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Lan and Computer Integrators
Andrew Sheldon//August 9, 2005//
Date: August 16, 1995
Title: Top 20/Lan and Computer Integrators
These days, more often than not, the hot subject in business is computer-related. The Net refers not to fishermen, but to the Internet, a collection of computers that has created a world-wide electronic village where items can be bought and sold, and gossip as well as news can be exchanged. When the talk turns to networks, the discussion is not about television. These networks are Local Area Networks (LANs) or Wide Area Networks (WANs), which tie together computers in different rooms (LANs) or different continents (WANs), allowing users to share data and other files.
LANs and WANs, however, require a significant capital investment, since personal computers are linked through cables and telephone lines to a central computer. And after the initial outlay, the whole contraption must be maintained. Some companies that rushed in to set up networks later found themselves stuck in an electronic gridlock, where systems would grind to an agonizing halt, jeopardizing the very productivity they were supposed to enhance in the first place.
Jumping into this fray to act as guides through the electronic jungle, are technical gurus like Marc Surette, a founder and president of LAN & Computer Integrators (LCI). The name of the Piscataway-based company reflects two of its specialties: setting up Local Area Networks and integrating their corporate customers” hardware and software packages together into usable forms.
“We deal in the high-end market for high-speed LANs and WANs,” says Surette. “We deal with servers for big applications, with UNIX operating systems.” Most PCs sold to individuals use the Windows or DOS operating systems, which are less expensive but do not have the capabilities of UNIX.
With a full-time staff of 16 persons and a “stable of contractors,” Surette and his company assist clients such as AT&T and Johnson & Johnson when they make the move “from mainframe to distributed computing” by using LANs and WANs.
Surette and his vice president, Sean McGill, were formerly employed at a giant telecommunications company which they decline to identify. They say they left because they felt increasingly constricted by the corporate environment. In 1992, he and McGill, along with three other dissatisfied employees,left the womb to stake their own claims on the communications landscape. “There was a lot of fear at first,” admits Surette, “and we struggled through hard times.” But he adds, “We leveraged hard work with sweat” to succeed.
A typical job involves meetings with the potential client to target the client”s needs and budget estimates, and to make an on-site visit. Then Surette”s staff will meet with the client”s engineers and managers to work out the basic approaches and to set up schedules. Using this data, Surette and his staff will write up a work proposal that contains detail labor hours, materials and costs. The proposal, which may include detail diagrams, is usually completed within two to three days, “even if we have to stay up all night.” The completed proposal is then given to the client for review and, if approved, is signed by representatives of LCI and the client.
Jeff Kardos appreciates LCI”s services. He is the manager of information technology for Heritage Inks International, an Edison-based manufacturer of printing ink and ink for corrugated boxes. “We needed a Sun Microsystems server,” says Kardos, “and LCI installed it within five working days.” He adds that LCI offered training to Heritage employees. Kardos says the company has been using LCI for about three months and expects to contact them again to set up a WAN networking system.
Surette sees growth as systems become more complex. “This company is not built around marketing people,” McGill says. “It”s built around technical people.” Adds Surette: “The name of the game is moving data from point A to point B.” s
