The cost of downtime
A 50-seat office losing one working day to a messy move costs 50 × 8h × ₹750 = ₹3 lakh in labour alone, before you count lost client calls. Planning the move right is cheaper than any packer discount.
45 days before
- Sign the new lease + finalise layout (seat plan, cabins, server room, pantry).
- Audit current inventory — workstations, monitors, cabinets, AC units, servers, networking, plants, pantry equipment.
- Get quotes from 3+ GST-billed office movers (regular household movers often struggle with IT gear).
- Notify employees — communicate move date + new address early for commute planning.
- Start decluttering — old files, broken furniture, outdated IT.
30 days before
- IT freeze plan — identify servers/critical equipment, schedule downtime with SLAs to clients.
- Backup everything — 3-2-1 rule (3 copies, 2 media types, 1 off-site).
- Update address on: GST, ROC (MCA), PAN/TAN, bank accounts, vendor invoices, website, email signatures, Google Business Profile, Maps, payroll system.
- Order new networking + cabling at destination (LAN drops, Wi-Fi APs, rack patching).
- Insurance — transit + all-risk; declare full value of IT + furniture.
2 weeks before
- Label everything — room-based color coding, per-workstation kit tags.
- Packing kit delivery — bubble wrap, labels, crates, anti-static bags for electronics.
- Employees take home personal items — photos, plants, chargers, mugs.
- Coordinate with building management — lift booking, loading bay slot, security gate pass both ends.
1 week before
- Dress rehearsal for IT — test backup restore on a sample server at the new site.
- Communicate to clients — expected downtime, emergency contact.
- Auto-reply email for the 2-day window.
- Out-of-office calendar invites for the team.
Move weekend
- Friday evening — final backup, shutdown, label every cable with room/workstation.
- Saturday — physical move, install networking, unbox servers first.
- Sunday morning — IT verification, connectivity tests, helpdesk on standby.
- Sunday afternoon — workstation unboxing, floor layout confirmation.
- Sunday evening — dry run; anyone who can come to test their seat is worth a meal + Ola voucher.
Monday go-live
- Assign floor marshals (1 per 20 seats) to help with login issues, cable woes, missing peripherals.
- Helpdesk on-site the whole day + day 2.
- Vendor contacts on speed dial — printer, Wi-Fi, AC, pantry.
- Welcome breakfast for employees coming to the new office — a ₹5,000 investment saves a week of grumbling.
What to insure separately
- Servers + UPS — declare at replacement cost, not book value.
- Monitors in transit — single biggest damage category.
- Confidential paper records — use sealed archive crates with chain-of-custody log.
Rehousing for office relocation
- Dedicated project manager (single POC throughout)
- IT-specific packing (anti-static + foam-lined crates for servers)
- Weekend + night moves to protect working hours
- Reimbursement-ready GST tax invoice (GSTIN 06AAMCR0254J1ZA)
- Post-move arrangement / rearrangement included
Planning an office shift? Request a site survey — we give a written downtime estimate.