Not all data center moves are the same. Some go great, but some can be total disasters. Most of the time, the difference came down to planning—and who is driving the project.
At ReluTech, we’re not movers. We’re the people you bring in when you can’t afford for something to go wrong. We handle the logistics, but we also know all about data center equipment. We know what happens when a server isn’t shut down properly, or when you lose track of what was plugged into what.
A Real-World Move that Didn’t Fall Apart
A healthcare client came to us the middle of last year. Two data centers. Tight deadline. No backup plan.
They needed to vacate both buildings in under four months. Equipment was old. Dependencies were everywhere. Half of it needed to move. The other half was destined for the recycling bin—or the cloud.
We scoped the move, created asset maps, prioritized systems by business impact, and phased the relocation. We also helped them identify workloads that didn’t need to move at all because they were already good candidates for AWS. We handled the physical move, the cable management, the racking, the power-up—and we did it all without blowing up production.
That same client is now cloud-based and told us this was the cleanest IT project they’ve ever run. That’s the goal. Not praise. Just no chaos.
Here’s What We Actually Do During a Relocation
- We inventory everything. No surprises later.
- We label, power down, and pack it like we’re going to need it to boot on the first try—because we are.
- We move it using people who understand what they’re touching.
- We track every piece and double-check it all before it goes back online.
- We deal with what’s left behind—wiping, recycling, or buying it from you.
- And if you’re cloud-bound? We help fund that too.
When is the Right Time for a Data Center Relocation?
There’s rarely a perfect time, but there are a lot of bad ones—after a major outage, during a lease negotiation, or mid-migration with no plan in place. Ideally, a data center relocation should happen when you still have control, not when you’re reacting to a deadline or crisis.
Here are a few signs it might be time to start planning:
- Your lease is up, and you know you don’t want to renew.
- You’ve outgrown your current space—or barely use half of it.
- You’ve started moving workloads to the cloud and the rest of your infrastructure feels like dead weight.
- You’re spending too much on power, cooling, and OEM maintenance for gear that isn’t pulling its weight.
Relocation isn’t just about changing physical space. It’s often part of a bigger shift—consolidation, modernization, cost-cutting. If you’re having those conversations internally, it’s worth getting a data center relocation partner involved early.
What You’ll Regret Not Doing Before a Move
If there’s one lesson I’ve seen companies learn the hard way, it’s this: rushing a data center relocation without an audit is asking for trouble.
That means:
- No proper inventory.
- No clean asset list.
- No labeling.
- No plan for what’s critical and what’s not.
Then moving day comes, and suddenly half the gear is missing or misrouted, cables don’t match, and nobody knows which server runs payroll. That’s not theoretical—it happens all the time.
Before we touch a rack, we build a plan: assets tagged, dependencies mapped, applications prioritized. We figure out which systems need zero downtime, and which can move over the weekend. That prep work saves hours later—and prevents the kind of mistakes that break SLAs and spark 2 a.m. phone calls.
If your team doesn’t have the cycles to do it right, bring in someone who does. You only get one clean shot at a data center relocation.
Partial Relocation? Hybrid? Cloud in the Mix? We’ve Done It.
Not every data center relocation is all-or-nothing. These days, most aren’t. You might be closing a colocation and shifting some assets to the cloud. Or moving just one business unit’s gear to a new facility. Or consolidating after an acquisition where nobody’s sure who owns what.
We’ve run projects where:
- Only high-density storage moved; compute went to the cloud.
- Customers split equipment between on-prem and colocation to cut power costs.
- Half the gear was retired, the rest got redeployed across multiple regions.
We’re used to complex environments with mixed vendors, hybrid infrastructure, and tight change windows. If your infrastructure doesn’t fit in a tidy box, that’s fine—we don’t expect it to. We plan for all the weird stuff: staggered moves, overlapping dependencies, gear that has to go to one city while the rest goes somewhere else.
The point is: whatever your data center relocation needs to look like, we’ve probably done it—or something messier.
Budget Stretched? We’ll Help Fund the Move
Data center relocation projects can be expensive, especially when they’re part of a larger cloud migration or consolidation plan. We get that. That’s why we’ve built ways to help offset the cost.
Here’s what that looks like in real life:
- We’ll buy back unused or end-of-life gear. You get immediate cash to put toward the move.
- We can defer relocation charges and roll them into a larger AWS-funded migration effort.
- We’ll help document and retire equipment that’s costing you more to power than it’s worth—and replace it with smarter options.
Most people don’t realize their data center is full of value—they just haven’t unlocked it yet. Our team can walk through what you own, what it’s worth, and what we can do with it to bring down the net cost of your data center relocation.
Common Questions We Get During Data Center Relocation Projects
How long will this take?
Depends on your size and environment. Could be 2 weeks. Could be 3 months. We build the schedule around your uptime needs.
What happens to old gear?
We’ll buy it, wipe it, or recycle it—whatever makes the most sense. We handle all the chain-of-custody stuff too.
Do I need to shut everything down?
Not everything. We work in phases, often during off-hours. The point is to keep the lights on wherever possible.
Can this tie into a cloud project?
Yes. In fact, many clients use relocation as a trigger to accelerate migration. We can help fund and manage both.
Do you carry insurance?
Yes. If anything gets lost or damaged (it won’t), you’re covered. We’ve never needed it, but we have it.
Can you work with our internal IT team or MSP?
Of course. We plug into your plan—or help you build one if it doesn’t exist yet.
If you're staring down a move and your gut says, "This could get ugly," you're probably right. Bring in a team that’s done it before and won’t make it your problem when something goes sideways.
Shoot us a note. We’ll tell you what it would take, what it would cost, and how fast we can start.
