A Look Back: Celebrating 15 Years of Arraya Solutions
Fifteen years ago, there was no such thing as an iPhone (or even an iPod, for that matter), Y2K was giving IT pros everywhere ulcers, and in the Philadelphia area, two former co-workers ventured out together to start their own business.
Arraya Solutions’ co-founders Daniel Lifshutz and David Bakker met while they were both employed by Pep Boys. They hit it off immediately and just a few short years later, in May of 1999, they decided to pool their collective talents and form a consultancy. Their plan was to go after IBM global services work in the Philadelphia area and help other business partners design and implement infrastructure solutions.
“When we started it was strictly consulting, but we realized we couldn’t be a full service solutions-provider for our customers without expanding our focus,” Bakker said.
So Arraya changed gears and forged strategic partnerships with industry-leading companies. The goal became leveraging those relationships to provide customers with best of breed tools and solutions. In addition, Arraya also launched its own line of Managed Services to provide long-term support for customers.
To date, Arraya has outgrown three offices in its 15 years as its headcount has expanded from two up to around 80. Despite that growth, Arraya’s mission of helping customers of all sizes find and implement IT solutions that address their individual challenges hasn’t wavered. Neither has its commitment to blending technological expertise with personal service, which has been a staple of Arraya as it’s grown.
“The size and scale of the business may have changed,” Lifshutz said. “But our desire to deliver an experience that differentiates us from the competition is something that’s been there from the start and continues to this day.”
“As we’ve grown, it’s always been about the people,” Bakker added. “And we’ve always looked to foster an open and accepting culture which encourages innovation.”
“The thing we’re both proudest of is being around such great people day in and day out,” Lifshutz said of the Arraya team. “The satisfaction we derive from that has continued to increase each year.”
Here’s a look back at some of the company’s biggest milestones:
1999 D&D Consulting is formed
2002 D&D rebrands as Arraya Solutions
2003 Arraya becomes one of the first VMware partners in the U.S.
2005 Arraya is nominated as an IBM Mid-Atlantic Partner of the Year
2007 Arraya moves to a new office to accommodate growth
2008 Arraya implements its 100th virtualization solution
2009 Arraya launches its first managed services product called Managed Data
Protection (MDP)
2009/2010 Arraya deploys one of the first Cisco UCS Blade Servers in the Delaware
Valley
2011 Arraya expands into new office space, unveils Executive Briefing Center
2011, 2012, 2013 Arraya wins the EMC Partner Services Quality Award
2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 Arraya is named to CRN’s Tech Elite 250 List
2012, 2013 Arraya is named to CRN’s Fast Growth 100 List
2012 Arraya achieves Cisco’s Cloud Builder designation
2012 Arraya launches the 365+ brand of managed & cloud services
2013 Arraya is named to the Inc 5000 list, ranked #79 in the Philadelphia area
2014 Arraya is named to CRN’s Managed Services Provider 500 list
2014 Arraya launches its Customer Advisory Board
2014 Arraya is named as recipient of Microsoft’s Mid-Atlantic Rising Star Award
Join Arraya in celebrating 15 great years at its 4th Annual Open House and Technology Day. This year’s event will be held on Thursday, Oct. 16 at the ACE Club in Lafayette Hill, PA from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. The event features food, drinks, tech demos, giveaways and a keynote presentation from two-time Stanley Cup Champion and Philadelphia Flyers legend Bernie Parent.
Visit www.ArrayaSolutions.com/newsandevents to secure your spot now!
