Cybertron looking to make a local name through its national sales experience

The owners of Cybertron International Inc. believe it's time for their 10-year-old company to build on its national market share by looking locally.

They have plans for a new combined showroom and manufacturing facility and are adding up to six more employees during the next 12 to 24 months.

"We're not very well known in the local market," says Ahmed Aziz, Cybertron CEO. "But we're at a point where we would like the business community and the consumer to know that we exist."

Cybertron has 30 employees who custom build desktop and laptop computers and storage servers for a client list that includes NASA, Fox News, ESPN, NBC and the Department of Homeland Security.

The company, formed in 1997 by Aziz along with Shadi Marcos and Emad Mekhail, is outgrowing its leased 13,000-square-foot facility at 1122 E. Osie St.

Cybertron's 2006 sales totaled $8.7 million, and the partners project a 10 percent increase for 2007. Desktop computers make up the bulk of the orders, although there has been an increase in demand for storage systems.

Last year, Cybertron built 13,300 units, which earned a No. 15 ranking in the 2007 CRN Leading System Builder Survey, which is part of CMP Channel, a computer-industry trade publication. The company ranked 18th in the 2006 survey.

"Here is a company that is clearly showing growth just not by just assuming that if you build them, they will come," says Dan Neel, marketing director for CMP Channel.

Following the Plan

The decision to increase Cybertron's visibility in the Wichita market comes after the demise of two Wichita-based, white-box computer builders -- Christian Dimension Inc. and Powergistic Systems Inc.

However, Cybertron's partners say the move is one they've been discussing for the past five years.

"You have to keep your business plan in the foreground," Aziz says. "If you start reacting to the market irrationally, that's what puts your business in jeopardy. We've been on track with our business plan since day one."

The partners say their expansion plans are still in the early stages. They have targeted some property, but decline to give its exact location. They are looking for general contractors to build a facility that combines a showroom, warehouse and manufacturing space.