Gary Swick
President, SWICKtech
15700 W. Cleveland Ave., New Berlin
www.SWICKtech.com
Industry: IT, technology, managed services
Employees: 29
Family: Jayne Swick (wife)
What kinds of IT services does SWICKtech offer clients, and what kinds of clients does your company work with?
“SWICKtech provides a positive experience with technology by managing the infrastructure needed to get business critical digital information to the end user, no matter where it is physically located – on-premise servers or cloud-based services. With our full stability agreement, SWICKtech takes ownership of the client’s technology and is responsible for leveraging technology to meet each of their business objectives. Think of us as the CTO in a larger organization. Added to the consulting services is a wide range of products from help desk, to SafetyNET offsite backup and disaster recovery services, to managed private cloud services, to line of business software implementation and management; everything to make IT run smoothly. We look for companies in southeastern Wisconsin and northern Illinois with local headquarters and 25 or more computers. Our industry focus is manufacturing, distribution and goods handling for privately held companies that are security minded.”
What was the smartest thing SWICKtech did in the past year?
“We implemented the ‘Traction’ process to run the business. This book describes a specific methodology to manage a business with clear vision, core values, regular meetings, agendas, rocks and so on. This process has helped us pull the management team together during a time of rapid growth.”
Do you plan to hire any additional staff or make any significant capital investments in your company in the next year?
“Yes, we have technical positions available and are looking for people with good communication skills who understand the basics of technology implementation. A lot has to happen behind the scenes to make technology user friendly and people who understand the details are valuable to us. We also plan to expand our managed private cloud services. Not everyone is ready to give Microsoft or Google exclusive access to all their information. I personally like to know where my data is physically stored.”
What will be your company’s main challenges in the next year?
“Training my management team and replacement. We will continue the ‘Traction’ process and learn to work together to make this a truly great place for everyone.”
What are the most significant IT threats businesses face today? How can businesses best protect themselves?
“Where do I begin? I think the No. 1 threat is not understanding where all of your business’ critical information is ‘physically’ located and the electronic security needed to protect it while providing seamless access to it. The best protection is following industry best practices for network security.
SWICKtech has webinars where we start with the basics of internal network security and expand to include cyber security for your business’ digital information.”
What was the best advice you ever received?
“Proverbs 22:1 – ‘A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.’ And, ‘Ethical behavior is doing the right thing when no one else is watching, even when doing the wrong thing is legal.’”
