A Practical Guide to Data Security During Your Office Move

Office leases end, teams grow or shrink. Sometimes a new location just makes more sense. Whatever’s driving your move, you’re probably already thinking about furniture logistics, IT setup, and getting everyone’s desks sorted at the new place.

But your documents and data tend to be the last thing on the list, and that’s usually where things go sideways.

Your Files Are More Vulnerable During a Move Than Almost Any Other Time

Think about what actually happens to paper records during a typical office relocation. Boxes get stacked in hallways. Unlabeled folders end up in the wrong pile. Files that should’ve been shredded years ago get tossed in a box because it was easier than dealing with them.

A move creates gaps in your chain of custody, the documented trail of who handled your records, when, and where. For businesses in healthcare, legal, finance, or any field with compliance requirements, those gaps can create serious problems. Even outside regulated industries, mishandling sensitive client or employee records during a transition is the kind of mistake that tends to surface at the worst possible time.

Planning ahead keeps those gaps from opening up in the first place.

Start With a Purge Before You Pack Anything

Before you touch a single filing cabinet, ask yourself: do you actually need to move everything in it?

Most offices are holding onto documents they no longer need. Consider old vendor contracts, employee files from a decade ago, or financial records that long outlived their retention requirements. If you pay to move those files to a new location, all you’ve done is carry old clutter into a fresh space and fill up filing cabinets you were hoping to leave behind.

Before moving day, go through your records and separate what you’re keeping from what’s ready to be destroyed. This is called a records purge. Here’s how to handle it properly:

• Check the timeline. Figure out how long you are actually required to keep certain types of documents based on your industry guidelines.
• Reach out to a secure destruction partner well ahead of time and book your shredding early. You want to give your team plenty of breathing room to prep the files before it’s time to shred.
• Go through the cabinets and pull out the specific files that are finally ready to be destroyed.
• Take the documents out of thick binders or notebooks, and pull off any large butterfly clips.
• Decide if you want the shredding done right outside your office via mobile shredding or if you’d prefer a drop-off service. Always ask for a certificate of destruction when your provider is finished so you have a permanent paper trail.

Does It All Need to Come With You?

A move is also a natural moment to ask a harder question: does all of this really need to live in the new office?

If you’re downsizing your office footprint, you may not have the space for every filing cabinet that fit in your old location. Rather than cramming records into a space that wasn’t built for them, offsite records storage is worth a look as a long-term solution.

It’s not just a space issue, either. A secure, professionally managed storage facility typically offers better protection than an on-site filing room. Your records are stored in a restricted-access, monitored building, organized, barcoded, and retrievable without digging through stacks of boxes.

Managing records retention schedules is also a lot easier when your files are in a system designed for it. Instead of hoping someone remembers that a batch of contracts from 2018 is due for destruction, your records manager handles it according to a schedule you’ve already approved.

When You Do Move Files, Chain of Custody is Everything

If you’re relocating active records to a new office or transitioning them into offsite storage, the process needs to be handled carefully. That’s something we take seriously on our end.

When you work with us on a file relocation, here’s what that looks like in practice:

• We pack your documents using protective library carts, keeping files in order and secured with shrink wrap for transport.
• Every box gets barcoded so each file is tracked from your old office to your new one.
• We refile everything at your new location exactly as it was, so nothing skips a beat on day one.
• You receive clear documentation of what moved, where it went, and who handled it throughout.

Good records management during a move protects you from the kind of compliance issues and organizational confusion that can follow a poorly handled relocation for months afterward. 

Pro Tip: Read more about how we approach secure file relocation during office moves.

We Handle the Records. ADSI Moving Systems Handles the Rest.

Here at Augusta Data Storage, we work with businesses across the CSRA to manage the document and records side of office relocations. And because our sister company, ADSI Moving Systems, handles full commercial moves, you’ve got one coordinated team covering both the physical relocation and the records management side of things.

We can help you purge outdated files before moving day, relocate your active records to the new location, or transition documents into secure offsite storage built for the long haul. Our NAID-AAA certified shredding process destroys sensitive documents securely, and we provide a certificate of destruction for your compliance records. Our storage facility is NARA-compliant, climate-controlled, and fully monitored, with every stored file tracked through inventory management software so retrieval stays simple.

If your office move is coming up, don’t leave the records piece until the last week. Reach out to Augusta Data Storage to set up a consultation and get a plan in place before moving day.