Healthcare
Hospital data center consolidation
How we would sequence a move of clinical systems into a new facility with HIPAA-aware handling and staged, after-hours cutovers.
How We Typically Scope Programs
Program scoping
How we'd scope common programs
Below is how we typically scope programs like these: how we plan and sequence the work from discovery through cutover.
Financial services
Regulated colocation migration
How we typically approach migrating trading and back-office infrastructure between colocation providers with documented chain of custody.
Enterprise
Multi-site consolidation
How we would combine several regional server rooms into a single facility using dependency mapping and phased runbooks.
How we scope a relocation program
The three scenarios above are planning examples. They show how we would think about common types of project: the questions we would ask, the sequence we would propose and the controls we would put in place. They are not case studies, and they do not describe work for any specific organization.
Whatever the sector, scoping follows the same shape. We start by learning what the environment does and what it cannot afford to lose, then work out the constraints that will shape the plan: maintenance windows, dependencies between systems, lead times for circuits and power, and the rules at each site. Only then do we decide how to move the equipment.
What every scope covers
A scope is only useful if it is specific. Each one we write addresses the same set of topics, so you can compare it with any other proposal on equal terms:
- Inventory and audit of the equipment, cabling and dependencies in scope
- The move strategy: one cutover or several phases, and why
- Packing and crating standards for each class of equipment
- Transport method, including air-ride trucks, exclusive-use vehicles and, where relevant, air or ocean freight
- Chain-of-custody records and the documentation you will receive
- Re-installation, re-cabling, power-up and verification at the destination
- Rollback points and what happens if a wave does not pass its checks
- Treatment of equipment that is not moving, including decommissioning or buy back
Questions we ask when scoping
Good scoping is mostly good questions. Some of the first ones we ask are: which systems cannot tolerate downtime, and which can; how long the longest-lead dependency takes to arrange; who must approve each wave; what the destination site requires on arrival; which records your auditors expect; and what is staying behind.
Your answers decide whether the right approach is a single weekend move, a series of smaller waves, or a parallel build with a network cutover at the end. The same equipment can call for very different plans depending on those answers, which is why we scope the program before we quote it.
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
- Are these real projects?
- No. They are planning examples showing how we would approach common types of program. They are not case studies and they do not describe work for any particular client.
- Can you scope something that does not match these examples?
- Yes. The examples illustrate our method, not the limits of what we take on. Tell us about your environment and we will scope it on its own terms.
- What affects the shape of a scope the most?
- Downtime tolerance, dependencies between systems, lead times for circuits and power, regulatory requirements, and the distance involved. These decide how the work is staged.
- Do scopes include equipment we are not keeping?
- They can. We can plan decommissioning or buy back alongside the move so retired equipment is dealt with in the same program.Learn about equipment buy back