How Snowflake Consolidated Its Workplace And Makes Data-Backed Decisions with Gable

Snowflake Case Study - Interview

Snowflake, a global leader in cloud data solutions, provides businesses with a scalable and flexible data platform. With roughly 8,000 employees worldwide, 3,000 of whom are remote, Snowflake faced significant challenges in providing a centralized workplace solution to its remote workforce.

Before partnering with Gable, what were the biggest difficulties with your people and workplace strategy?

"Before partnering with Gable, our biggest difficulty was reporting and insights. We had no clear visibility into workspace utilization, which made tracking and forecasting incredibly difficult. Our workplace policies were quite flexible, leading to inefficiencies.

At one point, we were using three different services—Regus, WeWork, and Upflex—without a consolidated approach. Employees would walk into an office and request a room, and we would later receive unexpected invoices with added late fees. Managing these scattered solutions became a nightmare, with no centralized system to track usage or costs."

What triggered the need for change?

"Security and integration issues were a major concern. We lacked integration with Okta, making our access management process highly manual. Each request required a ticket, which our team had to process manually. Additionally, coverage gaps in niche markets, WeWork's bankruptcy concerns, and Regus’ fragmented locations posed further risks."

What has your teams adoption & utilization looked like?

"Snowflake has provisioned ~2500 employees to access Gable from August 2024 - present. 700 users have activated their accounts and 268 made bookings. Approximately 67 active users per month. Average number of bookings per user is 3.8 bookings."

What were the biggest pains your team experienced?

• "Many Vendors & Low Coverage: We had Global pass providers before, so it’s been great to consolidate providers and provide more coverage/options for our employees, even with fewer offices than before.
• Data, Billing, and Insights: Our team had to manually process and reconcile invoices and usage reports, which was time-consuming and prone to errors.
• Unpredictable Costs: Fixed fees for underutilized spaces and unexpected charges made cost control difficult.
• Operational Complexity: Managing multiple service providers, tracking payments, and troubleshooting employee requests required constant attention, often at inconvenient hours. With just two people managing a 70-office portfolio for 2,300 employees, our workload was unsustainable.
• Time Burden of Opening a New Office: Opening even a 10-person office could take up to 6 months, requiring involvement from multiple teams—real estate, legal, IT, branding, and finance—resulting in hundreds of hours of administrative work. A larger office, such as a 50+ person site, could take over a year and require significant capital and operational resources. In contrast, Gable allows us to launch new locations within days or weeks, dramatically reducing setup time and effort."

How has Gable impacted your company's operational efficiency and real estate cost savings?

"Gable consolidated all our workspace needs into a single, streamlined solution. This simplification had several key benefits:

• Operational Efficiency: One platform for employees to book workspaces, reducing manual interventions.
• HRIS Integration: Automating access and tracking employee workspace usage improved collaboration.
• Flexible Expansion: Gable allows us to quickly add locations on demand that employees request within 21 days. The Gable team handles everything. We don’t have to get involved; the employees just submit tickets for new spaces. 
• Excellent Support: Our employees appreciate Gable’s responsiveness and time to resolve any team issues.
• Social Collaboration: Employees can see where their peers are working, making it easier to coordinate in-person collaboration, boosting engagement and productivity."

Real Estate Cost Savings

"We are still compiling exact cost savings, but the early impact is clear.

• We eliminated over 800 WeWork All Access passes, saving us approximately $199 per pass/month or ~$160k annually. 
• We have identified 5–6 locations where we may close dedicated spaces, potentially saving $10,000+ per month.
• Reducing dedicated leases means eliminating 12+ invoices per closed lease, cutting significant processing time and administrative overhead.
• Avoiding new lease signings reduces the burden on multiple teams—real estate, legal, IT, finance, HR, and compliance, each of which would normally spend weeks, if not months, ensuring contract execution and operational setup."
• Lower audit and compliance costs, contributing to sustainability and security improvements.

Even with this new program, we've been able to still save on real estate costs while expanding access to space to more employees."

How has Gable improved GTM team functions or driven revenue?

While we are still gathering quantitative data, we’ve observed that:

• Sales teams that collaborate in person see a significant boost in performance.
• Gable enables meeting flexibility, allowing sales teams to prep near client offices.
• Managers use Gable for team gatherings and HR leverages it for interviews, improving hiring efficiency."

What features of Gable do you find most valuable and why?

• "User Experience & Ease of Use: The platform is beautiful and effortlessly navigated by both admins and employees.
• Team View & All-User Map: Helps visualize where employees are working globally, making collaboration easier.
• Dashboard & Reporting: We can track and validate workspace utilization and needs with minimal training.
• Social Rating Feature: Employees can see highly rated spaces, improving overall satisfaction and ensuring a good experience.
• Quick Launch of New Locations: The ability to request and add locations on demand within 21 days ensures our employees have a space to work."

How have you used Gable’s data for decision-making and expansion?

• "Consolidation & Validation: Instead of opening new offices, we validate demand through Gable and sometimes leverage on-demand spaces instead, or use it to project future headcounts before opening an office. 
• Cost Avoidance: Ensuring that workspace spending is necessary and cost-effective.
• Usage Tracking: If a location consistently books up, we consider dedicated space options.
• Budget Control: Despite the increased headcount and space bookings, we have remained well below our allocated budget for our flexible program.
• Strategic Growth: Using Gable as a search engine for potential expansions (e.g., Saudi Arabia)."

Why did your team choose Gable?

We conducted a thorough evaluation, considering:

• "Data-Driven Decision Making: Gable’s reporting tools were superior to competitors.
• Ease of Use & Aesthetic Appeal: The platform was visually intuitive and user-friendly.
• Flexibility & Availability: Gable provided more location options than any other provider.
• Professionalism: Gable’s team was knowledgeable and never talked down competitors."

After partnering with Gable, how has it helped you effectively manage your hybrid/remote teams?

"Gable has been instrumental in managing our hybrid workforce, allowing us to provide structured yet flexible workspace solutions that align with business needs. Employees now have a single, reliable platform for workspace reservations, reducing admin workload and enhancing productivity. Additionally, the ability to see where colleagues are working fosters more organic collaboration and meaningful in-person interactions."

Conclusion

Was partnering with Gable the right decision? Would you recommend it?

"I highly recommend Gable to any company with remote offices lacking a clear workspace strategy. Gable allows companies to control costs while giving employees flexibility. It’s the ideal solution for companies looking to streamline their real estate strategy while supporting a distributed workforce." - Lisa Cortez, Global Real Estate Manager

‍