Arkadin review by Inspector Jones

Arkadin provide a family of different products that help businesses communicate and collaborate. I’m really impressed by the service that they offer, and recommend Arkadin to businesses of all sizes.

Arkadin’s services include audio conferencing (using ArkadinAnytime), video conferencing (both desktop videoconferencing and room video conferencing using the Arkadin-hosted Vidyo solution), web conferencing (using either ArkadinAnywhere, Arkadin’s hosted Adobe Connect solution, or Arkadin’s hosted WebEx solution), and unified communications.

Before you choose Arkadin, here are the key things you need to know.

Arkadin deliver a variety of different platforms for different levels of need - it’s not one-size-fits all. For example, web conferencing is delivered by ArkadinAnywhere, Adobe Connect or Cisco WebEx, depending on the features you need. At the largest end, Arkadin also provide dedicated events management staff to help run large, important events, like shareholder meetings, company-wide training sessions or internal communications. This is in contrast to many other vendors, who offer a single solution for all needs.

Arkadin use a regional support model, which differs from many other organisations. Instead of delivering services via a global network of parners, they have a large number of regional offices. When you contact support, you’re dealing with Arkadin in your local region and language, instead of a partner or a massive remote call centre (at least during regular business hours). I like this model, as dealing directly with a vendor often means support calls are handled more quickly, and they gain a better understanding of customer needs.

Support for audio-conferencing, video-conferencing and web-conferencing services is time critical - for a person waiting to join an important meeting, every second counts. It’s important that live operator support is available for technical difficulties, or to help people who are unfamiliar with the service. We’ve reviewed Arkadin’s service level agreement, and it is solid. They aim to resolve any problems getting people into the right meeting within 20 seconds, and they also have safeguards in place to make sure nobody gets ‘stuck’ in the system attempting to join a call. Their historical service levels have also been reliable.

Arkadin’s security policies are in line with industry best-practice. The security measures are based on ISO27001 - the international standard for information security. Arkadin regularly review and update their security measures, all staff are trained in their security obligations, and Arkadin are subject to regular security testing and risk assessment. Their services are independently tested by security experts. However, do note that there is a difference between basing security measures on ISO27001, and certifying security against ISO27001 - which Arkadin haven’t yet done.

Arkadin’s architecture is well-considered, with multiple levels of protection against failure or disaster. All systems have a disaster recovery plan, and we have reviewed these. When disaster has struck in the past, such as data centre failures, these disaster recovery measures have been proven to work - and have brought service back online. Rather than using one global installation, Arkadin run a number of separate regional installations for their services. This does mean that different services are available in different areas of the globe.

In our analysis, Arkadin are a strong company with a bright future. Arkadin have a significant market share and solid performance. They are well-staffed to support and develop their services. This is also demonstrated by growth and improvement in Arkadin’s products, and a new global thought leadership programme authored by experts in the field.

Recommendations

If you are considering Arkadin’s services, I recommend that you:

• Consider whether you will be routinely conducting meetings or events outside of regular business hours. If so, make sure you consider the hours that local support will be operating (and when support will be from another region), and also times for scheduled maintenance (typically, Arkadin conduct their maintenance in the middle of the night, or on a Saturday).
• Set policies to manage corporate information that you store with Arkadin. The Arkadin services allow you to store information like meeting recordings or sales presentations, which may be subject to your recordkeeping or security requirements.