It began seven years ago over a beer and a plan scribbled on a napkin. Today, partners Kevin Calgren, Patrick Massey and James Matheson have put together a nimble, customer-focused and highly successful technology consulting firm with a boatload of very happy clients.
All three — having worked in IT at various companies — knew well what was going wrong in IT at small companies. They understood how difficult it is for businesses to have a high functioning, dependable technology partner. Too often, businesses are struggling with the way their technology is or is not working, lackluster attitudes from their IT provider, and other frustrations.
“Today,” says partner Patrick Massey, “every company is a technology company. If something simple like your email is down, you’re out of business until you get it back. We’ve all experienced IT done wrong and we saw a niche we could fill by doing things right.”
Network Medics invests significantly in their own high-level hardware platform that leverages virtualization technology to over infrastructure-as-a-service from their datacenter in Minneapolis. Instead of relying on a small server closet in their office, clients enjoy access to enterprise-class services including cloud servers, collocation, and o -site backup; all custom-tailored to their business needs.
“Clients like that they know where their data is, they like that they can talk to the same technician when they call, and they know we have their back.” Massey continues.
“Our competitors tend to push clients into their one size fits all systems, but we tailor and customize a system formed to the clients’ exact business requirements,” says partner Kevin Calgren.
Network Medics’ flagship offering, VitalCare, delivers the core of services that all companies need, including security, backup, maintenance, and support — all geared to keep the client’s basic system running properly. From there the company designs a custom IT solution with each client’s specific business needs at the forefront. For a typical client, “we elevate them to a new level of technology for about half the cost of having their own IT professional on staff,” says Calgren, “plus they get software licensing, infrastructure services, reliable backup and all the other IT bells and whistles for one at monthly fee. It’s simple and costs way less than if they do it themselves — especially with unemployment at record lows in IT.”
“We are actually doing what we promise,” says partner James Matheson, “and that’s why our clients don’t leave. We started in my basement trying to find anyone who would let us fix their computer and now we’re working with over 120 companies all across the Twin Cities.”
The numbers don’t lie. Network Medics billed nearly $3 million in 2014 and currently employs 15 in their downtown Minneapolis office. The company’s stratospheric growth, Matheson says, “comes from focusing on the right things. We hire the best people we can find and we invest in them with trainings and certifications, we spend a lot of time with the big manufacturers to make sure we’re up on the most current technologies, and most importantly we really do put our customer’s interests first. We know we’re getting it right for our clients and we intend to keep on growing.”
Written by: MERLE MINDA
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