Some work does not fit into “something broke.” Moving offices. Replacing a server. Migrating to Microsoft 365. Setting up a second location. Automating something that is currently three people and a spreadsheet. These are projects, and they go wrong in a specific way: not dramatically, but by quietly taking three times as long as anyone said.
Planned before it is started
The useful part of a project is the part that happens before anything is unplugged. What depends on what. What has to keep working while the change happens. What the rollback is if the cutover does not go to plan on a Friday evening.
That planning is not billable padding — it is the difference between a weekend migration and a fortnight of surprises.
Office moves
The technology part of a move is usually underestimated, because the obvious items — desks, computers — are the easy ones. Internet installation lead times are not. Nor is cabling a space that was never cabled, or discovering that the new premises has one socket where the server room needs to be.
Starting early is most of it. A move planned six weeks out is routine; the same move planned in ten days is expensive.
Servers, migrations and new systems
Replacing a server, moving to the cloud, or standing up something new — a shared database, a line-of-business application, a virtualisation host. The work is mostly in understanding what currently depends on the old thing, which is often more than anyone expects, and sequencing the change so nothing is stranded.
Automating the repetitive parts
Plenty of small businesses have a process that consists of someone re-typing information from one system into another. That is usually automatable, and the return is immediate because it is time that is currently being spent every week.
The honest caveat: not everything should be automated. Some processes are too irregular, and some are cheaper left alone. You will be told which category yours is in, including when the answer is “leave it.”
What this covers
- Office moves and new site setup, including cabling and internet provisioning
- Server replacement, virtualisation and cloud migration
- Microsoft 365 migrations from other providers
- New system rollouts, and the training that makes them stick
- Integrations between systems that do not talk to each other
- Workflow automation, where it genuinely pays back
- Documentation, so the next person is not starting from nothing
How it runs
Scope and a fixed quote before work starts. A plan with the order of operations and the rollback written down. Agreed checkpoints so you are never wondering where it is. And documentation at the end, because a system only you understand is a system that becomes a problem the day you are unavailable.
What it costs
Quoted per project, after scoping. Fixed where the scope can be fixed, and where it genuinely cannot, that is said plainly at the start rather than discovered halfway through.
Common questions
How far ahead should we plan an office move?
Six weeks is comfortable. The binding constraint is usually the internet connection at the new address, and that is outside anyone’s control once ordered.
Can you work alongside our existing supplier?
Yes. Plenty of project work happens around an incumbent who handles day-to-day support, and that arrangement is fine as long as everyone knows who owns what.
What if the project turns out to be a bad idea?
You will be told during scoping rather than after invoicing. Talking a client out of something is cheaper for everyone than delivering it badly.
Do we have to move everything at once?
Rarely. Most migrations are better done in stages, with the riskiest part isolated so it can be reversed on its own.
Tell us what you are planning
Describe the move, the build or the upgrade. You will get an honest answer on what is involved, roughly what it costs, and what could go wrong.
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Prefer to talk? Call (941) 424-8081. Serving Bradenton, Lakewood Ranch, Sarasota, Palmetto and Parrish.
BRATechSystems carries $1,000,000 general liability and $1,000,000 technology errors and omissions insurance through The Hartford. A certificate of insurance is available on request.
