“It\u2019s been quite the journey,” says Jeff Ramos. As leader of The Garage, Ramos is responsible for driving Microsoft\u2019s hack culture and engineering experimentation. He\u2019s also responsible for selecting the next Garage physical locations, in concert with Real Estate & Facilities (RE&F).<\/p>\n
“Our development of new Garage spaces has been defined by a pure and genuine desire to partner by both RE&F and us,” says Ramos. “RE&F listens to our vision, hears our business goals, and then thinks about how to best represent those outcomes through great architecture, design, and facilities.”<\/p>\n
There are currently seven Garage spaces either open or under construction. Launched in 2013, The Garage at Redmond corporate headquarters is the flagship, with well-equipped and dedicated hacking and making spaces. Since then, two additional Garage locations have opened: Vancouver, BC in June, 2016, and Herzliya, Israel in July, 2016. The Silicon Valley Garage is now open and will host an official grand opening in upcoming months.<\/p>\n
Three more Garage locations are under construction and slated to open in coming years: Beijing, China in the first half of 2017, Hyderabad, India in the second half of 2017, and Cambridge, Massachusetts in early 2018. “Over time, both we and RE&F are getting better at this. We\u2019re learning by doing, which is the epitome of The Garage,” says Ramos.<\/p>\n
What makes an ideal Garage location? They should have large concentrations of employees\u2014a critical mass with a high level of diversity that is ripe for innovative thinking. They should have substantial interest and participation in Garage activities and the desire to build strong connections to local tech and higher education communities.<\/p>\n
These criteria led to an initial focus on Microsoft Global Development Centers (GDCs). \u201cWhile many sites are participating in Garage activities, we decided to bring dedicated facilities and staff to support the innovation that is already happening at the GDCs,\u201d says Ramos.<\/p>\n
The six Microsoft GDC locations provide access to the most leading-edge talent and markets. T. K. Rengarajan (\u201cRanga\u201d), Corporate Vice President of Engineering for Microsoft, cultivates the global community of engineering talent. \u201cCurrently 31% of our engineers work outside of Puget Sound,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
“We want to foster a culture that’s open-where employees are rewarded for thinking differently.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Ranga is deeply committed to creating a work environment that inspires and motivates people. \u201cThink about it,\u201d he says. \u201cAn engineer that\u2019s motivated is easily 10 times more impactful than one that\u2019s not. It\u2019s a simple fact. My goal is to create an environment that inspires our engineers\u2014and that makes Microsoft the best place to work and build their careers.\u201d<\/p>\n
What goes into creating that kind of environment? The standard free food and fun diversions like foosball tables are only one part of the equation. The other is to cultivate an innovation culture\u2014one that offers the best systems to empower engineers, and \u201conly at Microsoft\u201d opportunities that employees won\u2019t find anywhere else.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to foster a culture that\u2019s open, transparent, collaborative, without boundaries\u2014where employees are rewarded, not penalized, for thinking differently\u2014and where failure is viewed as an opportunity to learn,\u201d says Ranga. \u201cOur GDCs, and RE&F\u2019s efforts to create inspiring Garage spaces in these locations, are a critical component to that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Creating Spaces for Innovators and Makers<\/h2>\n
So what defines a Garage location? They generally adhere to a set of design principles, as proffered by Ramos and RE&F Global Workplace Strategies Manager Doug Lowrie. The two came up with design guidelines for creating three kinds of functional, flexible, highly reconfigurable spaces. These dynamic spaces showcase the collaborative and creative culture of Microsoft and are located in a highly visible part of the building to maximize exposure for passersby.<\/p>\n
In essence, Ramos and Lowrie defined what kind of spaces make up a Garage location, and what goes into them. Collaboration Spaces are for events and meetings, and are open and accessible to the public. Maker Spaces have tools and equipment for prototyping and tinkering, and are open to employees and interns only. And Advanced Maker Spaces hold deeply technical prototyping equipment. These spaces are only accessible to highly skilled employees who have completed safety training and supervised hands-on training.<\/p>\n
Lowrie chuckles, \u201cI joke that the Advanced Maker lab is where you can start a fire or put out an eye. This is where we house the laser cutters, large CNC mills, a drill press, and a resin 3D printer.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Newest Garage: Israel<\/h2>\n
![\"Nir](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/blog-Nir_under_construction_sized-1.jpg\")
The newest Garage in Herzliya, Israel was inspired by Nir Levy, Director of Academia and Garage Programs. Israeli universities are home to many of the top 20 computer science programs in the world, and Levy taught courses at several of them.<\/p>\n
What he saw in his students was a need to better understand the world away from their keyboards and computer screens. \u201cI thought if they had the opportunity to build physical things and see all of the challenges in that, it would make them better developers. They\u2019d really understand all the implications of the code they were writing.\u201d<\/p>\n
So Levy went to his senior leadership team with the idea of building a Garage in Israel. They liked the idea\u2014and as they say, the rest is history. After 6\u20137 months of planning and 4\u20135 months of construction by RE&F, the Israel Garage opened this past July, serving both Microsoft employees and the local tech community.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s truly an amazing space,\u201d says Ramos, who recently visited. Levy agrees, citing the dramatic, all-glass construction. \u201cIt sits in the middle of the Israel GDC,\u201d he says, \u201cso everyone who visits and the employees who work there walk right past it and look inside.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also relayed the many challenges and complexities of the construction project. For example, protecting the equipment in a glass building in a place as sunny and hot as Israel. And controlling air quality and temperature in the 100-square-meter maker space, densely packed with machines. \u201cThere are literally four different systems just to circulate air,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
Building a Community<\/h2>\n
