IT Infrastructure Relocation

Key aspects to consider!

Each relocation project is unique and must be considered individually. Based on experience, the following critical questions frequently arise:

• Risk Management - What potential risks are associated with an IT relocation and how can they be effectively managed?
• Minimizing Business Interruptions - How can business interruptions be shortened or avoided to keep business operations as smooth as possible during the relocation?
• Technical Compatibility - How can flawless operation of your systems in the new environment be guaranteed, especially when hardware components and platforms are simultaneously replaced?
  
• Prevention of Data Loss - How can data loss be prevented and, if necessary, quickly resolved?
  
• Security & Compliance - How will data protection and security standards be maintained throughout the entire relocation?
  
• Transparent Cost Management - How can the total costs of the relocation be accurately calculated, and the budget be adhered to?
  
• Stakeholder Communication - Who needs what information to fully support and contribute to the success of the project?
• Sustainable and future-proof - How can the scalability and flexibility of your new IT infrastructure be guaranteed in the long term?
  

1. Preparation Phase

In this first phase, the relocation project is initiated and the necessary preparations are made:

• Assemble Project Team - Key stakeholders such as platform managers, decision-makers and senior architects must be involved, along with external service providers for outsourced services.
• Prepare Inventories and Documentation - A complete inventory with a review of existing documentation of all components and network / carrier services to be relocated is conducted.
  
• Defining Project Scope - All components and services to be relocated are defined. Additionally, the migration or decommissioning of remaining systems is agreed upon.
• Defining Project Schedule - Milestones and deadlines are clearly defined, considering all dependencies (e.g., contract durations for data center contracts, lifecycle replacements, other intersecting projects).
  
• Perform Risk Analysis - Potential risks are identified, appropriate countermeasures are included in the planning and regularly updated.
  
• Defining Security Requirements - Security requirements for the entire project duration are established based on guidelines and risk assessments.
• Rough Cost Estimation - A rough cost estimate is developed based on the project scope and timeline and approved. Typically, some uncertainty should be anticipated.

2. Planning Phase

During the planning phase, all technical aspects are reviewed, and potential relocation scenarios are developed:

• Define Target DC Infrastructure Setup - The structure of the new data center (floor plan, rack layout, cabling concept, etc.) is planned according to your organization's scaling and growth requirements.
• Perform Impact Analyses - Possible impacts of the relocation are analyzed based on the IT or network architecture and suitable relocation scenarios are developed. Depending on the architecture and redundancy setup, it may even be possible to relocate without or with very minimal downtime.
• Define Relocation Scenario - Based on the target infrastructure setup, impact analyses and your risk appetite, possible relocation scenarios are defined. Possible approaches include:
  
  • Big Bang Move - Complete relocation and commissioning of your infrastructure, ideally over a weekend, to minimize business interruption.
  • Parallel Operation - Building a new infrastructure while simultaneously operating the old one, with gradual migration followed by decommissioning of the old systems.
  • Specific Approach - Combination of rebuilding and selective migration of certain infrastructure components, supplemented by replacing other components as part of lifecycle replacements.
• Planning Project Details and Milestones - Once the relocation scope is finalized and the scenario is chosen, work packages and milestones are meticulously planned and visualized using a Gantt chart.
• Define Fall/Roll-Back Scenarios - Criteria for critical decision points during the relocation, such as "points of no return" or "fixing forward," are established to react promptly to unsolvable problems and initiate rollback tasks.
• Resource Planning - Required resources are planned and organized based on detailed planning.
• Cost Planning - The final project costs are calculated based on the detailed planning and finally approved.
• Change Freeze / Management - Additional changes or expansions to the IT infrastructure that are not part of the project scope are frozen or treated as separate changes from this point on.

3. Implementation Phase

In the execution phase, everything is prepared for the planned relocation, and the infrastructure is moved to the new premises during the defined maintenance windows according to the project plan:

• Prepare Target DC Infrastructure - The new premises are set up according to your technical specifications with cabinets, rack PDUs, structured cabling and external connections for carriers or dark fiber. Site readiness checks are conducted and approved.
• Initial IT Infrastructure Setup - The existing network is extended from the old to the new location. The individual network segments are built, configured, and tested extensively for functionality, latency, and bandwidth.
• Relocation of Test Systems - Typically, non-critical or test systems are moved to the new location in advance and tested. They serve as test objects in the new IT infrastructure. The process mirrors that of the production systems.
• Relocation of Prod Systems - The productive systems are dismantled on the planned days by trained IT personnel and securely packed for transport. A specialized logistics partner with the necessary experience, special transport containers, air-cushioned and air-conditioned vehicles and appropriate insurance coverage ensures the transport between data centers. At the new location, the systems are unpacked, installed and re-cabled by IT personnel.
• Coordination of the Relocation - The coordination of all activities on the moving days is managed and continuously monitored by an experienced project manager. This ensures that all tasks are completed on time and problems are addressed as they arise.
  
• Security during the Relocation - An external security company monitors and accompanies the entire move between locations to ensure the integrity of systems and data during the relocation. Further options include sealing the transport containers, tracking via GPS, and armed escorts.
• Controlled Startup of the IT infrastructure - The re-commissioning is carried out strictly according to a predefined script. This ensures that the IT environment is started up and tested in a controlled manner. IT personnel accompany this process on-site and can quickly intervene in case of problems or errors.
• Handling Hardware Issues - Unfortunately, it often happens that systems no longer start properly or at all after years of continuous operation. It is therefore advisable to have active support contracts with manufacturers for all systems or to have appropriate replacement material in stock. Legacy systems without manufacturer support should, if possible, be handled and relocated separately.
• Relocation cleanup - After the relocation is complete, all transport materials and aids are removed from the data center, and the premises are cleaned if necessary.

4. Post-processing Phase

Finally, it is ensured that the new infrastructure is properly documented and any outstanding tasks are completed:

• Documentation of the new IT Infrastructure - All inventories and systems are updated, and the data quality is checked. Inventories at external service providers (e.g., managed services) must also be updated accordingly.
  
• Dismantling the old location - The old location is professionally dismantled and returned to the landlord / owner.
• Disposal of old Systems and Data - Old hardware is disposed of according to specifications. Hard drives and electronic media are shredded on-site by a specialized disposal company to guarantee 100% destruction.
• Close the Project - All pending tasks are completed and the project success is confirmed or acknowledged.