Bootstrap your business

One of the key acquisitions Arkphire made to help with managing digital transformation is Bootstrap, a networking specialist company that recently celebrated 40 years of doing business.

Having being acquired by Arkphire in 2016, the company has earned itself the reputation of both spotting and understanding the latest trends and developments in IT.

“Our unique point of differentiation which sets us apart revolves around our people and our company culture. Since taking on my role as head of networking services, Bootstrap, I have been really struck by the company’s ‘can-do’ attitude, its ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ and the obsessive focus on putting the customer first,” said Brendan Martin.

“That’s the legacy that we have and it’s certainly something we want to build upon. We want to grow the company and there’s very much a growth trajectory plan, but we want to make sure we don’t lose the focus on our customers and the quality staff that we have.”

It places both itself and Arkphire in a strong position with regards to digital transformation. Delivering effective services requires depth across a wide range of skills and it has built up the strong foundation necessary for it.

“Digital transformation has radically changed the role of IT to be fundamental to company operations,” said Martin. “To have the resources to support, maintain and provide for all the needs of staff in a mid-sized company, you need a very sizeable IT team. These people aren’t readily available in the marketplace and if they are, they’re expensive.”

With our acquisition by Arkphire, we can now provide solutions from desktop applications/PC/Apple to LAN/WAN networking/collaboration to servers/storage in your datacentre. Our combined depth of experience enables us to provide what a lot of enterprises need – a single provider for all of their IT needs. This capability is also essential for customers who need a managed service.

With our combined strengths we can meet the diverse needs of our enterprise customers and maintain their readiness for ongoing digital transformation.

The power to disrupt is in your hands

Sometimes, transformation conversations can be slow to get started. Arkphire’s Chief Technical Architect, Eoin Johnston, sets out some talking points that can get the conversation going and put some focus on what needs to be addressed by companies on their digital transformation journey.

What are you doing in mobile?

Disruption typically revolves around a few technologies, chief of which is mobile. Today’s handsets and tablets feature incredibly sophisticated functionality. Those mobile devices which are in the enterprise are typically only being used to a fraction of their capability. What are your plans to empower your field sales and service agents in particular? Just putting iPads into the hands of your teams can ease them into the device’s convenience and feature set; then the doors open to do more in the future.

What is your competition up to?

While it’s always been important to keep an eye on the competition, that’s even more true when it comes to your innovation agenda. Look at what competitors and disruptors are doing in your industry and cast your net wide. Competition could come from unexpected corners.

How do you make a start?

Securing board level appetite for a disruptive innovation strategy is key. Enduring complacency in the boardroom about the need to disrupt is surprisingly widespread in established enterprises. It’s important to recognise that the very things that made incumbents successful are likely to hold them back now, namely their business models and business processes. But there are great examples that illustrate how even large, traditional organisations can have huge success embracing disruption agendas – the jet engines leader Rolls Royce Holdings, for instance, now offers hours of propulsion to airlines instead of jet engines and maintenance contracts, a great example of an organisation selling the same product to the same customer in a more innovative and transformative way.

Arkphire secures multimillion euro private equity investment

Arkphire has secured investment from one of the top pan-European funds. Bregal Milestone, a private capital firm that’s dedicated to making investments in high-growth European companies, will bring investment ranging from €20 million to €60 million allowing Arkphire to further expand.

Arkphire, with headquarters in Dublin, will use the additional funding to develop its full suite of service technology solutions by building further capabilities to support areas such as client services, cyber security, data centre and cloud based services.

Arkphire’s chief executive Paschal Naylor said it was looking for a long-term partner that shared the company’s entrepreneurial values and found it in Bregal Milestone.

“We are truly excited to be working with Bregal Milestone, an investor with strong sector expertise and a global network of industry contacts to help us drive sustainable, profitable growth,” he said. “I look forward to the next chapter of our partnership as we seek to ambitiously scale our business and expand our market leadership.”

The news comes at a time when Arkphire is experiencing rapid growth. Over the past four years, it has grown turnover from €20 million to €90 million and is recognised as one of the fastest-growing technology companies in Ireland.

The managing partner of Bregal Milestone Cyrus Shay said it was highly enthusiastic to partner with Arkphire on its next level of growth.

“Arkphire boasts longstanding relationships with a blue-chip portfolio of global technology customers and enjoys an unrivalled reputation as a reliable and customer-focused innovation partner,” he said. “We look forward to working with Paschal and his team in partnership to further drive growth opportunities, both organically and through M&A.”

Arkphire currently employs more than 90 people across its various divisions.