Office Move IT Checklist: 9 Proven Steps to Avoid Downtime

By Claudia Sterling · 2 November 2026

Moving offices is stressful enough without arriving on Monday to find no internet, no printer and no access to the accounts system. This office move IT checklist comes straight from a move we at ZSI managed in September for a professional services firm in Georgetown: what went to plan, what didn’t, and what we’d tell anyone planning a move.

Why an office move IT checklist matters

Furniture can arrive late and people will cope. IT is different: if email, internet or the finance system is down, the business stops. Most problems on moving day come from things nobody listed, such as an internet order placed too late, a cable that’s too slow, or a printer nobody re-set up.

The 9-step office move IT checklist

1. Start six weeks out, with one tracker

Make one list of every IT task, with an owner and a date for each. We kept two versions: a shared one with the client, and a more detailed internal one for our team. Review it every week. By the end of this project, every item was marked complete, moved to ongoing support, or closed.

2. Order internet first

Internet installation is usually the longest lead time. Order your lines as soon as the new address is confirmed, and ideally get two different providers for business internet failover. Have a plan B: this office moved in on temporary wireless while the permanent lines were finished, so staff could still work.

3. Take stock of people, devices and licences

List every computer, printer, phone and network device, plus every user account in your email and network systems. On this move, the review turned up accounts for people who no longer worked there, which meant licences being paid for and old accounts left open. A move is the perfect time to clean this up.

4. Don’t let equipment deliveries set your moving date

New firewalls, switches and Wi-Fi equipment can arrive later than promised. Here, the move date was fixed but the new network equipment arrived weeks afterwards. Because we’d planned a temporary setup, that didn’t stop anyone working. Build your timeline around what you already have, and treat new equipment as a second phase if needed.

5. Check the cabling and the switch room

Look at where the internet lines come in, where the network equipment will live, and how cables reach each desk and Wi-Fi point. Use proper patch cables and check that each connection runs at full speed. Temporary cables at this site held both internet lines to about a sixth of their real speed until they were replaced.

6. Plan the Wi-Fi properly

Offices in busy areas share the airwaves with many neighbours. Our Wi-Fi survey at this site picked up hundreds of nearby networks, so we chose the quietest channels. Set up separate staff and guest Wi-Fi, and turn off the Wi-Fi built into your internet providers’ routers so nobody bypasses your security.

7. Don’t forget printers and phones

Give printers fixed network addresses so computers can always find them, and test printing from every department. Decide early how phones will work. This client chose a simple phone line from its internet provider for the first year instead of a new phone system, which kept costs down and avoided a delay.

8. Test the business-critical apps before Monday

Check the systems that actually run the business: accounting software, online banking logins, VPN connections to partners, shared files and email. One VPN to a partner company failed after the move because the partner’s own security certificate had expired. It was fixable, but far better found during testing than by the finance team on Monday morning.

9. Cutover day, then a quiet week

On moving day, test logging in, email, OneDrive, Teams, printing, VPN and internet speed, and have each person confirm everything works. Afterwards, hold off on non-urgent changes for a week or two while things settle. Write it all down: we handed over a network document, a troubleshooting guide and printed Wi-Fi cards for staff and visitors, then moved the client onto ongoing managed support.

Bonus: new laptops during a move

If you’re replacing laptops at the same time, set aside about two hours per person, and use a checklist covering files, bookmarks, mapped drives, email, printers and security software. New laptops can ship with old versions of apps. On this project, out-of-date OneDrive software caused sign-in problems until it was updated, so update everything before handing a laptop over. It’s also a good moment to install proper security, as covered in our post on EDR vs antivirus.

Your office move IT checklist at a glance

• ✅ One tracker with owners and dates, reviewed weekly
• ✅ Internet ordered early, with a temporary plan B
• ✅ Devices, users and licences listed and cleaned up
• ✅ Timeline that doesn’t depend on late equipment
• ✅ Cabling and switch room checked; connections at full speed
• ✅ Wi-Fi surveyed; staff and guest networks separate
• ✅ Printers with fixed addresses; phone plan decided
• ✅ Accounting, banking, VPN and files tested before day one
• ✅ Cutover tests, user sign-off, documentation and a quiet week

How ZSI helps

Zenith Services Inc. plans and manages office moves for businesses in Georgetown and across Guyana, from ordering internet and new equipment to cutover day and support afterwards, as part of our managed IT services. Moving your email at the same time? Read how we moved ours from GoDaddy to Microsoft 365.

Planning a move? Talk to our team and we’ll build your office move IT checklist with you.