Year in Review: 2019

The end of a year is often a good time for reflection. When we sat down recently to discuss 2019 performance, we realized just how far Kirk ISS has come in the last year. From events, to awards, to a re-branding there was a lot going on for our Cayman Information Technology service & support team. Let’s look at some of the highlights:

Events

In 2019 we continued building on our successful Lunch and Learn series of talks. The Cayman Information Technology industry is always changing, so these events are aimed at helping our customers stay up-to-date on innovations in the field of IT hardware and software. Two prominent themes this year were Network Security and Cloud Services, with talks from partners like Aruba Networks, Microsoft, Fortinet and NetApp. These talks are very popular as they provide relevant insight into trends in Caribbean Information Technology and help them to better plan for the future. We plan on continuing the lunch and learn series into 2020 with several talks already in the works. We want to hear from our customers too, so please reach out with any suggestions on IT topics you would like for us to cover and we’ll do our best to accommodate them 🙂 

Awards

2019 was a year of recognition for Kirk ISS. Starting with the groundwork laid the year prior, we were recognized for leadership and innovation in the Caribbean IT space. Among the many awards we took home this year, a few stood out:

• Microsoft Partner of the Year Cayman Islands
• HPE Promo Partner of the Year
• Tech Data HPE Caribbean Partner of the Year
• Aruba Networks Security Partner of the Year
• Aruba Networks’ exclusive Partner Branded Support in the Caribbean

Though recognition and awards from our IT partners are great, they wouldn’t be possible without the trust of our customers. In 2019 more companies trusted Kirk ISS for their toughest IT challenges than ever before; that’s the most significant achievement of all – thank you for your trust in us.

Re-branding

An important part of our plans for 2019 included a refresh of our branding. Cayman Information Technology moves quickly, and our branding and communications need to reflect the current landscape. After all, a lot has changed in the last 15 years and we thought our logo should reflect that.

Here’s a quick breakdown of what changed:
• A cleaner, more modern look with a bold typeface.
• New colour scheme with cool blues.
• New brandmark representing the 5 pillars of our practice.
• Continuity across touchpoints including print and digital.

Innovation Reception

To mark our rebranding, we got together with our partners and held an innovation reception, featuring cutting-edge solutions from each of the five pillars of our practice. The Document Solutions team from Kirk Office were also on hand to demonstrate solutions aimed at data protection and bridging the gap between print and digital documents. Overall, the event served as a great opportunity for our Cayman Information Technology customers to speak with some of our key partners and learn more about innovative technologies in a fun, social and interactive environment. We’re very grateful to our partners for making their experts available for the 1-day event in Grand Cayman.

Community Involvement

2019 CIFEC Career Fair

We’re strong supporters of youth development. As such, we’re a regular participant at the Cayman Islands Further Education Centre Career Fair. This year’s event brought together more than 200 students and 40 companies. Initiatives such as these are important to our business; as a fast-growing company, we like to develop talent and promote internally. A great job by the CIFEC as we met several impressive candidates with bright futures in the Cayman Islands IT industry.

Training the Next Generation of IT specialists…

Nurturing creativity and curiosity are vital to developing skills and talents for kids. Our own James Packer spends 2 hours per week teaching 3-5 year-olds basic IT including video editing. It’ll be no time before these kids are coding algorithms and AI!

Going Forward…

We’ve grown a lot in the last year (both literally and figuratively). From computer servers and storage solutions to IP phones to network firewalls and cloud services, we’re going to keep pushing the envelope of innovation and productivity for IT in the Cayman Islands. To that end, we’ve created a data analytics/software development team to meet the evolving needs of our customers. Big data and AI are becoming integral to businesses in the Cayman Islands and throughout the Caribbean. Our aim is to provide the necessary IT services to support our customers today, tomorrow and beyond.   

Expect to see even more from us in 2020… more IT events, more technical training and better solutions to your toughest IT challenges. Stay tuned!