Sometimes, no matter how well your projects are managed, something comes up and derails their progress. Then, you’re left trying to find different ways to make up for the time lost. You should never cut corners. But, there are better ways to do things than others, so follow these steps to increase the efficiency with which you set up your data center: 1. Make Sure Everyone’s on the Same Page Prior to Setup IT, your CRN team, and your departmental leaders all need to be communicating about the various aspects of your move before it happens. Otherwise, when you begin the setup, you’ll have a number of people trying to communicate at once, which creates many logistical difficulties. 2. Prioritize Your Planning What’s most important to you about your new data center? Do you just want to make sure it fits in your new space? Do you want to spend every minute you can making it more energy efficient like Facebook does? Figure out what you really want to get out of moving your datacenter, and focus on that. 3. Use a Dedicated IT Moving Service Find a CRN member that has been moving IT equipment for years. You can find just any moving service. But if they don’t have experience moving IT equipment, disastrous situations can occur. Ask your CRN member how much experience they have making moves like yours. They’ll know how to get it done in a short timeframe, making the process as painless for you as possible. 4. Make Sure You Start Monitoring as Soon as Possible When things get set up fast, mistakes can happen. Get your monitoring programs set up immediately to check for errors and resource usage. 5. Avoid Making Big Mistakes Yes, it has happened where companies store their data center equipment in a shed outside. Don’t do that. Also make sure you avoid storing your data center equipment under desks or any area with unsecured physical access. If the wrong person gets physical access, they can cause an infinite amount of damage. 6. Use a Reliable Hosting Company You can try going the cheaper route. But if you do that, you expose yourself to potentially having 80% uptime. That could put a killer dent in your business. In an ideal world, you plan your move well ahead of time. When you just can’t make that happen, follow these tips, and your move will go a little smoother.