LAN3 looking for growth

Networking specialist LAN3 has set out ambitious plans to almost double the business over the next few years as it looks to build on the achievements of its first ten years of existence.

The Oxfordshire-based firm has seen its vendor portfolio grow over the years starting with 3Com, Extreme Networks, then adding more wireless and security options with the likes of  Aerohive Networks, Cato, Ruckus, Palo Alto and most recently Dell networking and is keen to increase revenues over the next three years.

The firm has a strong education focus but has seen its enterprise business increasing as it takes its roster of vendors into a larger number of business customers and is looking to lean on those two market segments to drive things forward.

Steve Thompson, co-founder and sales director at LAN3, said that the firm was planning for 20-25% growth each year over the next three years and wanted to take the business well past the £10m revenue barrier to a place that would be not far off doubling the current size of the business.

"We have to change the mindset that we are not just little old LAN3 in Oxfordshire," he added "We are winning some great contracts and we winning against people who are much bigger."

"People ask why have you gone with LAN3? Customers say that we have listened to them, the personal touch is there and we can deliver," he added.

Thompson said that unlike the environment that the firm launched into back in 2008, with the collapse of Lehman Brothers and global recession happening just weeks after it started, the current market was buoyant.

He added that firms were making investments to make sure that their networks were ready for the next few years and that not only involved more bandwidth but a greater shift towards software.

"IT managers are finding that their budgets are getting smaller and we are providing a solution that will not just cover them for now," he said.