Most project managers tasked with their first data center move naturally search for an example Work Breakdown Structure(WBS) or a Microsoft Project Plan file they can modify. What they quickly learn is that these examples are incomplete and don’t accurately reflect what awaits the first-timer.

We’ve published a number of tips and best practices for data center moves. It’s natural to feel a sense of panic when it becomes clear that an investment in time is required to move successfully.

The bias against using outside help also colors the first-timer’s approach. You don’t know what you don’t know and yet you are about to embark on leading a complex project.  Seek to understand the critical elements you may be missing.

Here are key resources for increasing your knowledge about a data center move:

• Our 36 page Data Center Move Guide helps you learn the basics
• The Data Center Move Checklist is a primer to spur your planning
• Understanding the Budgeting Paradox will help you understand why arriving at a budget can be tricky
• Three Tips to Tackle an Urgent Time Line will help address time-sensitive moves
• Have you considered alternatives to moving? Here’s Four Reasons Not to Relocate Your Datacenter
• Is your procurement searching for a Data Center Relocation Statement of Work (SOW)?
• The Cloud is not magic – Understand how to approach a cloud move.

Your data center move will be unique. Invest the time to build a plan instead of hoping to modify an ill-fitting boilerplate you found on the Internet.