60 Rooms, 1 Month: Cisco and Salamander’s Remarkable Feat In Transforming a Workplace
Acquisitions are exciting for expansion and acceleration of a business yet can be challenging and time consuming as well. And so, it might have been that way with the major acquisition of Splunk by Cisco in the Spring of 2024, which exemplifies this dynamic. In fact, this was the largest acquisition in Cisco’s history. Cisco, renowned for its leadership in networking technology, collaboration, and security, joined forces with Splunk, a company recognized for its expertise in analyzing machine data and providing operational intelligence to businesses. This strategic move aimed to enable Cisco to “supercharge” its application of artificial intelligence for enterprise customers, forging new, secure connections.
60 Conference Rooms in 30 Days Flat
In this unique scenario, the imperative for both speed and precision is crystal clear. Cisco set out with a goal: to ensure that spaces in Splunk’s San Jose headquarters were fully enabled from the moment the acquisition was finalized, with a mere 30 days’ notice. That meant retrofitting a staggering 60 conference and meeting rooms within that tight timeframe. With the target of less than a week, this endeavor was ambitious, yet Cisco remained steadfastly committed to establishing environments conducive to inclusivity and productivity for all teams involved – right from the start.
Enter Salamander Designs
Naturally, Cisco turned to Salamander for assistance with this challenge. Cisco had used Salamander’s audio/video and technology furniture solutions extensively over the past several years, including showcase office projects in New York City, Chicago, Atlanta, Paris and Singapore. Salamander Designs portfolio of wall mounts, credenzas and huddle room solutions has allowed Cisco to rapidly deploy video-enabled collaboration spaces while minimizing costly and time-consuming room remediation work required using traditional deployment approaches and furniture.
~ Mark Miller, Director of Cisco’s Collaboration Center of Excellence.
“For this sizable project, we gave Salamander 30 days from start to completion, including their time to design, build and deliver all the furniture systems to support this project,” shared Mark Miller, Director of Cisco’s Collaboration Center of Excellence. “An effort of this size and complexity would typically take us months to complete, but Salamander’s understanding of our tight timelines, the breadth of their portfolio, and their willingness to partner with our Real Estate and IT teams was what made this project a success.”
The project included several different room types, from small huddle spaces all the way up to a large board room, as well as several collaboration spaces in the open plan. Different technologies and systems had to be supported. As such, the project included Salamander Designs Huddle Stations, Mobile Carts, various Lifts and other custom furniture to meet the specific end user requirements and combined Cisco and Splunk needs.
The Salamander furniture selected matched perfectly to the requirements of each space type. The furniture systems support displays from medium to large, and many are mobile, making the facility modern and able to easily accommodate any meeting, gathering or video conference at a moment’s notice. In the causal huddle rooms Salamander Electric Wall Stands were used in conjunction with a Cisco Board Pro 55s to provide a height adjustable video experience to employees. Several Salamander Huddle Lite tables were also installed, along with a 50” display and Cisco Room Bar, to dramatically expand the number of small traditional collaboration rooms. Large rooms used credenzas to support dual displays and Cisco Room Bar Pro solution, and many Salamander Electric Mobile Carts with Cisco Board Pro 75’s were placed in the open plan to provide additional flexibility
Three Big Benefits
When we asked Mark about what stands out most to him, he highlighted three key benefits of Salamander in this process. “Speed is obviously a major benefit, allowing us to quickly, being able to deploy technology minimizing us touching walls, relocating power and/or data. Second is the cost savings attributed to those third-party trades. Lastly, and most importantly, we’ve future proofed this environment. We typically refresh our collaboration technology, which is our video devices and third-party displays, every 3-4 years. By using Salamander we’ve dramatically reduces the time, complexity and cost of these future upgrades, which will pay dividends both today and well into the future.”
So, did the companies make the tight deadline? Indeed, they did. In a mere 30 days, Cisco, now joined by Splunk by Cisco, successfully made their open date and collaboration on day one. Teams swiftly became operational, productive, and maximized the utilization of both space and resources post-acquisition. And as they say, the rest is history.
About Salamander Designs, Ltd.
For over 30 years, multiple award-winning Salamander Designs has been designing and manufacturing premium quality furniture for residential and commercial audio/video technology integration that complements any space. Committed to the promise that every customer deserves furniture that is shaped by their needs, Salamander’s expert design team and build-to-order formula serve a wide range of markets equally, including the advanced audiophile, luxury residential and commercial customers of all sizes and categories. All products are custom made in a 100% solar-powered USA facility, uniquely quick shipped within days and backed by a lifetime warranty which includes superior support. To learn why global companies and thousands of residential customers worldwide rely on Salamander furniture.
Press Contacts
Salamander Designs, Ltd.
Angela Babowicz
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011-860-761-9523
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