Projects and migrations

Big IT changes, done in phases and on your calendar.

Moving email, retiring an old server, opening a new office. We write down what you have before we touch it, agree the scope and cost up front, and stop to ask before going past the hours we agreed. You don't need a service plan to hire us for a project.

Get a quote → How projects run

What we take on

The projects that are hard to do while also running a business.

Each one changes something your staff rely on every day, so each one is planned so they can keep working while it happens.

Email and workspace migrations

Microsoft 365 to Google Workspace, Google to Microsoft, or off the email that came with your domain or web host and into an organization you control, which is what makes it possible to secure at all. We have no platform to sell. Sometimes the right answer is to stay where you are.

Getting off an aging server

Files moved to cloud storage with permissions rebuilt properly rather than copied across, the jobs the server did moved elsewhere, and the box retired. When that isn't the right call yet, a written, phased plan so a failure isn't an emergency.

A new office or location

Network and Wi-Fi designed and set up, accounts and computers ready, so people sit down and work on the first day. If the space needs new wiring, we'll recommend someone for that part.

New computers, bought and set up

We help you choose machines that fit the work, then set them up with your applications, security and settings before they reach the person using them.

Network rebuilds

Design and configuration for an existing business network: staff, guests and shared devices kept on separate networks, and Wi-Fi that reaches where people actually work. We design and configure. We don't run wiring.

Cloud database moves

A business database that lives on one machine, or on a server someone has to remember to switch on, moved to a cloud database service sized for the business.

How projects run

Documented first. Phased. No invoice you couldn't predict.

A migration done over one weekend works until something goes wrong on Sunday night. We run projects in steps you can check.

Document what's there

Before we change anything, we write down what exists: machines, accounts, applications, vendors, and how you'd recover if something failed.

Scope it in writing

What's included, what isn't, the hours it should take and what it costs. You agree to it before any work starts.

Break it into phases

Each phase stands on its own and gets checked before the next one starts, so a problem stays small and your staff keep working.

Schedule around your busy season

Disrupting a tax practice in March isn't a technical decision. An accounting firm's project goes on the calendar outside January through April.

Stop and check before going over

If a phase is heading past the hours we agreed, we stop, tell you why, and ask how you want to proceed. You hear it before the invoice, not on it.

Leave it documented

You finish with your new setup written down, so whoever works on it next starts at the fix, not at discovery.

From our work

Client story

Retiring an aging server at a multi-site nonprofit

Agriculture and education nonprofit
Coastal Maine
Several buildings and a seasonal operation

The situation

One aging Windows server ran the file shares and core network services for the whole organization: a working farm, a public campground and an education program. Everything depended on a box years past its useful life. Some staff worked fully remote from out of state, and Wi-Fi across the property was patchy.

What we did

Documented the whole environment first. Moved the network services off the server, moved file storage to the cloud, and retired the server. Rebuilt the network and Wi-Fi so the farm, the public areas and the office each stand on their own. Brought the shared tablets under device management so they're locked down and set up the same way. Reviewed cloud licensing before the annual renewal and cut licenses nobody was using.

No single point of failure, no server to replace, staff working the same way from the farm, the office or another state, and a documented environment any of our technicians can pick up.

Client story

Getting a small studio off its last server

Two-person audio mastering studio
Coastal Maine
Project work, no service plan

The situation

The studio's core business database ran on a physical server kept in storage and switched on only when it was needed, a workable arrangement until the day it wasn't. Email sat on a domain reseller's platform rather than in an organization the studio controlled, which limited what could be secured.

What we did

Moved the database to a cloud database service sized for a two-person business, so the data no longer depends on a server someone has to remember to switch on. Moved the studio's Microsoft 365 account off the reseller and into an organization the studio owns directly, set the computers to sign in with those accounts, and moved the website onto managed hosting.

The last piece of hardware in the back room stopped being something the business depends on, for less than the cost of a monthly coffee habit.

Questions

Projects, answered.

Do we need a service plan to hire you for a project?

No. You can hire us for a single project. If you later want us looking after things month to month, your environment is already documented.

How is a project priced?

You get a scoped estimate before anything starts: what's included, the hours it should take, and the hourly rate. Plan clients pay a lower hourly rate. Nothing starts until you've agreed to the scope.

What if the project turns out bigger than we thought?

Then you hear it from us before the hours run out. Each phase has agreed hours, and if one is heading past them, we stop, explain why, and ask how you want to proceed.

Should we be on Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace?

It depends on how your team works and what your other software expects. We've moved firms in both directions, and told some to stay where they are. You'll get a plain recommendation and the reason for it.

Do you run new wiring for an office move?

No. We design and set up the network and Wi-Fi, and we'll recommend someone for the wiring. Once it's in, we're glad to be the ones who look after it.

Can the work happen without shutting the office down?

That's what the phases are for. Each one is sized so your staff can keep working, and the timing is set around your calendar, not ours.

Next step

Describe the project, get a scoped estimate.

Tell us what you're moving, retiring or setting up, and when your busy season is. We'll come back with the scope, the hours it should take, and the phases we'd run it in.

Get a quote → (207) 370-2369

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