Supporting a facility or plant closure is an unwelcome task for IT managers. If the business decision has been made to shutter a facility due to restructuring or consolidation, IT leaders must understand all of the closure issues involved. Establish a checklist of required activities to ensure the closure occurs safely, quickly and efficiently.

The overall pre-closing decision-making activities usually involve a cross-functional team headed by a business leader. IT leaders involved may assume they can simply draw upon previous project plans for mergers and acquisitions or corporate relocations to decommission a plant or facility. While there are many similarities, decommissioning facilities, especially with accelerated timelines, presents many unique challenges. Spending time to understand and plan for these unique conditions will probably spell the difference between success and failure.