{"id":112921,"date":"2026-04-07T09:05:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T16:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.backblaze.com\/blog\/?p=112921"},"modified":"2026-04-06T14:07:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T21:07:10","slug":"distributed-by-design-building-a-truly-remote-backblaze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.backblaze.com\/blog\/distributed-by-design-building-a-truly-remote-backblaze\/","title":{"rendered":"Distributed by Design: Building a Truly Remote Backblaze"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

In 2007, Backblaze started in a one-bedroom Palo Alto apartment. Since those days of hand-assembling Storage Pods, we\u2019ve grown to manage over 5 exabytes of data for 500,000 customers across 175 countries. As our mission to make customers unstoppable grew, our team naturally grew with it, moving far beyond the walls of any single office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pandemic gave us the final piece of data we needed to evolve. When the world reopened, our San Mateo headquarters never quite looked the same. The office became a bit of a paradox: a large, quiet space where a handful of people moved through a space designed for hundreds. Meanwhile, the true heart and soul of the company was already thriving elsewhere, solving the world\u2019s toughest storage challenges from data centers in Phoenix, spare bedrooms in Austin, and kitchen tables in Cheltenham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We didn\u2019t rush this. We experimented, explored, and really listened to our team. When we looked at the data, we found only around 5% of our teams worked out of the San Mateo office regularly. By testing new ways of collaborating, we confirmed what we already suspected: our culture isn\u2019t tied to a physical floor plan, it\u2019s tied to our shared commitment to our customers and each other. As of February 1, 2026, we made it official: Backblaze has moved beyond the hybrid model to become a fully remote, distributed company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Listening, learning, and being practical<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This transition isn\u2019t about a grand corporate strategy, but about meeting our employees where they’re at\u2014everywhere. While we appreciate the flexibility, we noticed that hybrid models can unintentionally create two different cultures, one for those who can make it into the office and another for everyone else. Whether an employee is in San Jose or the Philippines, we want them to have the same access to leadership, and each other. We\u2019re now a team that finally matches the diversity and reach of the 175 countries we serve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond the culture, this is also about being good stewards of our financial resources. Holding onto an expensive, mostly empty office in one of the world’s costliest real estate markets was not a good investment.  By letting go of the San Mateo office, we can more responsibly direct those investments toward our people\u2014funding intentional collaboration tools, resources, and smaller local gatherings that strengthen connection and culture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s talk about the bedrock : Our data centers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While the “cloud” often feels like a metaphor, our Data Center Technicians know it\u2019s built on hardware, precision, and physical presence. When it comes to data centers, there is no shifting the in-person work. Someone needs to be there to swap out a drive, and when it comes to making sure we\u2019re always-on, that is a 24\/7\/365 commitment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are the heartbeat of Backblaze. Every day, they show up in person to the facilities where data actually lives, keeping the drives spinning to ensure that your data is always available and accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remote flexibility is a privilege afforded to the rest of the company by the physical excellence of our Data Center teams. They are the essential anchor that allows the rest of us to be weightless. We celebrate their work not as an exception to our model, but as the very foundation that makes our distributed future possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re still figuring it out<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We are still finding new ways to connect. This isn’t a static policy, but a continuous effort to make sure people can be successful wherever they work. We\u2019re replacing accidental hallway chats with deliberate rituals, from cross-functional coffee chats and regional off-sites with local talent and execs, to providing on-demand access to professional workspaces for solo work or we want to assemble together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Closing the San Mateo office isn’t a retreat from our history; it\u2019s an embrace of the company we\u2019ve already become. As we grow across new markets and time zones, we’re committed to raising the bar on what distributed work can look like so our teams can collaborate in ways that drive real impact around the world. We are building a smarter, more intentional Backblaze, one that is as distributed as the data we protect and as resilient as the customers we serve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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