- T-Mobile just opened a new Cyber Defense Center for real-time threat detection
- The Executive Briefing Center next door lets enterprise customers experience T-Mobile’s network solutions in interactive spaces
- After years of breaches, T-Mobile is making cybersecurity a core part of its culture – and its architecture
BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON—While the city of Seattle waits to see how their Mariners baseball team performs at T-Mobile Park tonight – the next game in a series that may get them to the World Series for the first time – Fierce got a little “inside baseball” in the neighboring city of Bellevue, Washington, where T-Mobile is headquartered.
That’s where Big Magenta unveiled its new Cyber Defense Center, a snazzy new facility designed to combat cyber threats in real time.
Right next door to it – actually, they’re connected by a stairway – is the new Executive Briefing Center, where T-Mobile set up some razzle-dazzle presentation areas where it can show enterprise customers all the great things T-Mobile can do for them.
Fierce was part of a group of reporters who got a tour of the facilities this week and let’s just say, T-Mobile pulled out all the stops to create these spaces. One of our hosts, T-Mobile Cybersecurity Operations Director Matt Bybee, told us that he helped steer the architecture of the cyber facility – from the very specific types of materials in the tactile signs outside of conference rooms to the comfy chairs in the employee retreat rooms.
At the entrance of the Cyber Defense Center is sign made out of 1s and 0s and hidden inside is a code that T-Mobile employees are challenged to solve. (This facility opened about two weeks ago and we’re told that the riddle has already been deciphered, but our source clammed up when we asked them to reveal the answer.)
This is the board room, where the chairs were specially designed for comfort, Bybee told us. Behind the window is the cyber security center, where about 212 employees work to “protect our customers and our employees” 24 hours a day, he said.
A lot of times, cyber security staff gets relegated to a basement or places that are not very bright and open. But at T-Mobile, there’s a different philosophy. After years of suffering the brunt of embarrassing and expensive data breaches and other incendiary incidents, T-Mobile is flipping the script and making security the front and center of everything.
“Security is everything we do,” Bybee said. “That is the theme behind the building.”
Bybee emphasized the importance of ergonomic seating and neurodiverse considerations in the design of the facility, including the signs outside of conference rooms like this one.
This is a retreat room where employees can go when they need a break from the stress. The room is soundproof and the chair reclines.
Showing off for enterprises
T-Mobile also gave us an Executive Briefing Center tour with Dmitry Risukhin, head of Executive Briefing Centers (yes, that’s his title). He leads the team that showcases T-Mobile’s Business Group solutions to enterprise customers and partners across the ecosystem.
Above is one area of the Enterprise Business Center where T-Mobile can demonstrate how its network can serve various industries, like transportation or healthcare.
Executive briefing centers are not unique to T-Mobile; it’s a common program at companies like Microsoft, where Risukhin worked in a previous role. Basically, they’re places where business leaders can have conversations with prospective customers or clients and show them examples of what their solutions can do for them.
In another area, there's an entire wall that looks like a giant TV to showcase T-Mobile’s various products and services for enterprise.
Feedback from analysts indicates that T-Mobile’s EBC is one of the more engaging when compared to its nearest rivals in the telecom space, Risukhin said.
No doubt, enterprises will be the judge of that, but based on this author's initial impressions, they'll be comfortable while making their investment decisions.