London calling for The Missing Link

Aaron Bailey (The Missing Link)

The Missing Link is preparing for global expansion with the launch of a new security-focused office in London. 

The IT services and security company has staked its claim on the British security market through hiring two local sales representatives and cementing several customer deals.

Aiding the company’s expansion is its long-term relationship with distributor Exclusive Networks, through which it will work with in the UK market. 

Alongside this, The Missing Link has already inked local vendor deals with the likes of CrowdStrike, Fortinet, Okta, CyberArk, ProofPoint, Rapid 7 and Tenable. 

Speaking to ARN about the expansion of The Missing Link, chief information security officer Aaron Bailey said London made the most sense for the consultancy in terms of building a 24/7 ‘follow the sun’ security services model. 

“It made business sense for creating [an] around-the-clock security operations centre. London is a timezone positive market for this strategy,” he said. 

“We have a lot of familiarity with the UK market; I used to work there and a lot of the customers and vendors we work with have UK counterparts. Lastly, the UK is part of the Five Eyes security alliance, which enables information sharing between Australia and London.” 

The opening in London marks the company’s first major expansion. Founded in 1997, The Missing Link has largely operated from its base in Artarmon, Sydney, expanding into Melbourne in 2017. 

Since its launch, the company has grown first with the acquisition of Inform Solutions in 2003 followed by Artis Infrastructure Group in 2011. 

In 2013, The Missing Link launched its security services unit and began its push into Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in 2019. 

Currently, The Missing Link is leveraging its existing customer base for introductions, references or referrals to potential London clients, with tax advisory firm Grant Thornton confirming it was assisting with this. 

Although two London-based salespeople have been hired, management of The Missing Link’s UK office will remain in Australia. 

As a result, the company has bolstered its Australia-based sales team by promoting Zoaib Nafar from security sales manager to head of security sales, who will oversee the UK market.  

According to Bailey, the company sees big demand in the British market for ‘red teaming’ a more rigorous approach to penetration testing, which he claims is a “little behind” in the Australian market. 

“The talent pool in the UK is three times that of Australia,” he said. “We’re looking to bring our consultative-led model to the UK market.”