Ferrum Technology Services Blog

By now, almost everyone is tired of the COVID-19 pandemic. Millions of people are out of work and millions more risk exposure at work. Thousands of businesses have had to close or suspend business. It’s just not a great scene for anybody. Many companies, who can’t just wait around for a vaccine to inoculate enough people for things to go back to normal, have started looking to automation to solve their business’ immediate and long-term problems.

Businesses are in a tough spot right now, which makes their costs an even bigger issue for them to keep in mind. Luckily for businesses everywhere, however, many technologies are available now that can greatly benefit their operations—without being unattainable due to their price. Let’s consider five such technologies and strategies that can bring productivity and efficiency without sending you into the red.

Two weeks ago we had a look at the flagships. Last week, we took a look at the new foldable and flippable smartphones, but what if you don’t have $1,000 to buy a device? Are your options severely limited? Let’s take a look at some of your options.

Last week we took a look at some of the flagship smartphones that are on the market to give you a good idea of this year’s cream of the proverbial crop, but in 2020 smartphone innovation has taken a big leap forward. Today, we take a look at some of the devices that are pushing the envelope in the smartphone space.

Your technology infrastructure is perhaps one of the most important elements for your business, which means that you need to be sure that it is always prepared to perform as it should. Unfortunately, this can sometimes be a challenge. Let’s go over how you can address this challenge so that you can accomplish as much as possible.

For the modern business, collaboration has to be one of the priority aims. It can cut costs, produce better products and services, and can help a company provide great customer service.  Some companies just haven’t figured out how to do it yet. Today, we will take a look at three reasons why your business  continues to fail at collaboration.

One of the biggest questions that was routinely asked to IT administrators before the COVID-19 pandemic shifted everything was, “How can we use the Internet of Things to Improve Your Business?” The answer isn’t as simple as you might think. Today, we will look at what benefits the Internet of Things can present to you and whether or not they can make a difference for the average small business.

The good old days, the timeless oldies, there’s no school like the old school… A lot of us fondly look back on the simpler times, but technology typically pushes forward. In fact, if we look back at what we were collectively doing with computers back in the 80’s and 90’s, it’s practically embarrassing. Sure, the music and television shows of our formative years will never be topped, but less can be said for the technology. Unless you are a Boeing 747...

With the technology you use being increasingly important to the success of your business, it becomes crucial that your employees have access to workstations that effectively run the software your business depends on. This month, we thought we’d take a look at the myriad of computing options that the modern business has when it’s looking to buy computers for its staff.

Lots of things have been scaled back in 2020, but one thing that hasn’t is the presence of the remote worker. Outside of the normal amount of people that work from home, the COVID-19 pandemic has created opportunities for people who typically didn’t get the chance to do so to work from the comfort of their own homes. Let’s take a look at a few gadgets that have to be a part of every remote worker’s home office.

Many business’ supply chains have had a tough year. One positive outcome of this is that the innovation that was happening in that area has accelerated. Today, there are several technologies that are improving the way businesses can track all the goods that makes their business possible. Let’s take a brief look at four of them.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major effect on business. Despite this fact, we’re starting to get to the point where most businesses are at least being allowed to attempt to conduct business in a somewhat normal fashion, but it’s definitely a new world out there. Business owners in all lines of business are looking for that tool that can improve productivity, make their operations more efficient, and spit out the metrics they need to tweak them. 

The impact of COVID-19 to businesses has been such that we will not likely return to the way business was run before all of this happened. A major factor to this is how businesses once made use of their technology. The shifts that have occurred in the last few months will not likely go away, even after the pandemic ends.

As people have increasingly shifted to working remotely, the importance of accessible support for their devices has risen substantially. This has led many businesses to use managed IT service providers, or MSPs, like us to provide this kind of support. To do so, we’ve invested in a series of tools collectively called remote monitoring and management software (RMM). Let’s share some of the reasons that you want an IT support provider that uses RMM to their advantage.

A lot is being made about running smarter businesses. Two terms you typically hear during this conversation are business intelligence and business analysis. This month, we will take a look at the two terms, decipher their meaning, how they are different from one another, and how they can help you determine the resources a business needs to improve itself. 

The small business owner has to commit to changing the way that you look at his/her business. It’s not always easy. When demand makes you think bigger, your technology spend becomes a major priority. Let’s take a look at some of the changes a growing business has to make. 

A lot of people didn’t take the novel Coronavirus seriously when it was first discovered outside of China in late February. Now four months later, as the pandemic rages on, people continue to work from home, have their hours cut, or be completely out of a job. For the business owner, this period has been filled with difficult decisions, including halting all major IT projects. If your business is looking for a solution to help them add the technology they need at a price that works for this period, here are three useful options.

As workplaces and offices everywhere have struggled to cope with the restrictions brought on by social distancing mandates, the adoption of automated solutions has surged ahead. Of course, this does open a few important questions to consider. For instance, what this could mean for employment post-pandemic, and how automation may be used in the future to mitigate the impacts we’re currently experiencing.

There is a saying that you hear a lot in business: Plan for the worst, hope for the best. This is typically related to data redundancy, cybersecurity, or one of any other proactive steps a business should take to control the continuity of their business. What happens when you plan for the worst, but the best comes to fruition? What happens when your business consistently meets demand, prospers without issue, and grows quickly? Today, we will take a look at some issues the small business owner has to deal with when his/her business isn’t so small anymore. 

Could you tell me when the last time your routers were updated? How about when your servers were last maintained? How old is the hardware in your office? Where would someone go to get a new keyboard? If you don’t know the answers to these questions it is possible that your IT is not properly inventoried. This month, we’ll discuss the importance of keeping a technology inventory.