Security

Case Study

Ark ICT Solutions: Built on trust, secured by Kaseya 365

Overview

Ark ICT Solutions started when owner Phil Callow did a favor for a friend, helping set up their school’s network and devices. That simple act led to word-of-mouth recommendations and sparked a journey that turned his passion for solving IT challenges into a trusted company serving schools and businesses across Lincolnshire, U.K. and beyond.

Ark’s purpose has always been clear: to be the trusted partner customers call when they have a problem, confident it will be resolved. However, as cyberthreats increased and customer demands evolved, Ark needed to transform its approach to cybersecurity and operational efficiency.

Kaseya 365 became the catalyst that made this transformation possible, giving Ark a powerful, cost-effective way to deliver advanced cybersecurity services that once seemed out of reach.

Customer

Ark ICT Solutions

Spalding, Lincolnshire, U.K.

Site: https://www.ark.me.uk/

About

Founded in 2001, Ark provides trusted information and communication technology (ICT) support for education and business customers across Lincolnshire, U.K. From on–site IT support, licensing and networking to installations, telephony and service desk assistance, Ark’s team of more than 40 professionals helps schools and businesses stay connected, protected and productive.

A favor that turned into a promise

Ark ICT Solutions didn’t start with a business plan. “Running my own company was never my intention,” said Ark founder and owner Phil Callow. He simply wanted to help a friend, a local headteacher whose school’s technology was falling apart. Callow fixed the problems; word spread and before he knew it, one favor turned into five schools, then dozens more.

Instead of trying to be the biggest player, Ark focused on being the partner people could trust to handle anything. Ark’s customers might face a broken server one day, a network outage the next or a ransomware scare the day after that, and Ark’s job was to tackle it all with the same dedication. “It’s like a box of chocolates,” said Ark director Joe Lee. “You never know what you’re going to get next, but you treat each one the same and work your way through it as quick as possible.”

That mindset shaped Ark’s promise of “one partner, one call.” Schools and businesses knew they could ring Ark for any issue and trust them to take ownership, sort it out fast and keep things running smoothly. “They just want to ring one company and have that company take responsibility for the problem and solve it — and that’s what we do,” said Callow.

Today, Ark’s 40+ person team supports an 80/20 split of education and business clients across Lincolnshire. Ark provides everything from on-site IT, networking and installations to telephony, licensing and a service desk that feels like an extension of each customer’s own staff.

The threat that changed everything

But as Ark grew, so did the risks its customers faced. Schools became prime ransomware targets — highly visible, heavily used networks with limited budgets to protect them. Businesses, too, began to expect broader protection and faster fixes than ever.

“Historically, a real big frustration was when we had differ,ent tools doing different jobs,” said Lee. “An antivirus portal over here, monitoring over there. So many passwords, so many systems. It slowed us down.”

At the same time, the cost of building an in-house security operations center (SOC) was daunting. “We had no SOC offering at all, and to be brutally honest, that was quite scary,” said Callow. “It would’ve cost us a quarter of a million pounds to put a SOC team together to be on the phone 24 hours a day responding to those issues.”

With threats growing and schools under pressure to meet new insurance and compliance standards, Ark knew the old way wouldn’t cut it. They needed a smarter way to protect clients, simplify operations and keep costs realistic for tight education budgets

In their quest for a better answer, Ark turned to Kaseya 365.

Delivering security and simplicity with Kaseya 365

Kaseya 365 Endpoint was the turning point. Almost overnight, Ark replaced disconnected tools with an integrated stack, bringing SOC-level protection, advanced EDR, patch management, backup and monitoring together under a single pane of glass.

“Kaseya 365 has been an absolute revelation if I can be as bold as that,” said Callow. “We went from having no SOC solution and no EDR effective solution to suddenly having a whole swath of products that we could offer our customers.”

For Lee and his team, the difference was immediate. “Having everything in one place means we can service customers really quickly,” he said. “Instead of juggling logins and portals, engineers can see what’s happening across networks, respond proactively and spend more time solving problems instead of chasing information.”

Ark also adopted a tiered approach to its offerings: bronze, silver and gold bundles tailored for schools and businesses. Every client gets the right level of security and support that matches their needs and budget — no hidden add-ons, no wasted spend.

Secured for what’s next

Ark’s partnership with Kaseya has helped them stay ahead of an evolving threat landscape while continuing to deliver on their promise of reliable, trustworthy service. With Kaseya 365’s solutions, Ark can scale offerings without inflating costs, giving schools and businesses enterprise-level protection that fits real-world budgets.

And for Callow, it’s personal: “Having a product set that allows me to actually give the solutions that are being demanded of us has been a massive relief in my book.” In IT, where challenges can pop up without warning, that relief means everything to his team and to the schools and businesses that depend on Ark to stay protected.

Building the future together

Looking ahead, Ark remains committed to the same mission that sparked it all: helping people and keeping technology simple, secure and stress-free so schools and businesses can focus on what really matters. With Kaseya 365, Ark is ready to tackle whatever comes next, growing stronger, staying flexible and continuing to be the trusted partner their clients have relied on since that very first favor.

“Kaseya 365 has been an absolute revelation. We went from having no SOC solution, no EDR effective solution, to suddenly having a whole swath of products that we could offer to our customers.” Phil Callow Founder of Ark ICT Solutions