IT Case of the Mondays

Monday 8:57 AM

You pull into your usual parking spot where the sign reads “IT Manager”.

Monday 9:02 AM

After getting your morning coffee, you sit down at your desk and open your Outlook E-mail. To your surprise you see an e-mail marked urgent from your CEO.

It reads as so:

[IT Manager],

I just received word from corporate that we will be moving our current offices in San Diego to Buffalo, New York in 6 months. I have absolutely no idea how we can move our server racks and PCs without sacrificing business downtime and risking equipment damage. Please get this figured out ASAP. I want this to go smoothly and I want the BEST considering the worth of all this equipment.

Sincerely,

Joe Blow, CEO

Monday 9:10 AM

 

After contemplating for a moment, you see the word “BEST” emphasized in your CEO’s email. So you do what any IT, call center, or data center manager would do.

 Monday 9:12 AM

You call a couple of your colleagues and receive a handful of references. After doing some preliminary research on the internet, you find that there is one national company whose mission statement is contingent with your CEO’s request… Technology Team, LLC.

Technology Team are relocation experts for mission critical equipment. The benefits of hiring their services include: Minimizing Downtime, Avoiding Costly Equipment Damage, Reducing Unforeseen Expenses and Ability to Manage IT Department Overload.

 

 

 

 

Monday 4:02 PM

You’ve forwarded your boss the suggestion to utilize Technology Team’s service for the move. He was the least to say… thrilled. You on the other hand, have some celebrating to do.

 

The Grand Illusion

Illusions are complicated things. They can be fun and entertaining, like the card tricks that fascinated us as kids. But when taken out of their proper sphere, illusions become frustrating and downright nasty.

In the IT Relocation industry, we regularly encounter a common illusion. The truth is that anyone can disconnect and connect a PC. It’s a simple task that many people routinely perform in their own homes. Consequently, when a moving company says that they are a “one stop shop” and can move everything, including PCs, people believe them.

But Is It True?

The problem is that the “one stop shop” view of a moving company is an illusion. Sure, anyone can disconnect and connect a PC. Anyone can type too. But does everyone type well? Think about professional typists. They can tell you exactly where the letter “j” is on the keyboard with their eyes closed. They know exactly what the various squiggly lines from spell and grammar check indicate, and they are extremely fast. Now think about beginning typists. Sure, they can type, but it’s “hunt and peck.” They don’t intuitively know what the squiggly lines indicate; they must be guided and taught. Beginning typists and professional typists can do the exact same work, but the professional will do it with fewer mistakes and in less time.

The same holds true for relocating technology. Anyone can do it, but some people are experts. They know which cable belongs in which port without having to think about it. They are fast and they don’t make mistakes. This isn’t to say that general movers are not knowledgeable. They are very knowledgeable, but they have their own unique area of expertise.

What You Really Need

When you are moving (disconnecting/connecting) expensive IT equipment, you need someone with an IT mindset. If something doesn’t work properly, they need to know exactly what to check and how to fix it. They need to recognize immediately when things aren’t right in order to prevent the IT department from having to fix everything. Would you rather have the warehouse supervisor or the executive administrative assistant typing your reports? You want the person who does it all the time. The same holds true for moving mission critical equipment; you want the person who does it all the time. IT Relocation firms perform simple tasks. However, the tasks are neither simple nor intuitive to people who have never been taught, just as typing is neither simple nor intuitive to those who have never learned.  

It’s Your Choice

Anyone can move a PC, but not everyone can move 200. Simple mistakes that are quick fixes when dealing with one computer become nightmares when multiplied by large numbers. Moving companies say they can handle it, but don’t be fooled.

It’s just another grand illusion.

My Company is Relocating…Now What?

Your company’s current location no longer fits your needs and it is time to move.  Where do you start? What are the important questions you need to ask before putting everything in boxes and hitting the road? Here is a list of things to consider that will help make the planning and execution of your company’s relocation seamless.

