When researching the use of the word "partner" with IT Companies, it's clear most (including us) over-use the word, and we're not doing a good job justifying the applicability in the client/vendor relationship. Just because you sell products or services to someone doesn't make it a partnership.
What Does It Mean to “Partner” With an IT Company?
Three Stages of IT Maturity in Small Businesses

Over the years we’ve observed a lot of different takes on small businesses using IT. With over 30 million businesses of 500 employees or less, there’s a lot of variety.
With that being said, there are clearly different stages of what we’ve coined “IT Maturity Stages”. As small businesses increase in employee headcount and revenue, you’d hope their IT Maturity Stage would also increase to accommodate increased complexity, risks, and demand.