San Francisco startups run Apple. Here’s what to look for in an IT partner who actually knows Macs, Jamf, and Apple Business Manager — and can be on-site when it matters.

Ask any HR or Operations leader at a fast-growing startup what keeps them up at night, and “IT” is usually somewhere on the list. Not in a “our systems are down” way, but in a quieter, more grinding way: the new hire whose laptop took two weeks to arrive. The employee who quit on short notice and still had access to company systems three days later. The engineer who joined remotely and spent his entire first week unable to get into half the tools he needed.

Here’s a conversation I’ve had with more than a few business owners over the years. They tell me they’re not worried about network security because they have a firewall. I ask them where half their team works on any given Tuesday. They tell me: home, coffee shops, co-working spaces, airports. I point out that the firewall is sitting in their office, guarding a building that half their employees are never in.