1. What size is the new space? Specifically, how does it compare to the size of your current location? If it is larger, do you need new furniture and equipment? If it is smaller, you need a plan for condensing everything into the smaller space. Equipment will likely need to be reconfigured to work in its new environment. With the aid of experienced professionals, relocating into a smaller space can be a smooth transition, as in the case of this telco company that called Technology Team for help relocating  into a space nearly 50% smaller than their previous one.  



2. What are you taking with you? Beyond the basic office supplies, there are computers and related equipment, phone systems, and many other important pieces you can’t be without. Is it easier and more cost effective to purchase new items? If your desktops need to be updated, this may be the perfect time to make the switch. For the equipment that you decide to take with you, you will want to hire an IT relocation service to ensure quick and proper setup.
3. What needs to be taken care of at the old office before turning in the key? Does your lease state that you need to paint or clean the carpet before moving out? What about checking your mailbox for the last time and notifying the post office to redirect all mail to your new address? From a technology perspective, what are you doing with your old equipment that is not making the move? Does it have hard drives with sensitive data that should be destroyed? Technology Team and others will destroy hard drives on site and can help you recycle  your old IT equipment.

Relocating can be overwhelming, so planning is essential. At Technology Team, we use a 134 point checklist to ensure that moving day goes just as planned.

Need help with an upcoming relocation? Give Technology Team a call at 817.233.8784 or visit our website www.technologyteam.us.

Katie Russell: An Intern Tale Act 3

It’s July. Am I the only one who feels that this summer is flying by? Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, and the World Cup are already over. In just a few more weeks I will be preparing to start classes again. I start Accounting this fall…not sure I feel about that.

July seems to be a popular month for IT relocation. Sherry, Allen, and everyone else here at Technology Team have been busy preparing for moves each weekend. Seems that when the weather starts heating up companies decide it’s time for something new.

It makes sense when you think about it. In order to minimize the impact of downtime, companies need to move when business is slower, hence moving on weekends and at night. What I had not realized though is that the summer months are better than the rest of the year when it comes to relocating. Most people go on vacation or at least take a little time off work. Kids are out of school, so companies can relocate without disrupting family routines. Major product launches are planned for the fall, leaving the summer months filled with prep work rather than constant engagement with customers. Everyone slips into “maintenance mode,” making it much easier to shut everything down for a few hours.

So when the majority of the workforce and I go home on Friday night, the work is just beginning for Technology Team. When employees return on Monday morning, the move is complete and everything is in its place. No worries about whether or not the computer settings have been changed or the equipment mixed up. Servers are back up and running so projects can keep going without missing a beat. It’s simply business as usual.

I wonder what would happen if Technology Team decided to relocate next weekend? We would be back up and running quickly, but someone needs to make sure they tell me. It would not be business as usual if I came in on Monday to find no desk.

This is the third act in our little drama. Thanks to everyone for their encouragement! I am having a fabulous internship experience.

Until next time,

Katie Russell

Why invest in a disconnect/connect provider?

The data center is the lifeline of any modern company. It houses the servers that contain all of the company’s mission critical applications and vital data. Since the majority of company productivity is derived from technological applications, a loss of these applications for even an hour can cost the company tens of thousands of dollars. 

One of the most common times for a data center to experience downtime is when a company is going through a relocation. The data center is perhaps the most complex room in the entire company and moving it is much tougher than it looks. Moving the data center is not simply disconnecting the servers, placing them in boxes, and then reconnecting them again at the new location. Moving a data center takes months of advanced planning to make sure everything goes smoothly. Often times, despite advanced planning, some problem comes up that causes the relocation to take more time than planned. These unexpected problems usually cause downtime in the company, which ultimately impacts the company’s bottom line in a big way. 

