Richard Thomson (Lindentech)
The ‘Partner Spotlight’ series explores partners operating in the local channel landscape right around the country, from Cape York to Hobart, Byron Bay to Fremantle and beyond. This edition focuses on Perth-based managed services provider Lindentech.
Just because someone starts a managed service provider (MSP), it doesn’t always mean they’ll be running the show forever. A good business leader knows when it’s time to step up and when it’s time to pass on the torch.
The latter is what happened with Lindentech’s current managing director, Richard Thomson, who first joined the business in 2012 as a level 2 systems engineer along with owner Jawid Dadarkar and two other employees.
Today, the business has 17 employees, with Thomson as managing director after taking over the role from Dadarkar in 2021, and turnover in excess of $3 million with about 60 per cent as fixed agreement revenue.
“[Working at a] managed IT services company in WA has been very exciting and being such a remote city has had its challenges in terms of available technology infrastructure over the years,” Thomson said to ARN.
“We have had in many instances had to really think outside the box to deliver solutions that work for our clients.”
One such solution was a new network platform for Perth’s The Melbourne Hotel, which took place in 2017. This platform provided Wi-Fi, IPTV, telephony, data and security services for the client, with Thomson claiming the project was done “from the ground up”.
“I personally worked on this project directly and we supplied and installed every aspect of the technology through the building,” he said. “This was very exciting experience with plenty of learning along the way.”
Helping its work with clients are its partnerships, with its two standouts being its Microsoft licensing partner and cloud distributor Rhipe and voice system partners Novum networks.
“We have been with Rhipe for about two years now and was a change we certainly wish we had made earlier; the team at Rhipe are Microsoft gurus and would recommend them to any MSP that needs an incredible partner with a wealth of knowledge,” Thomson said.
Meanwhile, Novum Networks provides the MSP with Cisco’s Broadsoft cloud unified communications offering – a solution Thomson claims is an “incredibly stable and feature rich system”.
According to Thomson Lindentech has managed to keep its head above water and find success in projects and partnerships through the MSP’s culture.
“Jawid Dadarkar, the owner and previous managing director, has always wanted to help people to be the best version of themselves and has always been a mentor to myself and anyone who has worked for Lindentech,” he said.
“This has certainly seen employees always wanting to give their best. Lindentech is truly like a big family and the people make it what it is today.”
Moving forward, Lindentech is looking to establish frameworks and processes to move to the next level in its current growth plan.
“Growing whilst continuing the same great level of experience for our clients is the biggest challenge and something we never want to sacrifice,” Thomson added.
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