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Five becomes one as Datacom consolidates into new Auckland office
Mon, 22nd May 2017
FYI, this story is more than a year old

Datacom is bringing staff from five Auckland office together under one roof in a move it says will foster greater collaboration and creativity and encourage new ways of innovating  and working.

The IT services provider opened the new 17,000m2 Datacom Building in Wynyard Quarter last week, adding more weight to the Quarter's ‘innovation precinct' status.

The new building will be home to 1,200 staff who have previously been spread across five sites around Auckland and, with capacity for 1,500, will cater for further staff expansion.

Vernon Kay, Datacom Systems Auckland director, says the move produces a ‘truly modern, collaborative workplace', focused around Datacom's team and their capacity to grow customer relationships.

“We are very excited about the potential of having all our teams under one roof,” Kay says.

“We've designed a modern collaborative environment that fosters creativity, encourages new ways of innovating and working and, most importantly, supports our teams to approach customer challenges from a holistic point of view.

The company says the boost to collaboration will provide benefits for both the business and customers, but stresses that the move doesn't herald any strategic change in the way the company does business.

The facility features open plan workspaces, with wireless throughout, enabling Datacom ‘rovers' to move around the building, forming collaborative work groups.

One hundred breakout spaces are also included for one-on-one discussion and information meetings, with 30 single person booths, training centres and ‘special spaces' including Sanctuary rooms for quiet contemplation, a library and a games room.

Datacom rebuffed any suggestion the move might see closures of offices outside of Auckland, or any restructuring of the business.

“The new building has been chosen to facilitate our growth, and we have the capacity to grow to around 1,500 people with the current workspace layout.

Datacom will occupy 13,500m2 of the building, which has a Five Green Star NZ design rating. Retail and commercial tenants will occupy the remainder of the space.

The company's current five Auckland offices comprise a collective 10,300m2 of floor space, with Datacom saying it is at capacity in most of the locations.

The new building includes a technology immersion room to demonstrate some of Datacom's ‘key leading edge' technologies, such as virtual reality, the internet of things and mobility.

The building is also equipped with 120 bike parks, changing rooms, shower facilities and a separate drying room, something the company says ties in with its health and wellbeing campaigns, which include organised fitness sessions.

Some of the company's key customers are based in Wynyard Quarter, including ASB, Fonterra and Air New Zealand, with technology partners including Microsoft, HP and Dell/EMC also based in the area.

The move is expected to be completed in late June.