Ferrum Technology Services Blog

Inefficiency can be a real killer for a business’ ability to take in revenue, but sometimes it seems like this lack of continuity can be unavoidable. It isn’t. Technology can go a long way toward helping you build more efficient processes. In this week’s blog, we discuss a couple of key pieces of technology used by many small businesses to keep their processes streamlined.

Your business should always strive to prevent interruptions and issues related to operations. With the right technology and appropriate management of it, you will find that you experience far fewer of them. Let’s examine some strategies you can use that will help you build better processes and how technology can aid in this.

It’s no secret that Google has a monopoly on the search engine market, but have you ever wondered how it maintains this stranglehold when other equally capable competitors, like Apple, could produce similar products? Well, it’s not as simple as you might think, and it even involves a considerable amount of funds that influence Apple’s decision.

It’s no surprise that larger businesses, with more access to more resources and far more capital have more people in leadership positions that are better positioned to get through tough periods than smaller businesses do. That’s why it is so important to have strong leadership. Let’s look at a couple of questions that you should ask yourself to help you get through stressful periods.

If you spend any amount of time on YouTube, chances are you’ve seen videos bring up the names of various sponsors, including consumer VPNs. VPN providers take advantage of the trendiness of these influencers to spread awareness of their products. We want to make one thing abundantly clear: the consumer VPNs offered by these sponsors are not the kind of VPN your business should be using.

Remote work has presented considerable challenges for employers and businesses around the world, and while many of these challenges are still present, some have been resolved through the use of hybrid work accommodations. This strategy allows companies to provide flexibility to employees while still retaining the advantages of in-office work.

Running a business is often a circus. Many times it requires several juggling acts and a dog and pony show to just get things done. This couldn’t be more true nowadays as business owners are considering how to operate with rising inflation and labor shortages threatening to stymie their organizational progress. Today, we’re going to look at some ways you can stretch your capital.

Communication is a major part of any relationship. In business, there is no way to have a positive working relationship without great communication. A lot of time and effort goes into getting your employees the tools they need to potentially be successful, but without the right mindset and practices, nothing will go the way you anticipate. Let’s look at four variables that are needed by you and your employees if you want to have crystal clear communications.

Over a quarter of all data breaches happen to small businesses. The cost of a data breach, well, it sure isn’t worth it. To keep your business’ data and infrastructure free of threats and relatively secure, small businesses will need a combination of useful technology tools and well-designed strategies. Let’s take a look at several steps your small business can take to secure itself from digital theft.

Protecting your clients’ and employees’ personal and financial data has to be a consideration for every single business. Not only do you have a responsibility to protect this data, you also may have to do so to remain in compliance with regulations mandated by governments, industry organizations, and even your own business. With data privacy becoming a growing concern, we thought it would be useful to discuss the basics of compliance a bit in this month’s newsletter. 

Remote work doesn’t come without its fair share of issues, but with a little creativity and ingenuity, you can help your remote employees overcome them. Let’s examine structured problem solving, a particularly helpful approach to issue resolution that can help your team be more productive throughout the workday.

Businesses today have more options than ever before for their needs. With so many vendors available outside your typical in-house office environment, you can get most of the services you need via outsourcing. That said, there are certain processes you shouldn’t outsource, even if you think it might be a good idea.

There is a lot made of the importance of productivity when it comes to running a business. Of course, without a consistent output, revenue growth is impossible. As a result, many workers expect the same kind of effort that they give. When they don’t see that effort, tensions can get high and they can get stressed out pretty easily. Today, we will go through a couple of tips that will help you maintain composure when your job delivers more stress than you’d like. 

These days, it feels like there are risks around just about every corner that could affect your business. This can make it hard to navigate the challenges of running your company in an efficient way. Let’s examine some of the risks your average small business might encounter, as well as what you can do about them.

In the coming years, digital transformation is going to change the way people conduct business. So much so, that the shift has an anticipated value of approximately $767 billion by 2026. If your business is looking to get less analog in the way you go about your processes, you need to understand the pitfalls that many businesses are going to experience so that yours can thrive. This month, we take a look at why digital transformation objectives fail and what you can do about them. 

It’s no shock that business executives are already busy enough, but you need to add “knowing more about your IT infrastructure” to that list if you haven’t already done so. It’s critical that you are on the same page as your IT staff, and this relationship will fuel productive relations with both your technology and the staff utilizing it.

Ransomware does not discriminate by industry, audience, business size, or otherwise. It will always be a threat to your organization, no matter what you do or who you serve. Let’s take a look at some of the commonly targeted industries that ransomware is used against.

As we enter the third quarter of the year, now is as good a time as ever to reevaluate how you are spending your IT budget. According to Gartner, your IT spending might actually be increasing, assuming it’s in line with what your organization wants and needs. Are you being intentional with your IT spending? Where are you investing it? Are you spending it on avenues for continued growth? Gartner’s study might yield some interesting ideas which you can call upon to inform your own spending practices.

Your business runs on its data, and without an infrastructure to support your operations, your productivity will be dead in the water. Most businesses choose to host their data on servers, and if you know anything about these complex pieces of machinery, you know that managing and maintaining them can be an involved process. Let’s go over some best practices to ensure you manage your server infrastructure appropriately.

Managers and employees might work for the same company, but the reality is that their responsibilities and experiences are two very different things. When you promote someone new to management, or if you join their ranks for yourself, you’ll have to keep certain practices in mind. Let’s go over some of these practices and how IT can ease some of the burden.