Ensuring Records Safety During an Office Move
The risks of a data breach are all too familiar. Whether it’s physical documents or digital breaches, information falling into the wrong hands can cost your company millions.
But even with a strong, secure records management strategy in place, what happens when you take on an office move? Your documents become vulnerable if proper security measures aren’t followed during the move. Failing to implement security measures throughout the relocation process opens the door for stolen information, compromised records, and potential loss of business.
To protect your company’s confidential information during an office move, it is important to understand the types of information that require protection and the best practices to keep them secure.
What You Need to Protect
When it comes to an office move, there’s more at stake than just moving furniture and equipment. You’ll also need to handle a lot of sensitive information. Files that hold social security numbers, banking information, health records, and other highly confidential data are often part of the relocation process. Here are some types of information that you need to safeguard:
- Employee Records: This includes personal data like home addresses, social security numbers, and bank details.
- Client Information: Protect your client’s sensitive information such as contact details, financial records, business strategies, and any other confidential data.
- Financial Documents: This includes bank statements, tax returns, invoices, audit reports, and investment documents.
- Business Plans and Strategies: Keep any strategic plans, marketing strategies, or proprietary research confidential to maintain a competitive edge in business.
- Legal Documents: This includes contracts, agreements, licenses, permits, and any litigation-related documents.
- IT Data: This refers to digital data stored on servers, computers, hard drives, and other storage devices. Make sure to back up all data and ensure network security during the move.
- Intellectual Property: This can include patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and any other proprietary information.
Top Risks of Relocating Information
If you have filing systems that are not permanent fixtures, simply locking the drawers and moving the filled cabinets might seem like a convenient solution. However, this approach has its downsides. The cabinets can cause significant weight, and transit can jostle or jar items inside, potentially causing damage. Loose hanging files can easily fall or spill within the drawers.
And, your risk is not over once the move is done. The space you’re leaving behind could still contain sensitive information. Even just one small file cabinet that is not professionally moved can compromise the identities of thousands of people.
To ensure the security of your information, it’s crucial to understand the potential risks and identify vulnerabilities in your current office space. Here are some of the biggest risk factors to consider:
- Lack of Communication: Proper communication is key during a business move. Any misunderstanding or miscommunication can lead to misplaced equipment.
- Physical Damage: Physical damage to hardware or data storage devices can result in data loss or corruption.
- Loss or Misplacement: Failure to maintain the chain of custody increases the risk of data breaches during a move due to theft, loss, or misplacement.
- Handling of Redundant Records and Devices: Your office relocation is the ideal time for an equipment overhaul, but many don’t consider what might happen to the devices or files that aren’t coming with you. Recycling, reselling, shredding, or disposing of IT equipment or files can lead to a security breach if not handled properly.
Top Tips for Managing Office Move Risk
Create a Backup System
Implement the 1-2-3 system, which involves having at least three copies of your data on two different types of media, with one copy stored offsite. This way, even if some data is lost or damaged during the move, you’ll have other copies as backups.
Use Secure Storage Solutions
Protect sensitive files and data by using lockable storage containers for physical files and encrypted digital storage for electronic data.
Maintain a Detailed Inventory
Maintain a detailed inventory of all files and data being moved to quickly identify any missing or misplaced items during the move.
Implement Access Controls
Limit access to sensitive data during the move to trusted employees only, ensuring a clear chain of custody.
Provide Training
Train employees on proper handling of sensitive data, emphasizing data security and steps to protect data during the move.
Dispose of Redundant Data Properly
Properly dispose of files or data that are no longer needed by shredding paper files and securely wiping electronic data.
Plan the Move Carefully
Careful planning reduces the likelihood of misplaced or damaged files. Consider every detail, from the order of moving items to the layout of the new office.
Insure Your Data
Consider getting insurance that covers data loss or damage during the move. While this won’t prevent data loss, it can provide financial protection if something goes wrong.
Test and Verify After the Move
After the move, test systems and verify that all data has been successfully transferred, catching any issues early and taking necessary steps to resolve them.
Work with Experienced Experts
When it comes to archive and file relocation, having the right expertise and a streamlined process can make all the difference. That’s why we recommend partnering with experienced commercial relocation experts like ADSI Moving Systems. With over 50 years of industry experience, we have the skills to ensure a smooth and efficient move, minimizing downtime and headaches.
Trust Your Office Relocation to the Experts at Ellefson Transportation Group
Whether you’re moving an entire building or just a single office space, ADSI Moving Systems has the experience and expertise to handle your office relocation with ease. We understand the challenges of moving cabinets full of files, libraries of archival records, or rooms filled with medical records.
Our commercial relocation experts have successfully executed moves for many top businesses in Augusta and beyond. We take the stress out of moving by planning, supervising, and managing every aspect of your office and industrial relocation. When you trust your office relocation to ADSI Moving Systems, you can have peace of mind knowing that you’re working with professionals who understand the unique needs of your business.
Plus, our sister company, Augusta Data Storage, provides specialized services for relocating, storing, and managing records. These services ensure the protection of your filing hierarchy, minimize downtime, and reduce risks to your information during the relocation process.
From purge shredding and relocation to off-site storage and more, ADSI Moving Systems and Augusta Data Storage offer comprehensive records management services for businesses, healthcare providers, and government agencies in the Augusta, GA area.
Trust your office relocation to the experts at ADSI Moving Systems and Augusta Data Storage. Contact us today to experience a seamless move and ensure the security of your records every step of the way.