Flexibility Saves More than Just Money

If you’re thinking of incorporating a flexible workspace—where employees are not assigned to one particular desk—consider what London’s RSA Group accomplished with a little help from Cisco.

As one of the world’s largest insurance company, RSA Group was looking to cut back on real estate costs in London by consolidating three offices into one. Out of its 18,500 employees, only about 1,000 workers call one of the three London offices their home. By restructuring their largest property into a flexible workspace, RSA found the answer. But how will their employees plug into their network without a defined workspace?

The answer was by combining the wired and wireless network into one. Using Cisco Aironet Access Points and Cisco Catalyst 3850 Series Switches the insurance company was able to create the infrastructure to combine their networks. Cisco management software such as Cisco Prime Infrastructure and Cisco ISE made sure that any employee’s device—whether personal or corporate—was brought into the office was recognizable and automatically connected to the VLAN.

This solution provided one overall answer that allowed employees to work anywhere in the building without fear of losing a Wi-Fi signal. Even when roaming from floor-to-floor the employees were still connected.

Not only did this model cut real estate costs, but according to James Sandall, Group IT Delivery Director, RSA Group, the IT department has realized a huge savings too. And not just in cost, the saving manifest in his employees’ time.

“Management is simpler because network administrators use just one interface,” he explained. “The help desk receives almost no calls about Wi-Fi because it’s so reliable. And IT no longer needs to spend time reconnecting network cables when employees move.”

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