by Merwin Videna
Quintessential start-up companies had been traditionally started out of one’s garage or that spare bedroom in the house. It seems likely that the virtual office, with the blending of home and work where the ultimate goal is that of efficiency, becomes a natural alternative to setting up an office. Technology plays an important role in the emergence of the virtual office concept. It dates as far back as the Industrial Revolution where telecommuting was first introduced. With the advent of the Information Age, we saw how it evolved to what it is today from when it was first conceptualized by Alf Moufarrige, Founder of Servcorp, as an offshoot from the executive suites industry. It is essentially space utilization complemented with professional live communications. Overhead costs are minimized, while professionalism gets maximized, partly because of the non-existent burden of health care costs of employees, records, payroll, insurance and rent, and the traditional paid time-off.
From an environmental standpoint, firms leveraging this office setup can reduce their carbon footprint as a result of minimizing, if not completely eliminating the traditional daily commute. From a work/life balance standpoint, it gives more flexibility since one spends less time on the road and more time on what matters most. As an architect, I see this type of setup as beneficial. However, architects are not the only ones who see the benefit in this type of setup. Other common virtual office users include entrepreneurs, service-based professionals, and business consultants. Surprisingly in a recessionary economy, there is notable growth within this industry across the globe. On top of that, it is easy for our current technologies to support its infrastructure. As a business, this co-working environment focuses on the idea of allowing “your business to thrive because you are tapping into an infrastructure that was built for business,” says Lori Ziesmer, General Manager of OfficeLinks. It makes it easy for entrepreneurs to get a turn-key office space in a good location, to having a cost effective option, equipped with all the tools needed to run a company, to enjoying a great cup of coffee that is comparable to popular coffee shops.
“In a 2010 study conducted by IDC, the IT research form projected that by 2012, the total of office-based, non-office based and home based mobile workers will grow to nearly 1.2 billion people representing more than a third of the worlds workforce. Gartner Group claims that less than 20% of the Global 2000 will have reached a level of maturity to support a distributed workforce. So, it’s no wonder that stats from GartnerGroup and an article in BusinessWeek indicated that anywhere between 40-60% of office space sits empty. The fact is, the old logic of real estate doesn’t work. The notion that one, fixed space will support the unique ways in which people work and the agility business needs to be competitive. Flexible workspace practices whether it co-working, membership programs, semi-private or private offices provide individuals and business with the ability to align their office space with their workstyle and business needs,” explains Lori Ziesmer, General Manager of OfficeLinks. The draw was how this co-working space was designed--offices spaces that enable individuals and businesses to align their workspace with their business needs. It allows flexibility and a variety of options to suit a specific business model--from semi-private office cubes, to private offices, including meeting rooms, all available on-demand. The result is a new office model that offers a fitting solution to the ever changing office landscape.