Before you wipe the old server

Moving to the cloud usually means starting from a blank slate. Everything from before the move remains on the old machine: shared job folders, legacy accounting files, archived inboxes. Those years may be what gets you over a buyer's three-year minimum.

1. 1Make a full backup or image before anything else
2. 2List what is on it: shares, mailboxes, databases and the years they cover
3. 3Ask your IT provider whether the data is readable and exportable
4. 4Ask a buyer whether it wants that material before spending money on it
5. 5Keep the hardware and admin passwords to yourself

Buyers collect records in different ways: a staff sign-in to approved systems, read-only access to chosen sources, or a plain file export. Choose the narrowest option.

The hardware is worth next to nothing. A decade of job records on its disks could be worth real money to a buyer who wants them. For businesses still trading, buyers advertise roughly $100K to $2M (self-reported). Headcount still counts, with the usual floor at 20 to 30 staff.