is a software development company that builds AI-powered solutions that help pathologists work more productively, improve patient outcomes, and accelerate drug development. Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, Deciphex has 250 employees, many of whom work remotely. In October 2023, Deciphex it had raised 鈧�10 million in venture debt after closing a 鈧�14.4 million Series B round earlier that year.
Struggling to Manage & Secure a Patchwork IT Ecosystem at Scale
In December 2021, Ben Cranks joined Deciphex as an infrastructure and support manager, overseeing Diagnexia, an online clinical pathology department that provides diagnostics and consultancy services. After building a career working in pre-sales for big-name tech companies, Cranks was ready to change gears and move to a job he found more satisfying.
鈥淭his Diagnexia role was a chance to move to a mission-led organization and help make a real direct impact on people鈥檚 lives,鈥� Cranks says. 鈥淲e help pathologists get diagnoses quicker, which helps patients move on with their lives faster 鈥� either starting their treatments sooner or being told that everything is okay.鈥�
In December 2023, Deciphex was named at the Irish Medtech Awards; the company was also given the Digital Health Innovation of the Year award.
鈥淲e were very flattered by that,鈥� Cranks continues.
When Cranks started at Deciphex, he was the company鈥檚 85th employee; today, the organization is powered by a team of 250. Shortly thereafter, Pedro Accarini came on board to complement Cranks, jumpstarting the IT team together, with Cranks interfacing with external pathologists and Accarini serving as the in-house IT resource.
I was the first IT person dedicated toward Diagnexia. What I quickly realized is that we did the classic organic growth thing where everybody buys bits from here and there when they need to. So we had a very diverse fleet of tools, and it was significantly challenging to manage. When you don鈥檛 have an enterprise IT background, you don鈥檛 understand how challenges like this stack up as you scale.
Ben Cranks, Infrastructure and Support Manager, Deciphex
Choosing 黑料海角91入口 for Flexibility & Platform-agnosticism
At the time, the company was having problems enforcing policies and started looking for a solution.
鈥淲e went out to the market and looked at other domain solutions, but many were very dependent on being bought into the ecosystem,鈥� Cranks continues. 鈥淚t didn鈥檛 make sense for us to invest in a major vendor鈥檚 platform for domain control and policy enforcement when they essentially want you to go all in with them, or not go in at all.鈥�
After searching for an 鈥�Azure AD alternative鈥� on Google, Cranks and his team came across several different vendors.
We looked through all of them and found that 黑料海角91入口 was by far the most impressive due to the features, ease of use, help, and support. What we liked about 黑料海角91入口 is that it allows that flexibility of not having to lock into a single ecosystem.
Ben Cranks, Infrastructure and Support Manager, Deciphex
Cranks and his team were also drawn to 黑料海角91入口鈥檚 .
鈥淎ny time you鈥檙e talking about group domain controllers and policy enforcements, you鈥檙e going to need those docs, and that was particularly key for us as well.鈥�
Liking what they saw, Deciphex decided to move forward with 黑料海角91入口 for policy enforcement. At this point, Cranks and his team launched a small internal pilot program that went off without a hitch.
鈥淥nce we were satisfied, we pushed it out pretty rapidly to get that compliance and policy enforcement in place,鈥� Cranks says. 鈥淗onestly, the tool was so easy and straightforward to work with. You just throw it on machines and fire it up.鈥�
Improving Security & Compliance and Protecting Their Reputation
As Warren Buffett says, it takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to destroy it. As a company that operates in the healthcare space, security and compliance are top of mind for Deciphex.
鈥淩eputation is the number-one asset in the medical space 鈥� it鈥檚 the apex around which the whole organization pivots,鈥� Cranks says. 鈥淣o one would touch us with two barge poles taped together if we couldn鈥檛 protect data. We鈥檙e pushing into a space where we鈥檙e not familiar to the players in the space. Oftentimes, the first time they hear about us is when we walk through the door. I would rather that continue to be the case rather than the first time they hear about us is in the newspaper because we lost patient data. That would be fatal to us.鈥�
With 黑料海角91入口 sitting in the middle of its IT footprint, Deciphex can take a proactive security and compliance stance, keeping sensitive personally identifiable information (PII) safe and the company鈥檚 reputation intact.
