BizSpace – twiindata

BizSpace – workspaces that work for you

BizSpace is the leading regional flexible workspace provider in the UK, with 71 sites across the country, offering a broad portfolio which includes managed flexible offices, light industrial and studios. With a clear proposition of affordable, easy to move in space, they are perfectly positioned to maximise on the forecast growth of flexible workspace outside the core city centre market.

Connectivity solution requirements

BizSpace have relied on technologywithin to provide their connectivity solutions since 2015. Their original brief was to provide a connectivity solution that supported their customer proposition, to provide affordable solutions that customers actually want.  Their clients are largely SMEs, who need the flexibility to turn up with their laptops and start working straightaway – with fast internet. So, setting up new clients on the network quickly and easily was key.

Over time their needs have developed as the portfolio has grown.  As with many operators, they wanted to be able to monetise technology services; for their team to be able to confidently upsell dedicated bandwidth whilst also addressing client’s technology questions around firewalls and IP addresses.

This included for their smaller mixed industrial sites, with just a few offices, where clients were increasingly asking for WiFi.

twiindata – a network management solution designed for flexible workspace

When Simon Mason joined BizSpace as Head of Group Technology, he was pleased to find a solution in place that met his needs. “I really like twiindata. It does what it says on the tin. It means that our teams on site can set up new clients on the network and upgrade them, because the front end is easy for non-technical people to use.  That’s a real benefit for me as it frees up the central IT team from doing those simple tasks.”

twiindata is an advanced network infrastructure controller including firewall, IP router, switch management, WiFi management and bandwidth control tool designed and supported in-house by technologywithin to give controllable levels of internet access (handling speeds of up to 10GB) to multiple clients in a building whilst securely segregating their data from one another.  The product  has a centralised cloud-based user interface, designed to allow non-technical site managers to perform complex network configuration with ease and confidence.

twiindata cowork – an affordable network management solution for smaller workspaces

To meet the company’s needs at their semi-industrial sites, where the few office clients would like WiFi, a twiindata cowork trial has been set up. twiindata cowork is a “light” version of the main product, with a 1GB line and scaled down network equipment.  This has enabled BizSpace to offer a dedicated WiFi connectivity solution which both meets customer needs and covers its costs. Once the proof of concept is in place they will be able to roll it out nationally.

Monetising the technology

Training building teams to feel confident about responding to client’s technology questions and upselling connectivity services is part of the technologywithin service.  Chris Male, Key Accounts Director at technologywithin, supported Simon and his team to create a clear package for onsite teams with the service price lists and FAQs. For Simon this has been really valuable, “This is a huge time saver for me and means that building teams are confident in responding to new client questions like, “Can I have my own IP address?” It also gives me the opportunity to monetise connectivity. We’re working with the technologywithin team to upsell connectivity, they have helped set pricing and train our centre managers. The potential is now there to make the returns and avoid clients bringing in their own leased lines.”

Great customer service

Whilst the technologywithin solution works for BizSpace, the partnership with the team is just as important for Simon, “Anytime I need help Chris Male (Key Accounts Director) jumps on a quick call with me and we sort it out together. He’s an absolute legend, very detail focused and makes my life a lot easier.  It’s the same with technical and customer service support – everyone is really responsive and they address any issues quickly. I’ve got a good relationship with the right people and the relationship is as important as the products.”