Quite simply, the IT department has neither the time nor experience to take on a big project like a relocation while still completing the job they were hired to do. To solve this problem, and consequently limit the possibility of downtime, the service provider is usually called in to handle the project. The service provider is the company that handles the service and maintenance of the servers. Some of the best known service providers are HP, IBM, and Sun.  All of these companies have highly qualified engineers who can take care of the data center relocation. The problem with these engineers is that they cost $300+ per hour. This cost can be particularly detrimental to any sized company since it takes a lot of time and planning to properly execute a relocation. $300+ an hour is not cheap. 

A disconnect/connect company is an excellent alternative to the higher priced service provider. A disconnect/connect company essentially does the exact same work as a service provider, just at a much cheaper rate. These companies are able to provide this service cheaper because they do not have the pricey overhead that an HP or IBM has. In fact, often times the service providers simply sub-contract out all their work to a disconnect/connect company. HP, IBM, and Sun are able to demand such a large fee for their services simply because of their name. 

In spite of all this, many companies still work with a service provider during relocation. Why? The warranty on the equipment. The warranty from these service providers is worded so that only a certified IBM technician, for example, can move or touch the servers. If someone else does, the warranty is voided. Most CIOs simply comply and use the service provider to relocate their servers. 

The disconnect/connect companies are able to make sure the warranty is still intact because they utilize the certified technicians, but in short bursts of time rather than throughout the entire project like a service provider would. This adjustment substantially lowers the cost of a relocation. Disconnect/connect companies draw a parallel to Just Brakes. For example, if you needed to fix your brakes, you could do it three ways: fix them yourself, go to Just Brakes, or take it to the expensive dealer. Fixing it yourself is not worth it since something ultimately goes wrong, and taking it to a dealer is ridiculously expensive when Just Brakes could do the same job much cheaper. The data center relocation industry is the same way. Why even consider doing it yourself when you could hire experts at a reasonable price to do to it for you? And why pay the service provider an absurd amount of money to do the same job that a disconnect/connect company could do? 

The absolute best option when going through a relocation is to hire a disconnect/connect company to move the data center. They bring valuable experience that the data center manager simply does not have. Disconnect/connect companies have been through hundreds of relocations and have seen every single problem out there. It is an investment that must be made in order to avoid down time, which saves the company money. Nothing is going to surprise them, which means come Monday morning when all the employees come back to work it will simply be business as usual. 

Chris Sterling, Technology Team LLC

Share Your Story-Was the Savings Worth the Cost?

Have you or any of your business acquaintances ever attempted to perform an office or data center relocation using a moving company?

Please share your relocation experiences with us, especially regarding  the effect on your information systems.

Were your computers reconnected correctly, neatly and on-time?

We’re Making a List and Checking it Twice…

Working for Technology Team, LLC definitely keeps me busy. Although I mainly work in communications and the administrative side of the company, it’s clear how chaotic and sometimes stressful an IT move can be. Just as with any relocation, there are many steps to take to ensure the transition runs smoothly, but when you are dealing with computer equipment containing sensitive information it becomes more complicated.  Our Senior Project Manager, Darrell Reynolds, was kind enough to outline the five most important aspects to consider before executing an IT Relocation:

1. Client Interest-Be sure your various departments understand the implications of the relocation and the impact outages will have on your client base. Get that message to your customers!

2. Building Access-Ensure that all insurance and security requirements have been ment with facilities.

3. Changes-Avoid changing applications and server names once the relocation process begins. Keep a log of needed updates and perform them post relocation.

4. Timing-Visualize the relocation, the players, the real estate needs; and schedule your resources accordingly.

5. Documentation-Details should be recorded and shared with the team throughout. Migration plans are evolutionary in nature and the missing link for a successful relocatin might just be the tidbit you failed to share.

Of course, this is just the tip of the iceburg when planning a move, which is why Technology Team implements a 134 point checklist. That’s right, all 134 pre-move requirements must be satisfied otherwise–you don’t move.  If you would like more detailed information about our IT relocation services or how we can assist you with an upcoming move, please call us at 817.233.8784 or visit our website at www.technologyteam.us.

