What is FaaS, Fudosan as a Service?
Fudosan as a Service (FaaS, typically pronounced ‘fass’) is a model of office service that applies the Everything as a Service concepts to real estate and office space. The Japanese word for real estate, Fudosan, is used as this model originated in Japan. As with Software as a Service (SaaS) vendors, FaaS vendors provide on-demand real estate that can be subscribed to on a monthly or weekly basis.
Most FaaS providers are for office space, but retail space providers have also been created (*citation needed ).
Key attributes of FaaS:
For an office service to qualify as FaaS, it must:
1) provide SaaS or “cloud computing ” based IT services.
These services include, but are not limited to general Internet connectivity, VoIP telephone service, online storage & collaboration, and WebOS services.
2) provide multiple “real” office locations within a given city.
These “real” locations include work space for everyday work, meeting space for client meetings, and conference rooms for presentations/seminars. Multiple locations ensure that users can travel freely within a city, meeting clients, and choosing work locations that are close at hand. Having location independent SaaS IT services is therefore essential to keep workers mobile.
3) be directly operated by the building owner/landlord
This requirement rules out traditional “serviced office ” providers which rent out an office space, refurbish it, and then sub-lease it out at high rents. As in the SaaS industry, profit margins for FaaS services tend to be less than traditional leases and removing the serviced office provider middle man is essential. This also allows for better scalability of a given service.
“Work Style” vs. “Workplace”
One of the main concepts of FaaS is the emphasis of “work style” over “workplace”. A workplace refers to a static office that includes walls, desks, telephones, etc. However, the idea of “work style” focuses on a worker’s requirements to work efficiently and is not tied down to one location or office space. With the high penetration of high-speed Internet connectivity, and mobile computing, workers are no longer tied to one workplace and can work from home, a cafe, or anywhere with an Internet connection. FaaS services provide a valuable business address, collaborative work space, and meeting/conference space to go along with the IT services.
Users of FaaS services tend to have high IT literacy, and be freelancers or entrepreneurs. This is similar to the concept of “nomad workers ”(link in Japanese only) as expounded by Keio University Professor Taro Matsumura. (Article (link in Japanese only) by Matsumura-sensi about a particular FaaS service.)
Origins:
Several factors lead to the development of FaaS in Tokyo in the late 2009s. Tokyo office spaces sport some of the highest rents in the world , have high initial costs (10-12 months’ rent security deposit), and inflexible, long-term leases. This gives rise to the affordable and flexible terms of FaaS providers. Also, the very high-speed Internet connectivity and efficient public transportation in Japan lend well to the mobile nature off FaaS services.
Examples of FaaS services
co-lab (link in Japanese only) is collaborative shared office that was started in Ichigaya 4 years ago. They opened their second location in Sendagaya in 2010.
moboff is a mobile office service started in 2009 with 5 locations in the Harajuku/Aoyama area, with more scheduled to open in 2010. This was the first service to include cloud computing services into their office service.
about the author:
Originally from Buenos Aires and trained as an electrical engineer, Nicolas Koreni currently works in the Tokyo real estate industry. He is a Registered Real Estate Transaction Manger in Japan (also known as Takken), and is only the fifth non-Japanese to ever attain this license.