New Cisco Sales Office Showcases Company's Workplace Technology

By Jay Hipps, Hacienda Network Staff Writer

Activity-Based Environment Allows for Increased Efficiency, Flexibility

After several years in Hacienda at Owens and Chabot drives, Cisco has relocated within the park to 21,000 square feet at Rosewood Commons. The new offices will serve over 180 members of the company's field sales team in a shared, collaborative, activity-based environment that is referred to as a Cisco Connected Workplace.

"It's going to be a great showcase for our customers. We think as a company this will showcase the next-generation method of working," says Keith Vaughan, Vice President of Cisco Services. "It's a virtual office - people come and go, but all of the offices are equipped with state-of-the-art collaboration technology and video for conference calls and that kind of thing."

The Cisco Connected Workplace model is a perfect fit for the needs of this field sales office, one of 200 the company has in the U.S. "Pleasanton is where a lot of our sales team sits that services the customers of Northern California, be it our enterprise, commercial, or public sector accounts," Vaughan says. "They're selling Cisco's hardware, software, and service technologies, including networking, network collaboration, data center, and security offerings."

The philosophy behind the office's design demonstrates the same forward-thinking approach that is a hallmark of Cisco's products.

"The office is based on using space in what we call an activity-based environment, so you move about the space depending on what you need," explains Monica Zorovich, Cisco Workplace Manager for the Pleasanton office. "If you think of a Montessori school, where if you want to play with blocks, you go to the corner with the blocks, the space is built that way. There's no assigned seating. If you have a conference call that needs telepresence, you go to a conference room that has Cisco TelePresence in it. If you need to meet with four or five internal people, you go to a meeting room that sits four or five people. If you want quiet, heads-down work, we have a section of the floor plan that is meant for quiet work. With this activity-based environment, and shared collaborative space, we can house more people than we have seats. Typically, there are not a lot of people who are coming into the physical office every day, so we tend to use the space much more efficiently."

The new offices are also unique in that they reflect their Pleasanton location through clever interior design, including the use of color, materials, and artwork.

"We tied into the warm, hometown feel of Pleasanton, and we used imagery, colors, and materials to reflect that in the space," says Candice Balobeck, Workplace Design Manager. "We have wood and we have plants and we have images of Pleasanton, and we use storytelling to connect all of that with the Cisco story.

"For example, we have an image of a horse in front of vineyards, and for an element of surprise we have made that image 3D by putting flowers on top of that image. Then, through storytelling, we describe the image and we connect it to Pleasanton and to Cisco. For example, we'll say, 'Pleasanton has attracted ranchers and horse breeders for many years due to its climate and topography. Cisco and the Internet of Things can help ranchers monitor their livestock and horses.' So we're using signage to connect those images to Pleasanton and to Cisco."

It is no coincidence that Cisco has chosen to extend its stay in Pleasanton, which began over 15 years ago. "We think having a presence in the East Bay is key both for our customers and for recruiting and retention of people," Vaughan says. "We've always believed the East Bay is an area that's talent rich in our technology sector and we're glad to have a presence here to be able to attract and retain good people. We're very pleased to be in Rosewood Commons. We think the improvements made over the last few years have been really good and we think it's a beautiful environment, with really good amenities like the food service, Peet's Coffee, and the health club. We're enthused to be here."

Zorovich echoes that praise for the project's perks. "The amenities at Rosewood Commons are really a big sell for recruiting and retention," she says. "Our employees are just thrilled - they come into the space and say, 'it's so beautiful,' and then we say, 'oh, by the way, there's Peet's Coffee and a fitness gym and volleyball courts and bocce ball courts and a barbecue,' and their eyes just widen."

Cisco's new Hacienda offices are in Rosewood Commons at 4460 Rosewood Drive, Building 6. For additional information on Cisco's products and services, including the company's Cisco Connected Workplace technology, access www.cisco.com.

Photos: Cisco's new Hacienda office features unique artwork and design.

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