LOCATION: W134 N5272 Campbell Dr., Menomonee Falls, WI 53051
WEBSITE: www.emasterlink.com/
Year founded: 1990
Product or service offered: Our technology services and products include information risk management and security, core networking and infrastructure solutions, wireless solutions, unified communications, and virtual managed and support services and training. Virtual managed & support services. Project management.
Projected 2009 revenue: $25 million
CEO, President/Owner(s): Bruce Magnuson, CEO; Joan Bridge, president
Leadership team: Bruce Kolb, CFO
Target clientele: SMB to global enterprise organizations. MasterLink services clients in all business segments.
Business organization memberships: MMAC, International Symposium on Computer Architecture, International Systems Security Certification Consortium, Milwaukee chapter of the FBI’s Infra-Gard Organization, Information Systems Audit and Control Association, Wisconsin Banking Association, Cisco Technical Leadership Council.
What has fueled your company’s growth?
Our company’s growth is directly related to hiring the right people in key positions and attracting top engineering and professional services talent. We are an engineering and consultant firm first, and we listen to our customers to offer creative cost effective solutions. Investing in our engineer’s training and keeping them up to date on the rapidly evolving technologies puts MasterLink in a position to offer these services to organizations that do not have the range of experience or resources in-house either on a project base, permanently through staff augmentation, or remotely through our remote operations center 24/7. Our engineers and consultants are challenged daily as we work with world class companies, providing local and global solutions.
What is the biggest obstacle to your company’s growth?
In light of the economic climate our current challenge is trying to keep our clients apprised of the risks and changes in technology and the direct impact that has on their business. As budgets are cut organization still need to keep up with changing or outdated technologies especially in highly regulated industries.
Do you plan any changes in your company in the upcoming months?
We have already made changes in leadership, having Bruce Magnuson lead the company hands-on as the CEO; this will recharge MasterLink.
Who are the business people, locally or nationally, whom you admire? And what traits do those people exhibit that make you admire them?
I admire the business leaders who in these trying economic times have been able to make the many tough decisions that have enabled them to continue operating their businesses profitably and keeping Americans employed.
What is the outlook for the business conditions of your industry over the next several months?
In the next few months we expect customers to remain conservative, yet move forward on their immediate needs and strategic plans related to maintaining and improving the IT systems supporting their core business, or making improvements where it will give them a competitive advantage.
What is your company’s key strategy for rising out of the recession?
As IT departments are forced to reduce staff, MasterLink has been able to provide a service of staff augmentation combined with our 24-7 Remote Operations Center (ROC) to help our clients. Systems still need to be assessed, operational, secure, and monitored, which is our core competency.