Ferrum Technology Services Blog

What kind of hardware and software solutions make up your technology infrastructure? You should know that all businesses have different needs, and not everyone will manage and acquire the same tools. Some businesses don’t even know what their needs are, prompting many to turn to technology professionals for assistance. We want to be the ones you turn to for your hardware and software needs.

The average business deploys plenty of technology, that much is true. You work alongside it--and often directly with it--but if you had to explain what it is to another person, could you? If you can’t, we’ve got your back. This month we will take you through a tour of the various technologies that your business uses, where they can be found, and what their general purpose is.

We thought we would do something a little bit different for this week’s tip. Instead of giving you some software tips or some kind of thing you can use to make your business more productive, we thought that we’d help you with the thing that you already know, but may not realize:

There’s nothing quite as annoying as a computer whose volume is either too low or too high. Today’s tip is dedicated to helping you assess and respond to sound problems with your computer or device.

For those of us that don’t have access to fiber-to-the-home or LTE Internet, the cable modem is a must-have. You can always rent a modem from your ISP or you can purchase your own, but no matter what your decision is, knowing what to look for when modem shopping is advantageous. Let’s take a look.

Unlike the office environment, the technology used in retail has been relatively stagnant. The times are changing, though. It’s been a long time coming, but the technology used in the retail environment is finally evolving to meet the growing needs of organizations. Unfortunately, this has been met with the challenges of implementing said technology in the industry.

The hardware that makes up your business’ IT infrastructure can be difficult to manage--particularly if that’s not where your specialty lies. While the first step to having a successful IT strategy is to have the proper hardware, acquiring it can be rather challenging at times, especially if your business doesn’t have an in-house IT department. Sometimes an outsourced approach is the best way to gain the best tech for your goals.

Managing and maintaining the plethora of solutions your business depends on can be challenging, to say the least. For some businesses, however, the most difficult part of using multiple solutions can often be not just managing them, but paying for them. Thankfully, there is a great service out there that uses the cloud to make all of this easier for small businesses.

Sometimes it might feel like your technology never works as you want it to. You might try to open up a software application only to find an error message that keeps you from being productive. The error doesn’t go away no matter how many times you reload the application. How can you eliminate these issues that threaten to derail your productivity throughout the workday?

It can be easy to dismiss the simple Chromebook as a limited solution, a one-trick pony of technology. However, while this may have once been true of the devices, more recent models are capable of much more than their predecessors. We’ll address a few misconceptions people have about, and against, Chromebooks.

It can often be difficult to figure out what to get someone for a holiday gift. Fortunately, there is almost always a new gadget or gizmo that can make someone with particular interests happy. In this blog, we’ll go over a few cool gadgets that make excellent special-interest gifts.

Arguably one of the most important parts of running a business is the physical infrastructure of your office environment. This involves ensuring that the cabling of all network assets is properly implemented. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done, as no two businesses will utilize the same setup. We’ll walk you through some of the variables that you’ll need to consider during the cabling process, and what you can do to make it easier to handle.

With computing and networking hardware shown to be unreliable over time, businesses need to have a strategy in place to fix or replace their hardware. This is especially the case when it comes to servers. Replacing a server is expensive, but when it fails, you aren’t left with a lot of choices. What’s your plan for dealing with hardware failure? Here are three options.

The Internet of Things is quickly becoming a major part of today’s consumer-based industry. One of the best examples of this is the use of smart car technology. A great example of this comes from a company called Zubie, which sells a handy device meant to provide car owners with tracking analytics, access to diagnostic systems, and even the capability to connect to Wi-Fi.

Renowned tech company Intel has announced their next line of laptop processors, but an unfortunate aside caused significant frustration amongst the IT market. Intel has broken from the tradition of releasing new processors each September which will be improved upon later. Instead, Intel has jumped the gun and released a new processor, rather than improve their Skylake processor from the previous year.

The processor has been named Kaby Lake, which is optimized for 4K video handling and editing and can improve battery life. However, it’s not these changes that have resulted in confusion; rather, it’s something as simple as a name change that has IT professionals up in arms. Prior to Intel’s most recent release, there were two lines of processors which were given the titles of Core i and Core M. The 'i' line of processors is the stronger of the two, while the M processors were reserved almost exclusively for tablets. The confusion came when the Core M processors were renamed to represent the 'i' series.

Keep in mind that there has been no change in the capabilities of the processors. The change is in name only. The difference can only be seen in the product numbers. What this means is that when someone is researching components for a workstation, they may accidentally purchase the wrong i7 processor (a significantly less powerful one). The only way they can really determine the change is by digging into the product’s specifications--which, if you’re not technically inclined, won’t mean anything.

This leads to our next point; while the average consumer may not notice a difference in performance, business owners want technology that meets the specific needs of their organization. Granted, this is assuming that a business owner has the time and resources available to research the available solutions. The problem here is that the average business owner probably doesn’t have this time available to them, and it takes much more than identifying the proper product number to make educated decisions about your IT infrastructure.

If your business doesn’t want to waste time sifting through product numbers and specifications, Ferrum Technology Services is happy to help. Our skilled technicians can help your organization procure only the best technical assets that are designed to meet your business’s specifications. To learn more, reach out to us at (847) 697-3282.

Every business has hardware, like workstations, servers, and other devices, that are critical to its operational efficiency. However, managing your hardware can be tricky, especially if you’re a small or medium-sized business that has limited time and resources. If your business doesn’t have a process put in to place to handle hardware inventory and deployment, perhaps it’s time that you consider implementing one.

If your computer is underperforming, then it may not have enough RAM to do what you’re asking it to do. When selecting a PC, how do you know if you have enough RAM?

Every business has crucial IT systems that are imperative to its continued functionality. Usually these systems are maintained by an internal IT department, but many small businesses don’t have this luxury. Therefore, they have traditionally relied on break-fix IT companies to handle their technology problems when they hinder operations.

It was a dark and stormy night, as it sometimes is on Halloween. It’s a time when kids and adults alike enjoy dressing up as scary monsters and partaking in some good old-fashioned trick-or-treating. You’re pulling a late night at the office, and you hear a sound emanating from your server room; an unsavory clicking sound that echoes through the recesses of your office. What do you do?

One of the most common questions we are asked by our clients is, “What’s the best way to store my business’s data?” Questions like these are imperative to the survival of any business endeavor, as they force you to think in the grand scheme of things. So, what’s the best way to store your data long-term?