Transitions—whether it’s an office move, system upgrade, or employee departure—tend to expose the weak spots in your IT setup. Things get lost. Access gets overlooked. And no matter how much planning happens upfront, something always slips through the cracks.
Below, we’ll walk through how to safeguard your IT assets during transitions so your next change doesn’t turn into a logistical mess.
Secure Devices First
Physical equipment might seem like the easy part, but it’s often the first to go missing. Before any transition, take stock of all laptops, servers, tablets, and monitors. Use asset tags or scan codes, and log the location and assigned user for each item, ideally, one week before things start moving.
Lock down high-value devices with tamper-evident tape or cable locks during moves. If the gear needs to stay on-site overnight, keep it in a locked cabinet or a room with restricted keycard access. “Stack and go” may be tempting, but it’s a fast track to post-move headaches.
Map Out Data Access
Don’t wait until someone is already gone to figure out what they still have access to. Offboarding and role changes should trigger a same-day access review across cloud platforms, VPNs, internal apps, and shared drives. If it connects to your data, it needs to be part of the process.
Changing passwords isn’t enough. Disable accounts, remove shared folder permissions, and revoke saved logins on company devices. And while you’re at it, set calendar reminders to run quarterly access audits.
Don’t Skip Digital Backups
Before any changes—24 to 48 hours prior, minimum—create backups of all essential data. Local drives, shared folders, cloud documents. All of it. Use both cloud storage and encrypted external drives.
And don’t forget: backing up isn’t just saving a copy. Encrypt files in transit and at rest, especially when data is moving offsite. When you’re unsure how to pack your computer for moving day, start by removing any peripherals, securing loose cables, and using antistatic sleeves or padding inside the box to protect it. Mishandled machines and unsecured drives are accidents waiting to happen.
Don’t Trust Labels Alone
Color-coded boxes are helpful until someone peels off the label. Create a digital inventory of every asset, including serial number, assigned user, current location, and intended destination. That spreadsheet will be your best friend when something inevitably wanders off.
Use QR code stickers if possible. They make check-in/check-out easier and reduce the risk of manual errors during the shuffle. When you’re moving dozens (or hundreds) of devices, digital tracking beats guesswork every time.
Watch the Quiet Spots
Safeguarding your IT assets during transitions requires being vigilant during the hand-off moments—the parts that often go unnoticed. Who is driving the moving truck? Who signs for devices at the new site? And who is watching the pile of laptops left in the hallway “just for a minute”?
Build in supervised exchanges, and designate a transition lead for every phase. These aren’t paranoid moves; they’re preventative ones. IT security isn’t only about firewalls and passwords. Sometimes, it’s about making sure the equipment arrives.