In our last article, we covered the first and most important question to ask when planning a data center relocation:
Is it feasible?

If you’ve completed a Feasibility Analysis and answered “yes” to the key questions—destination, timeline, budget, and risk planning—you’re now ready to move forward. But there’s a twist.

🌀 Say Hello to Uncertainty

Every data center move brings one unwelcome but guaranteed guest: Uncertainty.

You may have a rough plan, a budget, and stakeholders identified—but that doesn’t eliminate the unknowns. That’s why your next step is to begin creating a Move Narrative.

A Move Narrative is your living roadmap: a space to document what you know, identify what you don’t, and build clarity as your project evolves.

✏️ What Is a Move Narrative?

Think of your Move Narrative as the story of your data center relocation—from current state to destination, and everything in between. It’s not just a checklist. It’s a dynamic working document that:

• Aligns your team
• Organizes moving parts
• Reduces risk from unknowns
• Helps track decisions and assumptions
• Prepares you for inevitable surprises

The more detailed your narrative, the more resilient your plan.

✅ Take the Move Narrative Quiz

Ready to begin documenting your story? Start by answering these key questions:

1. What components are moving?
   (Servers, switches, racks, software, etc.)
2. When are they moving?
   (Planned date, window, or phased timeline?)
3. How are they moving?
   (Physical relocation, virtual migration, or hybrid?)
4. Who is doing the move planning, execution, and cleanup?
5. Do you have a budget?
   (Including contingency?)
6. Do you have a written move plan?
7. How much downtime can you tolerate?
   (Per system or application?)
8. Do you have a complete physical inventory?
9. Do you have a current application inventory?
10. Do you have updated, documented network drawings?
11. Do you have equipment elevation drawings for the destination site?
12. Are there any specialized systems that need extra handling?
    (Tape libraries, clustered systems, sensitive equipment, etc.)
13. Do you have a decommissioning plan for the origin site?
14. Do you have a plan to celebrate success when it’s all done?

🧠 Not Every Answer Has to Be Perfect

You don’t need all the answers to start—but you do need to start. By documenting what you know (and what you don’t), you begin to tame the uncertainty and shape a clear path forward.

As your knowledge grows, your Move Narrative evolves. It will become the foundation of your detailed move strategy—and the key to a smooth relocation.

📞 Need Help Creating Your Move Narrative?

At Electronic Transport Corporation, we’ve helped companies across the U.S. complete data center moves for more than 20 years.

Whether you’re relocating to a colocation, consolidating infrastructure, or launching a hybrid cloud initiative—we know how to help you navigate the unknowns.

Schedule your free, no-obligation consultation today and let’s start building your Move Narrative together.

👉 Contact Us
📧 David Grubbs
📞 Call: (469) 792-8752