Jennifer Turner, Communications and Marketing Administrator

Extra! Extra!

Technology Team is thrilled to announce that the Fort Worth Business Press has featured us in last Monday’s issue. We hope you enjoy it!

Data center relocation team makes all the right moves

By: Betty Dillard

September 28, 2009

Planning a move of any kind can stress out anyone. Planning a data center move or relocation only adds to the stress, with worries of service disruption, extensive downtime and lost revenue.

But if a migration of information technology is planned right, it can be seamless and stress free, says relocation expert Sherry Green, owner of Fort Worth-based Technology Team LLC.

“Moving is chaotic and it’s exciting but people don’t like change,” Green said. “People don’t want to change anything during a move except their address. We can help them with that chaos and stress during a move because it’s our passion and mission,” she said. “Our main objective is to get a business moved and up and running as quickly as possible.”

Green is all about teamwork, organization, details and results. A native of Fort Worth and a business graduate of Texas Wesleyan University, she started the bootstrap business with her husband, Allen Spinner, in 2003. The two entrepreneurial veterans met about 15 years ago when Spinner worked as a technical services manager, taking apart desktop computers for a moving company. A single mom with two children, Green had built a successful catering business called That Special Touch that she ran for 18 years. She worked part time for Spinner, learning the ropes, until the two realized the need for a data center relocation company, a still emerging industry segment.

“I’ve always been one of those people who can see an opportunity and I’ve always been a risk taker,” Green said. “I’m sort of a rebel I guess. I always look at things and think there’s a better way to do it.”

Green slowly transitioned out of her catering gig and into Technology Team, a certified W/MBE, DBE, HUB and HUB Zone company.

“I quit working for Allen and he came to work for me,” she said, with a laugh.

With his technical knowledge and military IT training, Spinner is Technology Team’s behind-the-scenes guru while Green’s leadership skills and past experience as a business owner keeps her out front in sales and promotion.

“From the very beginning we concentrated on each other’s strengths,” Spinner said. “Sherry’s greatest strength is her ability to meet people and mine is teaching people so she does the networking and I educate future customers about our services. Sherry is great at administrative work and I am great in operations. Sherry is creative and I am procedure oriented.”

Their cooperative efforts to achieve a common goal carry over directly into the business. Building a qualified team for each project is the key to Technology Team’s success, Green said.

“We hold the team accountable. It’s why we picked the name Technology Team,” she said. “We create teams. We create a synergy so it’s a good environment. We all work together – that’s one of our strengths. We provide the leadership to create a team and that’s what makes us different and successful.”

Spinner agreed that teamwork is the backbone of the business.

“Technology Team really is our business philosophy,” Spinner said. “The team is the customer, service providers, cabling companies, movers and us. We are the team leader and pick up the responsibility to produce the results the customer requires.

“There is a quote we publish in our bid and that is ‘the sum of all of us is greater than any of us,’” he said. “We are a ‘results’ driven company and a customer reference is considered the goal of every job we do.”

In just six years, Technology Team has relocated more than $100 million of mission critical equipment, from complex data centers down to individual PCs, for Fortune 500 companies, government agencies and small firms. The team, which consists of three full-time employees and 61 part-time people, works with a company’s existing IT department to offer comprehensive logistics planning, management and execution of the move plan while guaranteeing minimal downtime and warranty integrity of the systems.

Working mostly at nights and on weekends, Technology Team assists with moves nationwide but concentrates on relocations in Texas. The team recently completed the relocation of 400 computers and printers for the Veterans Administration in Austin in 22 hours. A few years ago, Green and Spinner moved 486 servers for Houston’s giant school district in only 36 hours. Administrators had expected a 10-day move with major interruptions to its daily operations.

“Our selling point is on the planning side,” Green said. “We have moved thousands of times and out of that we have created a check list of 134 points to it. If we can’t check off all 134 items, you’re not ready to move,” she said.

