Managed service provider. IT support partner. Guy who comes in to fix broken computers.

In the world of business-level IT, there are plenty of ways to say “IT guy”.

Regardless of what you call your IT support team, one thing remains constant – they need to provide your business with the right tools for growth. In other words, services that you need.

Here are 4 of the most common things that you need from an IT partner.

✓ Technical support

The first thing that comes to mind for many businesses when thinking of IT is tech support – and that instinct is correct.

An ideal IT partner needs to offer comprehensive tech support to keep your business up and running at its finest.

What separates a decent IT support partner from a great one is their ability to proactively take care of your IT rather than reactively.

When it all comes together properly, your people can focus on their jobs instead of dealing with annoying technical issues.

That’s the freedom you should strive for.

✓ Backup and business continuity

Losing your data can devastate your business. In fact, 64% of SMBs say that they would become unprofitable in less than a month after losing access to mission-critical data.

To prevent that from ever being an issue, you’ll want to ensure that your IT support partner is handling that for you.

Instead of just making sure your data is copied from one place to another, a great IT partner ensures that you have a strategy in place to actually restore your systems from it.

✓ Security measures

Digital security is now more important than ever – especially for your clients and staff.

Criminals are exposing new weaknesses in applications and networks all the time. Ideally, your IT partner stays on top of all the latest security updates for you.

Aside from basic maintenance of keeping things updated, a great partner manages your security posture for you.

That means anything from monitoring your network to implementing security solutions (like firewalls and endpoint protection) to keep you safe.

Without the right security solutions in place, your business is at a huge risk.

Did you know? 52% of SMBs say that protecting against cyberattacks is one of their organization’s biggest priorities in the next two years.

✓ Strategic Future Planning

It’s important to think of your business today, but it’s equally important to think of tomorrow.

Your IT partner should help you “future proof” your IT infrastructure. They should leverage their industry expertise to strategically plan craft a technology roadmap to account for tech evolution and your specific business needs.

In other words, you need a partner that can help you plan for your growth. They should help you achieve your business goals with technology rather than just plugging up holes.

Do you have a great IT partner?

The world of technology changes rapidly. What your business needs today might not be what they need tomorrow. A great IT partner, perhaps above all else, is flexible to change with your business.

Still unconvinced as to whether your IT guy is making the cut? Let’s have a conversation and see if we can find any gaps in your IT strategy.