For many organizations, migrating to a new datacenter can appear a daunting and arduous task. Moving often requires a complex migration of hardware, client/server software and messaging data – a process that spans every user and facet of your company. Even with available tools, migration requires careful upfront planning and precise execution. Poor planning can cost: lost data and email, application downtime, and damaged relationships with customers and partners.

While datacenter migration may be an infrequent occurrence for most, it is an everyday event for us. Our specialized staff is knowledgeable in the process. We understand the pitfalls, and possess the ability to work quickly, cost-efficiently and as reliably as possible. The single largest factor in determining the complexity and cost of a move is the amount of downtime the organization can accept. Allow our experience to work for you. We will weigh your options and identify opportunities to mitigate potential disruption.

A reasonably priced, smooth and fast migration immediately opens you to the benefits of a new platform and a faster return on your migration investment.

Pre-Move Planning
Contour will assign a dedicated Move Coordinator to your organization at the beginning of the project. The Move Coordinator will work with your technical and management teams to develop a more sound understanding of your systems and networks. Our two-phased approach can be divided into "information collection" and "pre-planning". The data-gathering phase will enable us to develop a detailed plan, as part of the second phase, which will clearly define the needs and goals of your organization.

Information Collection

• Physical Site Inventory
• Functional Inventory
• Existing Network Architecture
• Current Backup Infrastructure
• Existing Peripheral Device Configuration
• Private Connections
• Current IP Assignments
• "Portable" IP Address Space
• DNS Environment

Pre-Planning

• Full Migration-Timeline-Specific Checklist
• Network Diagram
• IP Address Reassignment List
• Current Backup Infrastructure
• Rack Space Layout Diagram
• Cable Management (Color Coding and Labeling)
• DNS Change Procedure
• IP Address Modification Checklist/Instructions
• Transit Backup and Recovery Plan
• Material List
• Identify and Secure Temporary and Services

Move Coordination
Our Move Coordinator will liaise between your current and new datacenters, your staff, bandwidth and commutations providers, domain registrars, ARIN, and other vendors, as necessary, to ensure a smooth move. In addition, the Move Coordinator will work with your technical personnel and/or our team during the actual move, to deal with any unexpected issues, should any arise.

Temporary Equipment/Services
In order to minimize downtime, we can provide temporary hosting for your critical applications, with servers configured to reflect as much of your present configuration, for a phased move.

• DNS
• Email
• Web Hosting
• Streaming Media
• Redirection Server(s)
• VPN Equipment

Technical Move Assistance
Our team can perform either a portion of your move or all of it. We are also available to assist your organization during the move in a support role for your current IT staff. Some of our technical move assistance services may include:

• Pre-check destination datacenter for proper rack, power, and data configuration
• Perform pre-move backup of your data
• Pre-positioning of cabling, switches, power components, etc. This may include positioning our temporary equipment at either your current facility or your destination.
• Build-up and configuration of temporary servers (yours or ours).
• Removal and/or reinstallation of servers and other equipment
• IP address changes (manual or scripted), DNS changes
• Configuration of server, switch, router and firewall as needed

Choose the Proven Path
When you're ready to migrate your organization's technical infrastructure, make sure the process goes smoothly by taking the proven path. Contour's migration specialists will help you move to an infrastructure that serves your unique business needs, helps avoid unexpected expenses, and better utilizes your technology investment's potential.