three questions decide it: who operates the machine, how much coffee you need at peak, and whether you can plumb it in. everything else is details.
who actually operates it
this is the real fork, and there are three paths, not two.
a bean-to-cup machine grinds and brews at the press of a button. anyone can use one, which matters in an office where the machine belongs to everyone and no one. the machines in most consumer roundups are built for home-scale duty - fine for a small team.
commercial-grade automatic machines exist too, built for higher volume. they take more space, but they keep the press-a-button simplicity.
a traditional commercial machine - the kind a cafe runs - makes espresso the way a barista makes it. it also needs someone who knows how. if your office has a person who genuinely wants to own coffee, this path makes sense. if not, the machine becomes furniture.
peak volume, not headcount
headcount doesn't matter as much as the morning rush. offices drink coffee in bursts, and a shared machine that serves one drink at a time becomes a queue at 9am.
before you commit to a model, check its manufacturer's specs for capacity and throughput, and think about your busiest half hour, not your average day. the right size machine is the one that handles the peak without a line.
milk and cleaning
milk drinks mean milk residue, and a shared machine gets dirty faster than a home machine because nobody feels responsible for it. whatever you buy, the manufacturer's cleaning procedure is the standard - not a shortcut you found online.
the useful question is boring: who cleans the machine, by name? if the honest answer is nobody, choose the machine whose daily routine your office will actually follow, and put someone's name on it anyway.
plumbed or tank
a tank machine needs a counter, the right power, the clearances its spec sheet calls for, and someone who refills the tank. that flexibility is real, but it isn't "put it anywhere."
a plumbed machine connects to a dedicated water line and a drain. that usually means a plumber, and your installer confirms what your site and local code require before install day. in exchange, nobody carries water and the machine never runs dry mid-morning.
water and filtration
filtration isn't a generic upgrade - it depends on your water. la marzocco publishes target ranges for the water its machines run on (for example, tds of 90-150 ppm and total hardness of 70-100 ppm in its us installation guideline), and la marzocco usa offers a free water test kit. test first, then filter to the machine's spec. scale from unfiltered water is one of the common ways commercial machines die early.
when to talk to a commercial supplier
consumer buying guides cover the small-team end well - burr & basket's office roundup, for instance, reviews bean-to-cup machines for small offices and points higher-volume offices toward commercial suppliers instead. if you're past the small-team end, that's the conversation to have: a supplier can match the machine to your peak volume, your space, and your water, and handle the install.
we sell and install la marzocco machines, and commercial grinders, across la - offices included. if you're working through these questions, we're happy to talk through your space.