The company’s savvy methodologies and expertise have led to numerous awards, including being named Employer of the Year by the Rotary Club of Fort Worth and winner of the Fort Worth Mayor’s Entrepreneur Award in 2006. Green was selected as the 2009 Established Business Owner of the Year by the Dallas/Fort Worth National Association of Women Business Owners.

Green and Spinner said they are committed to providing a supportive, happy, family atmosphere for their workplace. They readily acknowledge that Technology Team’s technicians and support staff are critical to the company’s growth and success.

“We are a family oriented company and, hopefully, that shows to our employees,” Spinner said. “We also want to be the best of what we do and we tell our employees we are the best because of them. It’s our employees that drive us to succeed. It’s really an awesome responsibility to not only feed our employees but also their families, and that is the ethic Sherry and I bring to the table.”

Green said one of the most rewarding aspects of her job is the satisfaction from having a satisfied client at the end of a relocation project.

“One thing that gives me the greatest pleasure at Technology Team is writing paychecks and knowing that I’m providing for families,” she said. “To us, families are the most important aspect. We don’t look at just one employee but we see the entire family. That’s what makes us a team.”

Dillard, Betty. Data center relocation team makes all the right moves. Fort Worth Business Press. 2009-10-06. URL:http://www.fwbusinesspress.com/display.php?id=11066. Accessed: 2009-10-06. (Archived by WebCite^® at http://www.webcitation.org/5kKc6q8mY)

IT Service Provider Contracts: A Sometimes Sticky Situation

  Service providers such as IBM, HP, and Sun are well known for offering reliable IT services at a reasonable cost; however, these contracts can bring complications when a company decides to relocate. In most cases, service providers require that they (and only they) may disconnect and connect all equipment. In fact, if any other company handles or unhooks the equipment then the service warranty is completely voided. Since these large service providers hold a monopoly over their client’s relocation services, they can charge $300 or more per hour for each technician to be on-site.

Although the pressure of maintaining these service warranties can be daunting, there are ways around the high ticket price. By using a relocation firm, such as Technology Team, LLC, a company can benefit from the same IT services for a fraction of the price. Relocation firms will collaborate with the service provider by hiring them on to the job simply to disconnect and reconnect the equipment, thereby honoring the contract. The remainder of the move is conducted by the relocation firm without the excessive cost.

When it comes to service contracts, businesses must remember that they are the customer and have leverage over the provider. Exercising this leverage usually leads to the service provider’s decision to compromise in order to retain their client. For more information about honoring service warranties during a relocation, call us at 817.233.8784 or visit our website at http://www.technologyteam.us.

How Do You Really Know What’s What?

Posted by: Darrell Reynolds, TT Sr. Project Manager

I wound up in the IT profession through the back door of telecommunications and have never really had a handle on who makes the best equipment.

In our particular niche (migration) there are myriad competitors, all who use similar verbiage as ours to describe their services. The complication with this is that many of them are far from qualified to move a data center, but have branched into technology from the base of corporate office relocations. These van lines tend to use the same descriptions in their advertising, but bring an entirely different level of service to project planning and management. Once you’re in the middle of a critical server move, it is a little late to ask whose bringing the hardware and patch cables.

Since we cannot monopolize adverbs and adjectives, and all who dabble in the English language are privy to the same basic words, how does one differentiate between the groups who say they minimize business disruption and the ones who actually do?

We encourage our client base to research the references provided to them by all vendors and assimilate this information into a price/quality comparison. Still yet, even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and then and it is hard to get a real handle on how any particular group performs on a job-by-job basis.

With servers, the language describing is even more ambiguous. Efficiencies, scalabilities, managabilities and performance top the list of each manufacturer’s web site I visit.

So, who makes the best gear? Who makes the best servers? Who has the best service contract? For a small company building their network and infrastructure for the future, what are some guidlines?

I’d love to have feedback from any of you DC Pros on who makes the Cadillac and who makes the Kia?