Setting up your office in 20 days

The Business Enabled Office (BEO), the latest trend in service provision to arrive in the marketplace, has just been launched at Airside Business Park, Swords, where there is currently 100,000 sq ft of serviced space available for occupation.

Much in demand in the US, this new product combines in-house IT with facility management to offer a hassle-free office environment to tenants.

Lease flexibility and "tiered tailored packing" are the key factors of the product, which will no doubt appeal to tenants looking for a cost-effective method of establishing premises.

The concept builds on the serviced office utility, taking it one step further to offer a full IT set-up and maintenance service. This BEO product is a joint venture between Albany Group, developers of the business park at Airside, FP2, a facilities manager company and Amdahl, IT consultants and providers based in Airside.

Serviced office space is a popular product on the market. Facilities managers take care of the running and maintenance of an office building, from the initial fit-out to the operating and provision of a range of different services including cleaning, catering, furniture, utilities. Tenants pay a monthly fee or else the cost is included in rent. The advantages for tenants are obvious, especially for new or expanding companies which would prefer to wait until they are secure before investing significant capital in offices.

The overall concept of the BEO includes an IT service tailored to the needs of a company in addition to facilities management. IT hardware, software, management and back-up are the services on offer in this package.

The cost savings in renting IT hardware and services rather than investing capital is viewed as a big selling point.

Another key feature of the service is the flexibility: in addition to offering lease terms ranging from six months to four years and nine months, tenants can avail of the service at different levels, depending on their needs.

There are five levels of service available according to Pat Gilroy of FP2. At the most basic level, tenants can just avail of an office fit-out and utility service. The next level then offers the full range of office facility services, including reception, telecommunication, security, catering and so on. IT connectivity is the main feature of the third option.

The next level then provides the full IT infrastructure - PC equipment, software such as Microsoft Word and maintenance of the system. At the top-tier, businesses can avail of full Internet provision services including the set-up and maintenance of websites and e-mail facilities. Essentially, at the top two levels, the service is similar to having an in-house IT department.

The main advantages of BEO, said Gilroy, are that the full range of services is provided under a single managed service contract tailored to the specific requirements of each client and without significant upfront investment.

Providing space for new start-ups or for firms wishing to downsize will constitute the majority of business at Airside. The cost ranges from £25 (€31.75) to £150 (€190) per sq ft depending on the level of service required.

According to Gilroy, BEO guarantees to get a typical 30-person organisation up and running in 20 days, and can also provide the skills required to establish and integrate the e-business elements. The IT service is provided by Amdahl, part of the Fujitsu world-wide group, which was one of the first tenants into Airside.

AMDAHL set up a state-of-the-art data centre with full fibre-optic capabilities in September 1999; the rest of the business park can link into this infrastructure under the BEO service.

High profile tenants at Airside include Motorola and Juniper; currently, 12 tenants occupy 125,000 sq ft of space, and another 100,000 sq ft of space is available for immediate occupation. Five new buildings planned for the Park will, subject to further planning permission, provide 500,000 sq ft on completion.