Reimagining the modern office space through a flexible as-a-service architecture

The events of 2020 have forced companies worldwide to reimagine the workplace. Remote working has transformed our idea of what we need from a corporate office. JUSTWork wants to be part of that conversation.

“The office can be more than simply a place of work,” says Roy Kömürcü, JUSTWork’s co-founder and CEO. “It can be social, inspiring, fun.”

Reimagining the Workplace Experience

JUSTWork wants to invigorate the concept of the workplace. In addition to desk space, each JUSTWork location will feature a gym, dining options, gardens, sleep rooms, showers, a music studio and a range of meeting spaces. The mood should be communal and creative; the commercials should be flexible and transparent. JUSTWork can offer from two to 200 desks.

“Business wants flexibility, whether it’s a start-up or large enterprise,” says Kömürcü. “We’re looking at an office-as-a-service model.”

For that to be possible, JUSTWork needs an architecture that is scalable and consistent. Those same qualities are critical to the network. “We want every client to have its own network. This must be secure, smart and performant, anywhere on the campus,” Kömürcü adds.

Creating a Network Template for a Growing Business

Aruba technology is fundamental to the JUSTWork proposition. Its use in the first JUSTWork campus, with 150 access points across a one-floor 10,000sqm office at the Meydan Mall in Istanbul, will form a template for future openings.

The Aruba approach includes ClearPass Policy Manager, cloud-based management via Aruba Central, switching and Wi-Fi 6 access points with integrated IoT (Zigbee) interface. It plays a key role in JUSTWork’s operational excellence and the ability to provide a high performance, secure network-as-a-service to a range of different tenants.

“The Aruba expertise in designing the architecture was essential, plus the ease of integration,” Kömürcü says. “But what was most important for us was the ability to create separate, secure networks for each of our clients. Data security and the strength of the network is a crucial feature of JUSTWork.”

Providing tenants with network-as-a-service

JUSTWork can now offer network-as-a-service to clients, with differing levels of service. Clients can add extra bandwidth or users as required, with guaranteed SLAs where necessary, reflecting the same flexible approach as the broader JUSTWork offer.

The Meydan location is already at 95% occupancy. Ninety per cent of people working there are in the tech sector with very high network expectations.

“We can offer a high-quality basic product, or a platinum product,” explains Kömürcü. “The use of Aruba’s Edge Services Platform means we can set clear service level agreements.”

Aruba Dynamic Segmentation, orchestrated by ClearPass, ensures end-to-end, device-to-port tunnelling and automatically enforces consistent policies across wired and wireless networks to keep traffic for any user or device separate and secure, regardless of the application or service. Each user and company will therefore benefit from a dedicated network, based on the Aruba zero-trust security model.

For JUSTWork tenants it means they can flex between locations and the network will dynamically recognise and adjust. “A client in our Meydan location will experience the same network rights and permissions should they want to use any of the other facilities in Istanbul,” says Kömürcü. “The intelligence is orchestrated by Aruba.”

Centralising visibility and control to simplify global roll-out

In the short term, JUSTWork plans to open a further four locations around Istanbul. The Aruba approach enables JUSTWork to centrally manage the networks on each campus.

Built on a cloud-native microservices architecture, Aruba Central delivers full-service AI insights, security and unified infrastructure management for campus, branch, remote and data centre networks – all from a single pane of glass.

This allows JUSTWork to retain consistency and control. As it embarks on global expansion – openings in the US, Europe and Middle East are being considered – this relieves the need to hire local IT resource.

“We can largely plug-and-play at each new location, knowing we can configure and manage the network from here in Istanbul,” says Kömürcü. “Plus, the Aruba network gives confidence to our enterprise customers that we have a secure, technologically-advanced network infrastructure in place.”

Honing guest experiences and delivering data-enabled SLAs

Leveraging Aruba’s open architecture, the integration of the Faraday Edge platform plays a key role in the management of the JUSTWork office environment. Thanks to its full interaction with Aruba Central and combining the customisable Faraday Edge guest portal, different user profiles can be defined with associated network access service levels. The team at JUSTWork can define data quota, connection duration or bandwidth limits which will then be enforced through Aruba Central.

The cloud-based multi-tenant architecture and value-add services of Farday Edge, such as Wi-Fi Analytics & Marketing, benefit from the flexible and data-rich architecture of Aruba Central. This integration delivers a simple and high-quality workplace service management solution with features such as push notifications, special offers, crowd density & visitor behaviour analysis, surveys and campaign management.

Faraday Edge is also integrated with the JUSTWork office management systems. The three-way integration with Aruba Central allows the secure synchronisation of access to specific network resources based on customer profiles, devices, actions and SLAs.

Driving Operational Excellence Through Data Insights

The Aruba Edge Services Platform (ESP) lays the foundation for JUSTWork to create a smart campus. Office access, facilities booking and service rotas can all be managed digitally. Floors and rooms have smart lighting and energy sensors. QR codes on desks enable users to have services delivered directly to them.

“Our clients tend to be international and each location operates 24/7. All services can be booked through our app,” says Kömürcü. “This is convenient for clients and also produces the data we need to better manage each location.”

Rich data equals more targeted marketing, operational efficiency and the creation of relevant new services. While JUSTWork will offer standard features across each location, local data can be used to detect and reflect local requirements.

Meeting future demand for inspiring workplaces

The impact of home working makes it difficult to make long-term predictions. However, Kömürcü is confident there will always be an appetite for bringing large numbers of people together in one location. The beauty of the JUSTWork campus idea, he says, is that it creates an environment for collaboration, chance meetings and ideas:

“Our vision is to create a place where different people with different talents from different backgrounds meet and produce something new.”