skipping the seating chart and labels. Software that refuses to open comes from forgetting the license list. Dead phones come from starting the number port too late. And the old office keeps billing for months when nobody cancels the internet and phone contracts in writing, on the same calendar as the move. After the move, we remove your equipment and cabling from the old suite, handle secure disposal and cancel old services on the right dates, so the landlord gets the space back the way they expect.

Booking the IT side of your move

We quote office moves and new office setups as a fixed written price after a walkthrough, so there is no hourly meter running over the move weekend. The price depends on the number of desks, how much cabling is needed, whether there are servers, and what happens with the phones. For managed IT clients, move planning is part of the relationship. We take one move at a time, so the earlier you call, the better the chance your date is open.

We handle moves across Dallas–Fort Worth for offices of roughly five to sixty desks, from the first walkthrough through Monday morning. If you have just signed a lease, or you are about to, call now; the internet order alone is reason enough not to wait.

Questions people ask me