Customer Spotlight: gWiz Technology Services

Jerry Hotho, president of gWiz Technology Services, grew up a gadget guy. Always interested in how things work, Jerry earned his degree in Computer and Electronics Technology from the United Electronics Institute. He started gWiz Technology Services, based in Tampa Bay, Florida, in 2009 to provide technical services for small businesses. We spoke with Jerry about his business and what changes he’s seen since the COVID-19 pandemic started.

What types of services do you provide?
I offer technical services for small business and home-based businesses. Most of my time is spent backing up systems, monitoring for viruses, and helping employees work remotely. Think of me as a virtual IT department which allows companies to focus on running their business, not worrying about IT issues.

With PC upgrades and migration happening regularly, what drew you to Laplink?
When Microsoft began migrating from Windows 7 to Windows 10, I started getting a lot of calls. Performing these upgrades manually is time-consuming for IT staff and impacts employee productivity. Changing user profiles or migrating applications can be a real headache for everyone. PCmover is easy to use and is quite cost-effective. I just wanted to migrate the entire user environment in one motion, and that’s where PCmover came to the rescue.

If the process is difficult for a small company, how time-consuming and costly is it for a large company?

It’s huge. There are significant labor costs involved when you’re migrating thousands of users to new computers. Using PCmover saves a tremendous amount of time and allows IT departments to focus on higher-value activities.

What issues have you run into since the COVID-19 pandemic hit and turned much of the country’s workforce into remote workers?

First, employees started using their home computers for work. Some were even using their kid’s computers. Others had outdated operating systems that were not capable of running current business applications. That meant employers had to quickly buy new computers and get their employees set up to work effectively from home. Other employers were reluctant to allow employees to take their computers from the office to their homes. This meant that I spent a lot of time getting employees set up at home so that they could get their work done.

I realized right away that setting up multiple remote workers impacted employees and the IT departments since they were overwhelmed with all the changes going on. PCmover made it easy for me to create the same environment for employees in their new setting.

If there’s one recommendation you have for companies as they continue to transition their employees to working remotely, what would it be?
Don’t let your technology fall behind. When an emergency like COVID-19 hits, having PCmover means you’re already prepared.