Upwardly mobile and ready for change

One trend that has been prominent in recent years is mobile transformation, something that Arkphire is prepared for thanks to it being accredited as Ireland’s first Apple Authorised Enterprise Reseller

Bríd Graham, head of IT procurement, Arkphire

One trend that has been prominent in recent years is mobile transformation, something that Arkphire is prepared for thanks to it being accredited as Ireland’s first Apple Authorised Enterprise Reseller (AAER).

While it’s easy to assume that such a process is to start using iPads more instead of desktop PCs, Arkphire’s head of IT procurement Bríd Graham takes a different approach.

“Our process is to engage with our customers about what they want to do for their business,” she said.

“We don’t believe in just supplying iPads to customers without understanding how they will be used to drive transformation, because there’s really no great business value in that.

“It’s understanding where they can bring mobile transformation into the business and where they can improve the customer and employee experience. It is about driving efficiency and productivity within their business and giving them a competitive edge in the market.”

That’s where being an AAER comes into play as it gives access to Apple’s mobility partner programme allowing us and our customers to work with best of breed developers that are driven to create the newest technologies that will drive business and streamline productivity in the work place.

This access to the programmes partners and app developers means if a client requires an off-the-shelf app or needs to build one specific to their needs, that can happen.

The main thing, according to Graham, is to engage with the needs of the business and what they’re trying to achieve. If that doesn’t happen, problems can quickly develop.

“For us it’s engaging with the business and that’s outside of the IT department as well. It’s all business unit managers, owners and stakeholders so that you can understand what they’re trying to achieve as a business,” she said.

“When you take that approach and go from the inception through to the support of their environment afterwards, the experience is more enriching and they get more out of it for their customers, so they get that Apple extraordinary experience.

“That is really where we would see mobile transformation and it’s so much more than a piece of hardware, it’s a whole concept and experience.”