You'd think after growing its size threefold, ARRIS Group would need more space. It did. But not for people, says ARRIS 360º's Tom Williams, another of our headliners for our first annual Creative Space & Tech Summit (register here). Tom spent some time with us reflecting on the changes of ARRIS' corporate real estate holdings at its Suwanee HQ. In April last year, ARRIS acquired the Motorola Home Business from Google, which added about 4,500 employees to its rank (life after marriage can be quite different). The Atlanta-based telecommunications equipment maker says the need for more space had less to do with headcount and more to do with technology: “We've seen the need for a substantial amount of incremental space for data centers and general network facilities,” Tom tells us. (Also where will they put that giant painting of Bono?)
Back in 2010, ARRIS renewed its HQ space at 3871 Lakefield Dr (which we reported here). Since then, ARRIS has spent a significant amount upgrading its space, including a lab room where over 20,000 modems are stored, Tom says. (Don't spill anything in there.) But given the ARRIS global footprint, in some cases, employees are beginning to telecommute more. “We’re finding that people are becoming far more comfortable with using technology in their daily lives. They're online more now than ever."
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