Microsoft’s Fargo campus was opened and occupied in 1999. This was originally the site of Great Plains Software, which existed since the early ’80s. To date, Microsoft Fargo is the second largest field campus — Microsoft’s Silicon Valley campus is the largest field campus.
This is the main entrance to the Microsoft Fargo campus. Microsoft’s Horizon building will receive a 65,000 square foot amenities addition, including a new cafe, meeting rooms, an Executive Briefing Center, and a company store.
This bison art piece, created by a local artist, is located right outside the main entrance to Microsoft Fargo. The bison is North Dakota’s state animal.
The front desk and reception area of Horizon is where customers, vendors, and visitors sign in.
Here’s a look at the entryway of Horizon.
This is a look down the front hallway of Horizon.
Several pieces of art, created by various artists, decorate the walls of Microsoft Fargo campus.
This is a coffee cart within Horizon, where Microsoft employees can get a quick snack or drink.
This is the seating area to the left of the Horizon cafe.
There are a lot of little coves and conference rooms at Microsoft Fargo to better facilitate office relations.
The conference rooms at Microsoft Fargo are scattered around the edges of the building. Some of the names of the conference rooms are of Great Plains people who received awards, which adds a taste of North Dakota into the office.
Soft and natural light filters through the Horizon building. The office is designed so that inside offices are against walls, providing the maximum number of people with the maximum amount of light.
Peering down a cubicle hallway in Horizon.
The tiles on the stairwell in Horizon, imported from India, were chosen for the broad range of natural colors they offer. The colors, textures, and materials, used in decorating Horizon have a definite agricultural motiff and are reminiscent of the great plains.
Burgum field, next to the Vista building at Microsoft Fargo, is a multi-purpose green space that makes up the “backyard” of the campus. It is used for events like the annual campus picnic, as well as for team member dodgeball and flag football games.
The monument at Burgum field is a replica of the border markers used to delineate the North Dakota/South Dakota border. The name Burgum field was chosen to honor Doug Burgum and his family for all the time, money, and energy that they put into Great Plains and Microsoft Fargo.
The Eagle’s Nest in the Horizon building offers a taste of North Dakota and a view of the surroundings.
The lights in the Eagle’s Nest are also in the Microsoft campus at Copenhagen, Denmark.
Here’s a view of the Eagle’s Nest from the outside of Horizon. Directly below the Eagle’s Nest is the Fireside room, which is a conference room and meeting area that contains books about the company and Great Plains.
Horizon also displays a Great Plains memorabilia wall.
An open-air walkway is the only connection between the Horizon and Vista buildings on Microsoft Fargo campus. Part of the expansion plans includes a connecting walkway with a roof.
Outside the Vista building is a seating area, where people sit especially in the spring.
Here’s a view of the inside of the Vista building. Vista is the newer (and more secure — a little Microsoft humor) building on the Microsoft Fargo campus.
The Vista building is where dev is housed. Employee cubicles are easily located by street signs, as you can see in this picture.
When Vista was built, they added a lot of things per employee input, such as moveable cube walls.
Take a look inside the Vista cafeteria. Microsoft subsidizes the cafeterias on campus to provide team members with economical food options.
Food options at the Vista cafeteria.
The entrance to the Vista building displays a variety of industry and local awards won by teams on the Microsoft Fargo campus as well as awards and recognition given to the campus as a whole.
The Vista building has an Executive Briefing Center, where partners and customers come in and learn how to use the software better, ask questions, and problem-solve.
Shared Services was off-limits during the Microsoft Fargo campus tour, but here’s a picture of the secured entrance.
Beverages at this location in the Vista building are all free, including orange juice, milk, V8, Starbucks coffee, and soft drinks. The most requested beverage on campus, believe it or not, is milk.
There are 16 Starbucks machines at Microsoft Fargo campus, at $10K apiece. Coffee, a necessary fuel for most IT professionals, is free to all Microsoft employees.
Another seating area outside Vista.
Here’s a seating area on the second floor of Vista.
More conference or huddle rooms in Vista.
The Performance Test Lab in Vista holds approximately 700 machines.
If one person sat down and manually executed all of the tests Microsoft Fargo runs in one night, it would take that person five or more years to complete the task. These labs are accessed by Microsoft development personnel in Copenhagen, India, and Redmond, as well as Fargo personnel. The resident customer service and support teams also utilize the labs.
Tons of cable run through the Performance Test Lab in Vista.
There are approximately 400 machines in the Test Lab in Horizon.
Another look inside the Test Lab in Horizon.
Meeting room monitors allows employees to see who has scheduled meetings for that room throughout the day and if the room is currently occupied.
Here’s a closer look at the meeting room monitors in Vista.
Horizon Hall is the main cafeteria and the largest meeting room on campus. This is where the expansion of Horizon will take place.
Horizon Hall offers both inside and outside seating.
Microsoft Fargo employees are getting ready for lunch at Horizon Hall.
Here’s a view of the outdoor seating for Horizon Hall. In the distance, the tall grass marks the spot where the new buildings will be located.
A special thanks to Maggie Orseth, a Student Experience Program Intern of the Microsoft Fargo Site Council, who provided the guided tour. Maggie was a high school intern last year. She graduated from Fargo South in 2006.
My name is Sonja Thompson. I've worked for TechRepublic since October of 1999, starting with the enewsletter team, then with the Premium Products group (creating books and CDs), as well as programming some of the elements on the site. After leading the Tech News team on TR, I jumped at the opportunity to switch gears and try my hand at video editing, podcasts, and other forms of multimedia on the site. I'm currently the host of the Smartphones blog, plus I edit the TR Dojo video series. \ \ I graduated from the University of Louisville. Since then, I've also completed several technology related courses from SmartPlanet. My goal is to learn about the TR community, interact with members on the site, and hopefully encourage more people to participate - and more often.