Open less than six months, the response to the Israel Garage has been overwhelmingly positive. Long a hotbed for cybersecurity thought and technology, the Israel Garage\u2019s first seminar, on drones, drew 200 of the GDC\u2019s 1,000 employees. The local Surface team also uses the new Garage to build updated models.<\/p>\n
Levy\u2019s university students are using the space in droves, with over 100 students working on 30 different projects. Local companies are getting in on the act, too. \u201cEvery day, The Garage has a visit from a different company,\u201d says Levy.<\/p>\n
Interested businesses include local startup companies developing everything from Cloud-connected microphones to 3D sounds; to leading Israeli banks and financial institutions; to elite units of the Israeli army; to curators from Israel\u2019s National Science Museum.<\/p>\n
All of these businesses are a strategic resource for Microsoft, working in key industries of interest and value to the Israel GDC. So they gain access to The Garage for free.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a key advantage of Garage locations that we don\u2019t always talk about,\u201d says Ramos. \u201cThrough Garages, we mutually share knowledge and insights with business, government, and educational institutions that are of strategic interest for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re also, frankly, a recruiting tool,\u201d says Levy. \u201cWe\u2019re getting access to the best and brightest engineering talent from local universities and the surrounding communities. That\u2019s invaluable to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Supporting a Culture<\/h2>\n
\u201cThe benefits of having Garage locations are obvious, and they grow exponentially the more sites we build,\u201d says Ramos. \u201cHaving a Garage shows that we are committed to the local community, and to being a thought leader and a resource for that community.\u201d<\/p>\n
He cites not just the new Israel Garage, but also the one in Vancouver, BC as an example. \u201cIt\u2019s right in the heart of downtown Vancouver, and it attracts the best companies and individual developers. It shows our respect for the rich talent pool and wealth of technical knowledge there. We really made a statement to the city of Vancouver by building there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Levy agrees: \u201cBy building in the heart of the Israel GDC, and the heart of downtown Vancouver, we\u2019re telling the world that we are a company that\u2019s into innovation. This is a place where you can tinker and build and grow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ranga sees the impactful, creative value of these Garages not just for employees, but also for the surrounding community. \u201cThese are beautiful workspaces that inspire everyone who sees them and serve to recruit new talent,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Making a Local Impact<\/h2>\n
![\"The](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/blog-profile_Video_Breakdown_sized-1.jpg\")
Shortly after the Israel Garage opened, local employees participated in the yearly \/\/oneweek Hackathon. Israel won two first prizes: for ambient computing and wearable electronics. \u201cWe were really excited and proud to be able to accomplish this so soon after The Garage opened,\u201d says Levy.<\/p>\n
Other groundbreaking projects are coming out of the Israel GDC, taking advantage of The Garage to experiment and get projects out to customers for testing. Video Breakdown is one such project. Developed by the Israel Incubations Group headed by Ohad Jassin, Video Breakdown lets you search for videos about a specific topic, jump to key moments in the video, and share your favorite segments.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith cognitive video indexing capabilities evolving so rapidly, we now have the power to understand what’s inside a video,\u201d says Jassin. \u201cOur goal is to build a powerful index for video content and design new experiences that leverage this index.\u201d He expects Video Breakdown to be used in a variety of Microsoft products, from Bing Videos on the consumer side, to Azure Media Services for enterprises.<\/p>\n
Formed over two years ago, the group is a small team of five people that operates much like a startup. \u201cWe look at areas that are highly relevant for the local ecosystem and markets\u2014for instance, cybersecurity,\u201d says Jassin. \u201cIf it happens to be a unique differentiator for Microsoft in Israel, we try to engage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jassin is proud of his small \u201ccommando\u201d team and the work they are doing. \u201cThe Israel GDC and The Garage, and the support from our local leadership team and throughout the entire company, is really unique. We have the support to experiment, fail, learn from our mistakes, try again, and then succeed. That makes us want to achieve more for the team and for our company.\u201d<\/p>\n
Growing the Movement<\/h2>\n
That support for The Garage permeates Microsoft\u2014and senior leaders throughout the company are fully onboard. \u201cThe Garage program really took off when Satya Nadella started as CEO and saw the cultural impact of the first Hackathon in 2014,\u201d says Ramos.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why Ramos is committed to adding new Garage locations, as time and resources permit. In addition to Beijing, Hyderabad and Cambridge coming online in the next few years, Ramos is looking at additional locations. \u201cThere is a lot of amazing engineering happening beyond the six GDCs, and we want to cater to that. We want ideation and experimentation to happen everywhere at Microsoft.\u201d<\/p>\n
He continues, \u201cAnywhere we can share the culture of The Garage, we\u2019ll do it. And really, that\u2019s all of Microsoft. That\u2019s who we are now as a company\u2014it\u2019s part of our culture. So in collaboration with RE&F, we will continue making Garage spaces around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What began in 2009 as an underground offshoot of Office Labs has mushroomed into a global program inspiring Microsoft employees, interns, and the industry to reconsider how cultural reinvention and innovation can indeed happen.<\/p>\n
CONTINUE READING \"A commitment to worldwide innovation\"<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-garage-general"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"The Garage: Worldwide workplace innovation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Microsoft Real Estate & Facilities and the Garage are partnering to create innovative office spaces worldwide\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/garage\/blog\/2017\/01\/commitment-worldwide-innovation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta 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![\"A](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/blog-IsraelMainGarage_cropped_sized-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n