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Arkphire: delivering a secure, sustainable digital workspace service

Companies must identify the current behaviours that will define customer experience and ensure these opportunities are aligned with their business strategies and capabilities

When considering digital workspace transformation, delivering components such as applications, security, networking, data and devices in an integrated and seamless fashion are critical. Photograph: Shutterstock

Arkphire is a leading IT product procurement and IT services company, serving customers from within Ireland and internationally. Arkphire provides integrated technology solutions that span desktops, networking, security, cloud and data centres, enabling the digital workspace and supporting businesses on their digital transformation journey.

Following its acquisition of Trilogy Technologies in 2020, Arkphire is now the largest and fastest growing Irish headquartered IT procurement and IT managed services business. The Arkphire group employs over 200 people and generates revenues of over €150m.

Arkphire has an unrivalled network of partnership accreditations with leading global IT vendors and is a Dell Technologies Titanium, Citrix Platinum, HP Platinum, Lenovo Platinum, IBM Gold, Check Point 4 Star, Microsoft Gold and Cisco Gold Partner and the only Apple Authorised Enterprise Reseller (AAER) in Ireland.

Our key services include

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  • IT procurement: Arkphire's IT procurement business delivers solutions to more than 90 countries.
  • Cloud: Move workloads safely, quickly and easily to the cloud. Manage costs, compliance and control. Go further, faster, with our cloud solutions.
  • Data centre and networking: Simplify, automate and scale your infrastructure for business agility, operational efficiency and speed to market.  Implement fast, secure, highly available networks and communications, designed for today's multi-device, data-rich environment.
  • Cybersecurity: Identify, protect against, and remediate cyber threats. Secure your data and devices with end-to-end cybersecurity.
  • Digital workspace: Get secure access from any device or location and enable your staff to work remotely.

The new future of work

Covid-19 is having a massive impact socially, culturally and economically on our daily lives. One such impact is how we now need to work. The Government has requested that where possible we work from home in order to minimise contact with others and help keep the virus’ “R” (Reproduction) rate under 1.

Whilst many organisations had begun this journey, it has undoubtedly accelerated the digital transformation process to move to the “new normal” (with many looking for guidance to roadmap this odyssey).

The crisis/triage stage

  • Physical offices closed.
  • Start to transition to working from home (WFH)
  • Core elements of remote work may be missing (device /apps/files)
  • Keep the lights on
  • Band-aid approach

The extended WFH phase

  • Requires a more scalable solution
  • Better visibility into performance and usage
  • Accelerate roll out and onboarding
  • Prepare for next time

The new normal phase

  • The future of work reimagined
  • Longer term workspace strategy – new ways of working
  • Delivering employee experience anytime, anywhere, any device
  • Cloud transition will be key to ensuring productivity

Digital transformation is complex. Organisations need to look at all aspects of service delivery. When considering digital workspace transformation, delivering components such as applications, security, networking, data, devices in an integrated and seamless fashion are critical. But perhaps the single biggest factor that impacts on the success of a digital workspace transformation is user/customer experience.

McKinsey has written extensively on this topic: They believe as companies prepare for the long haul—what we refer to as the “next normal” — the path forward is anything but clear. To win in the next normal, companies need to identify the current behaviours that will define customer experience in the near term. They must then ensure that these opportunities are aligned with their business strategies and capabilities. They believe three priorities will define customer experience in the post-pandemic era: digital excellence, safe and contactless engagement, and dynamic customer insights

[1]

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  • Digital excellence: the need for better engagement for users : leading to improved productivity
  • Safe and contactless engagement: this requires solutions that are secure by design (reliable, scalable, flexible)
  • Dynamic insights: requires monitoring and analytical services to provide intelligence around digital workspace systems, security and ultimately user experience (UX).

According to Gartner, 74 per cent of companies plan to permanently shift to more remote work post Covid-19

[2]

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The immediate opportunity is to provide solutions that keep people working and ensure organisations are productive. One of the biggest risks facing most organisations today is business continuity. At Arkphire, we are fortunate to be able to draw on a rich history of providing digital workspace solutions to empower our customers. We have the capability to provide an end-to-end solution for a managed digital workspace including device supply and management, apps and data delivery, infrastructure (data centre and cloud), networking and security, managed and monitored through our 24/7 security and networking operations centres.

One of the key components of this solution is the ability to provide continuous monitoring and reporting of the systems and security components. The use of security, information and event management (SIEM) along with infrastructure, network and user experience monitoring tools are essential components in delivering a consistent and quality service. However, these tools need expertise and analytical skills to harness their value and when coupled with a quality and auditable process, they become the keys to success in delivering a secure, performant and sustainable digital workspace service.

At Arkphire we are focused on delivering a world class digital workspace experience. We are continuing to invest and develop in technologies, training and models of improving the insight into digital workspace and systems to improve the security posture, user experience and the ability to manage change in today’s dynamic and changing world.

Are you ready to work with an MSP?

Working with expert Managed Service Providers (MSPs) can greatly enhance your chance of success. But how do you know when your organisation should partner with an MSP? Our eBook will explain the top reasons to work with an MSP and how to extract the most value from the partnership.

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Arkphire is incorporated in Ireland. We have offices in Dublin and London and entities in Singapore, Tel Aviv and Tokyo.

[1]

Elevating customer experience excellence in the next normal, McKinsey and Company, May 2020

[2]

Gartner CFO Survey, April 2020