Below you will find answers to some commonly asked questions about what goes on behind the scenes when you request assistance in moving to a new office.
Before Your Move
How much notice should I give MedIT when I plan to re-locate my unit/office/department/staff?
Please provide no less than one month advance notice of your impending office move. This is the minimum needed for MedIT to correctly carry its office move procedures.
What information do you need to know in order to help us with the move?
MedIT needs to know the street address of the new office space, the number of staff who will occupy the space, the length of time that the space will be occupied, and the co-ordinator of the move.
Additional questions MedIT might ask are:
- How many staff will be involved in the move? Will more staff be added at the new office, or will the number of staff be decreased?
- Will your department be adding any new equipment that should be supported by MedIT?
Why does this take longer than two weeks? After all, we just need to move a couple of computers!
There are some scheduling and inter-departmental issues that need to be addressed, such as:
- MedIT will need to determine if an appropriate connection already exists in the new location. If changes are required, it would involve scheduling with UBC IT.
- MedIT must schedule service changes with the IT unit currently administering the network at your new office location.
- MedIT must schedule staff to ensure technical personnel are available to assist with your move. This involves networking, desktop support and possibly IT security personnel.
- There may be special requirements for accessing particular UBC campus services, e.g., FMIS or HRMS, which require updates on client access information.
General Questions
What technical issues are involved when we request an office move?
MedIT needs to determine how best to provide desktop support at your new location. Questions MedIT staff might ask are:
- Are there any available MedIT staff at your new location?
- Should someone be allocated to your new location?
- How many personnel will be needed to support you?
It must also be determined how best to maintain your team members with the same level of access to MedIT network resources they enjoy in their current space. This could involve setting up a firewall and/or connecting you to a secure UBC network.
What is a firewall and why do we need one, anyway?
A firewall helps protect computing resources. Just like a locked door, a firewall permits only authorized users to enter. A firewall has built-in filters that can block unauthorized or potentially dangerous requests and also logs attempted intrusions.
It is necessary that a firewall be either already in place or set up for you at the new location.
What questions does MedIT ask when determining how to set up a firewall?
Example of the questions MedIT might ask are:
- Is there a firewall at the new location that can be used to set up secure connections to the Faculty of Medicine networks?
- Is there adequate space for a firewall if one needs to be installed?
- If a firewall needs to be installed, will one need to be purchased for your new location? There may be a cost and delay involved if one needs to be ordered and delivered.
- Can a network connection to FOM resources be set up? This must be scheduled with UBC IT and could involve a time delay.
Where will I go if I need help, like if my computer doesn’t work at the new location?
If you have any questions, please contact the MedIT Service Desk (1.877.266.0666) for further assistance.