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If your company is launching its very first office or opening at a new location, chances are you will want to plan what IT infrastructure will be necessary.
That entails understanding the floor plan so you can determine what cabling will be needed, where workstations and conference rooms will be located, where you might keep a server room, where the power supplies are, etc.
Frequently, it also entails deciding what suppliers to use across a range of products. It’s likely that you’ll need to choose an internet service provider, a supplier of network and Wi-Fi equipment, as well as decide what workstation equipment and printers to use.
It can be hard to keep track of everything you need, which is why we’ve created a New Office IT Setup Checklist document that you can refer to while planning.
We’ve broken it down section by section in the article below. The template is available for download in Word format at the bottom of this page. Enjoy!
When looking at an office floor plan, here’s what you need to consider from an IT perspective:
Not all office plans will require all of the above but it gives you a baseline to get started.
You should obtain a copy of the floor plan and make sure all areas are planned for.
Should your office have multiple conference rooms, multiple printers, etc., the Word document template at the bottom of this page includes a table for you to note down each separate location.
In most cases, you’ll want to reach out to two or three major Internet Service Providers and get a quote from each to compare pricing, availability, speed and connection type.[1] You might also want to pick a backup internet service provider should your business be heavily dependent on being connected at all times.
We have shortlisted a few different internet service providers in the UK, USA, Australia and India below. We have also created a checklist in the Word template below for you to note down and rank each quote you receive.
While you are unlikely to do any of the electrical installations yourself, there are a few things you want to keep on your radar as they will likely affect how equipment around the office is powered up.
Here are some of the questions you should ask when considering the power supply of your new office:
The order by which each office section needs to be set up will vary greatly from case to case.
The majority of the time, several parts will be tackled simultaneously; in many cases, there will be dependencies that prevent other parts from being addressed. It will also depend greatly on the number of IT staff involved, the size and configuration of the office, and the nature of the business (among other factors).
Generally speaking though, for a small to medium office space (up to 100 workstations, no complex machinery involved, service industry), you’ll likely want to prioritise as follows:
For each workstation, you’ll want to document in advance what type of equipment the staff will need. We have created a handy table in the Word template below, but here are the main components you’ll want to consider:
To access your checklist, please enter your email below. You’ll be presented with a link to download your document in Word format. We hope you enjoy it!
