Office relocation IT checklist: decide what to do with old data before the move

Why add a data-value step to an office relocation checklist?

An office move is one of the few times a company physically touches every old server, network storage device, backup drive and closet of equipment. Most of it is sorted into move, recycle or destroy. The data-value step asks one extra question before anything is recycled: does this hardware hold years of company records that nobody has assessed? If so, preserve and screen first, then dispose.

This checklist is for managed service providers that plan relocations. It sits beside your usual cabling, circuits and cutover tasks and adds a short decision at the inventory stage. If a client turns out to hold deep, rights-clear records, you can introduce the company to SourceX as a partner without ever reading the files.

Pre-move inventory: what is in the closet?

Do this walk-through at the survey stage, with the office manager or IT lead present.

Hardware that may hold history

• Physical servers, including old file servers and application servers kept "just in case".
• NAS devices and external drives, with owner and last-access dates where known.
• Backup appliances, tape libraries and tapes, with the oldest backup date.
• Workstations belonging to long-tenured staff in finance, operations, engineering and customer support.
• Phone systems or call recorders with stored recordings.
• Archive boxes of printed records with a scanning backlog.

Questions to ask about each item

• What system or team used it, and for how many years?
• Is anything on it not stored anywhere else?
• Who has the credentials and the ability to export?
• Is it covered by a legal hold, audit or retention requirement?
• Does it hold customer-owned data, personal data or regulated data?

How to decide move, preserve, or dispose

The aim is not to keep everything. It is to avoid destroying the one copy of something valuable before anyone has asked.

The 4-point value screen

Run this with the owner, CEO or CFO, not with the movers.

1. Years. Do the old systems cover several years of documented operations?
2. Spread. Are the records spread over many systems, such as email, shared drives, CRM, finance, support, engineering and operations tools? Strong companies often have 10-15+ systems.
3. Rights. Are the records the company's own, with no customer, partner or regulatory limit on licensing them?
4. Sponsor. Can an authorized person decide, and would they consider a one-time payment for an exclusive AI-training license for an agreed term?

If the answers are yes, the company fit checker offers a preliminary, non-binding screen with no contact details required. The baseline is on the who qualifies page, including 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded).

Relocation timeline with the added step

These weeks are a planning guide, not a rule. Related retirement triggers follow the same logic, including a reduction in force, an email archive cancellation and a covenant-driven cost cut. A company that closes the old office permanently should also read how to wind down a company without losing its records.

What to say to the client

Use the introduction email builder to prepare an owner-approved note.

What the MSP does and does not do

You inventory hardware, preserve copies under the client's control and follow the client's instructions. You do not export, upload or describe confidential records for SourceX. De-identification and redaction rules are agreed between the company and SourceX before any work begins, and data is delivered only after an executed agreement and the company's authorization. See the referral opportunities for managed service providers page for the full role.

Partners earn 25% of the eligible platform fees SourceX actually collects from the referred company's licensing deals, capped at $100,000 per referred company. The reward is paid only after the buyer pays and SourceX receives its fee; an introduction, meeting or signed agreement alone does not trigger payment, and no reward is guaranteed. It is never deducted from what the company receives. Check your client contracts for disclosure requirements and read the program terms.

When to skip the step

• The office has fewer than 50 full-time employees at peak.
• The hardware holds mainly another company's data.
• The company already licensed the same data for AI training.
• Nobody can export or read the old devices.

Next step

Add the closet walk-through and the four screening questions to your next relocation plan. When a client passes the screen, register as a partner and make the introduction, or have the owner apply at sourcex.si/apply with your referral link.