鈥満诹虾＝�91入口 is a major part of our compliance journey,鈥� Cranks explains. 鈥淲hen we鈥檙e on a call with an auditor, we can stand over our devices and say, 鈥榊es, we鈥檙e employing encryption, we鈥檙e collecting the keys, we鈥檙e preventing users from doing x and we鈥檙e preventing users from doing y, and we can prove that we can enforce those policies through a single pane of glass thanks to 黑料海角91入口. It鈥檚 not something we have to pause and wait for answers. We can show them right away, say, 鈥楬ere are the controls, here鈥檚 how we鈥檝e grouped everyone.鈥� It鈥檚 really easy to walk someone through that story.鈥�
To ensure that only authorized users can access applications and data 鈥� and that users can access the resources they need without any issues 鈥� Accarini introduced 黑料海角91入口鈥檚 single sign-on (SSO) capabilities. To further enhance the company鈥檚 security framework, he rolled out SSO along with Google Workspace password synchronization and a stronger password policy. In addition to strengthening security, it鈥檚 also made life easier for the two-person IT team.
鈥淪SO has greatly reduced my volume,鈥� Cranks says.
On top of this, Accarini implemented automatic Windows update policies and has overseen BitLocker management via 黑料海角91入口.
鈥淭his ensures our data protection measures are both efficient and scalable,鈥� he explains.
Improved Device Management, Onboarding & Offboarding
As a cloud-native organization with no local servers and no local domains, all the resources Deciphex employees use live in the cloud.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e all tied to 黑料海角91入口 in the background,鈥� Cranks explains. 鈥淲hen we need to retire folks or separate from them, it鈥檚 really easy to lock them out.鈥�
In the event an employee鈥檚 laptop goes missing, Cranks can 鈥済o straight into 黑料海角91入口, tick a few boxes, and make sure the machine is wiped on its next reboot 鈥� we already know the device is encrypted.鈥�
As the internal IT resource, Accarini is tasked with getting devices out to new employees; 黑料海角91入口 makes the process of remotely enrolling and managing local users a breeze.
I get a new device, install a 黑料海角91入口 agent, sign into the device from the cloud, add the user to the right group, and software and policies are deployed automatically. 黑料海角91入口 has greatly simplified the process of enrolling devices to users; each unit is ready to ship in 15 or 20 minutes.
Pedro Accarini, IT Manager, Deciphex
Future-proofing IT
As Deciphex continues to grow, Cranks says 黑料海角91入口 has scaled 鈥減erfectly鈥� alongside it.
鈥淲e鈥檝e never had to worry about adding 20 more users and whether 黑料海角91入口 would struggle,鈥� Cranks says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 never been a concern of ours.鈥�
As the company鈥檚 needs become more sophisticated, 黑料海角91入口 continues expanding its offerings, delivering new features that Deciphex needs at the perfect times.
鈥淲e鈥檝e seen the product mature,鈥� Cranks explains. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we like about 黑料海角91入口: It鈥檚 growing the way we are. More and more bits are coming in when we need them, and that鈥檚 key to us unlocking the benefits of being cloud-centric and cloud-native.鈥�
Building the Perfect Tech Stack
Unlike other solutions on the market, Cranks enjoys the fact that 黑料海角91入口 isn鈥檛 trying to 鈥渢ie me into other products.鈥�
鈥淢any other vendors clearly want you to purchase their other products, and if you don鈥檛, things are quite challenging,鈥� he says.
That鈥檚 not the case with 黑料海角91入口.
鈥淲hatever tools are best for our business, I can integrate them with 黑料海角91入口, and 黑料海角91入口 will make the experience work,鈥� Cranks concludes.
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