Meet the Team: Arik Fletcher

Meet Arik Fletcher – talented Solutions Architect, poet and one of Joskos’ earliest team members. Around the office he is known for his wry sense of humour, his calm demeanour and his willingness to help colleagues with their stubborn tech issues. We sat down with him to examine what makes him tick.

What is your role at the company?

As the Technical Manager and Solutions Architect at Joskos, I have a multifaceted role that involves developing our internal systems, working with the Sales and Bid teams to design solutions and write proposals to meet the needs of new/existing clients. I also work with the Service Delivery and Projects teams to support and deploy new/existing client networks, and support our Trusts and VIP clients in developing their IT strategies and roadmaps.

What’s the most innovative technology you foresee in the education sector in the next 5 years?

This is a hugely exciting time for anyone in the IT field, especially in the Education sector, with the likes of Virtual/Augmented Reality becoming practical and affordable for schools, continued growth and use of cloud systems such as Google Apps and Office 365, and the quickly developing world of IoT (Internet of Things) technologies which present a future where every device or service you can imagine will be able to instantly communicate with every other device in ways that are still only just being realised.

For me, there is no single “killer app” or specific service that will define or dominate the next 5 years, instead it’s the combination of technologies that are rapidly redefining, enhancing, and otherwise changing every aspect of our lives that both fascinates and drives me to keep doing what I’m doing.

What is your favourite part about your work?

The people I work with is and always has been my favourite part of working here. As one of the earliest members of the Joskos team I’ve had the honour of meeting and working with some truly remarkable teachers and students through the years and helping them to achieve their educational goals through network design, training, and support.

Along the way I’ve also had the privilege of working alongside some of the most talented and exceptional individuals I’ve ever met, which has always been Joskos’ true strength; we’ve always been blessed by the people we’ve hired and the team we have today is the strongest we’ve ever had.

What do you do in your down time?

In my spare time I enjoy playing with and testing new technologies, sharing Technical news articles, and other such techie activities. I have a like-minded (or brainwashed?) wife and daughter and we spend many a weekend building Minecraft worlds or playing through a selection of other video and board games.

On a less techie note, I present a weekly radio show in Devon and I’ve also been writing poetry for the last 15 years (and have just shy of 5,000 readers internationally). I have also studied Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic writing, so rest assured that I do have interests outside of technology! 😉