Our story begins with Gary Swick
There once was a man determined to build a defensive army to combat a horde of bristly tech challenges. His passion for creating complete, stable and reliable IT solutions with a customer-first attitude prevailed. From this, he was able to craft customized, always-there-for-you AND emergency care IT services, then to apply these proven Fortune 500 IT solutions to Future 50 businesses in Southeastern Wisconsin, Upper Illinois and surrounding areas. Business success prevailed and there was joy throughout the land as people were able to do business and use technology without worry or hassle or downtime.
SWICKtech owes more than just its name to technical systems entrepreneur, Gary Swick. For over 30 years, Gary has honed his skills in business technology and client relationship communications. It all began in the late 1970s when Gary was working for Johnson Controls in their computer technologies division. Gary was on the cutting edge of IT development in a world about to forever change.
Eventually, Gary took on a new position at Michael Best & Friedrich, which at the time was the 2nd largest law firm in the state of Wisconsin. Gary led the law firm into the digital world by directing and developing the firm’s transition from the old paper-based filing system to a new, all digital database. For over a decade, Gary managed the law firm’s complex network, databases and all online business operations.
1997 marked the beginning of a new era in Gary’s career, one in which the seed for SWICKtech was sown. After building a solid foundation in computer technology, Gary became a consultant for Stratagem, a large consulting firm which specialized in software technology. Working closely with software clients, his technical knowledge and personable attitude made Gary very successful at helping his clients to best utilize the technical arm of their business. It was here, within this work, he first heard the siren song of his true calling.
One day, Gary’s technical expertise led him to a unique assignment. He was sent on location to help a client that had requested special support. Gary was the man for the job. He helped them to overcome an array of ongoing technical challenges within their network, and in doing so, he found this work to not only be engaging, but also inspiring. He also saw a potential area of growth for his employer, Stratagem. Gary decided to pitch his idea of this new service to his employer, suggesting that they add it to their repertoire of business solutions.
It was in this service born solely from passion, SWICKtech was conceptualized.
2003 marked the first big step; Gary established a sub-contractor partnership with Isaac Monteagudo and Jeff Vanevenhoven, co-owners of Infrastructure Management for Small Business (IM4SB). Together, they successfully built and expanded their list of clients for over a year, until an official merger took place in 2004. Just three years later, Jeff earned his Ph.D. and was taking a tenure track position at UW-Whitewater teaching entrepreneurship and strategy. Isaac and Gary agreed to buy Jeff out of his share in the company and elected to change the name to SWICKtech.
SWICKtech was born!
A leader in business technology innovations and development since 2001, SWICKtech has grown from an ultra-small operation run out of founder Gary Swick’s home, into an ultra-successful IT Managed Support serving Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee, Washington counties and Upper Illinois. As you can see, this success didn’t just happen overnight; it was slowly nurtured and developed from the passion and tireless effort of Gary and his highly trained team of specialists.
True believers in the “client first” approach, SWICKtech crafted success by working closely with their clients to build exactly what they need. Today, SWICKtech services more than 160 clients through ongoing annual service contracts, including our popular Full Stability Agreement. Our team of highly skilled professionals offer individually customized IT solutions, and meet the ever changing needs of those they serve. The firm is best recognized within the manufacturing, retail, and service industries achieving great success among businesses of every size and industry, working with for-profit corporations and as well as non-profit organizations.