Before anything is unplugged we walk the floor and capture user, desk ID, device type, serial numbers and accessories, then label each item to the destination seat rather than to the origin one, because the plan almost always changes between the survey and the night itself and a label that points forwards survives that. Variances get logged on the night as they happen. That record is what lets you update the CMDB afterwards without a fortnight of detective work, and it is what tells you on the Monday that the missing dock is in tote 47, not missing at all.
Desktops, laptops, screens and peripherals go into our plastic tote boxes, thirty of them, 71 by 46 by 38cm externally, one desk to a box wherever the volumes allow. Anything that needs more than that goes into flight cases, and network kit coming out of a comms room can go into our own in-house designed split trunks, which break down to a bare base so a chassis up to 24u can be slid straight in and the sides and lid built back around it. The vans have air ride suspension, payloads from 900 to 1400kg, tail lifts and E-track load restraint at three levels with padded rails. All vehicles are plain and GPS tracked.
Change windows are somebody else's decision. We book the loading bay and the lift with building management, produce risk assessments and method statements, provide insurance details before anybody sets foot on site, and sequence crews floor by floor so the rest of the building carries on. Crews are DBS checked and security vetted, which most building security teams now ask about as a matter of course. At the far end we set the infrastructure up, reconnect desks, mount screens, power everything on and test to your standard build, capturing user acceptance where you want it. Kit that is not going to the new site goes to ITAD or WEEE with a certificate of destruction for the drives, or into storage at Heathrow while you decide.
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