IT support is IT support, right? Um, no. It’s not all the same. An IT company with a strong support strategy doesn’t just plow through service ticket after service ticket. It helps customers meet their business goals.

What does that look like? For starters, it’s 24/7 support. It’s also a regionally based group of trained IT professionals assigned to your business who don’t just respond to service calls, but personally know your company.

Here are 3 tips for making sure your IT provider is on your team:

Great business partners are committed, passionate and smart team players. They challenge you to think beyond the norm and inspire you to reach new goals. Unfortunately, the wrong partnerships can become tedious, leading you down paths that cause confusion and missteps. The bottom line: Your relationships can mean the difference between business success and failure.

It's undeniable that cloud computing and outsourcing have resulted in better margins and higher profits for businesses over the past 10 years. However, data breaches have continued to plague companies around the globe with no end in immediate sight. This begs the obvious question: Could there be some relation between the two?

Ninety percent of Fortune 500 businesses run on the Microsoft Cloud. Yet research shows that  business and IT professionals are still leery of moving their infrastructure to Public Cloud. “There’s never been a more versatile, secure, and highly visible Cloud option on the market,” said Cloud Solutions Engineer Jordan Helton. “Unfortunately, the journey to Public Cloud has been difficult for some because they didn’t have the right partner helping them through the process. And others are intimidated by Public Cloud giants like Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure.”

Is your IT infrastructure at a crossroads? With more scalability, control, and lower costs topping your list of priorities, you know the best solution is likely in the cloud - but which one? The roadmap you've been given to navigate the many cloud options isn't clear or seems risky.

Jordan Helton, a C Spire Azure Solution Engineer, empowers people and businesses to accomplish their goals through the use of intelligent cloud solutions that reduce spend, increase productivity, and harden security.