Ferrum Technology Services Blog

Microsoft Word is a great tool that your business may use for word processing, but it can do so much more. With the right tools, you’ll be able to take advantage of many different tricks that could change the way you see Microsoft Word. Here are four neat tips that you may not have thought of.

Your business is much more vulnerable to dangerous entities than you’d care to admit. Think about it--all it takes is one unexpected event to cause untold amounts of chaos for your business. To make matters worse, these events are often outside of your control. Data loss incidents might be unpredictable, but they can be soothed thanks to a little bit of preventative management.

We have no problem going on the record as saying that there are more than enough strains of malware to go around. As such, it’s important that you know what to do if your workstation is struck by an infection.

You’ve been told that it’s a best practice to ensure that you never leave your workstation without locking it first. Yet, if you’re only stepping away for a few minutes, it might be tempting to just allow it to remain unlocked. But what happens when you step away for longer than expected? You leave your computer exposed to all manners of threats. Thankfully, a new solution allows for a fix with a device that most are never without: the smartphone.

Data backup is something of a conundrum for many small businesses. The classic mindset is that they don’t think they need data backup because there’s no way they’ll be struck with a data loss disaster. Their office may not be located in a place prone to natural disasters, and the organization is so small that the assume they are off the hook when it comes to hackers. This doesn’t reduce the value that a good data backup system can offer, though.

What are some of the critical business applications that your organization depends on in order to function? Perhaps it’s something as simple as an email solution, or your productivity suite. If either of these stopped working properly, would you be able to sustain operations? What if your software licenses ran out and you lost access to them? These are some of the many pains of traditional software acquisition, and a new method of this can help you make significant headway in managing your organization’s technology.

With the explosive popularity of social networking, the Internet seems to be a less private place than ever. With both communication and cyber crime rising in commonality, online privacy seems to be turning into a less attainable goal than ever. However, for this week’s tip, we’ll review some of the tools out there that can help you fight for your right to privacy.

Users can expect a change to how Google delivers results going forward, as the search engine has killed off its ‘Instant’ feature. This feature--introduced in 2010--influenced how results were displayed, and when.

Ransomware, the malware that locks down its victim’s files until they pay up, has always been a frustrating issue to deal with. However, a recent mobile ransomware will make the issue a little more personal… by sharing the victim’s mobile browsing history.

Digital communication has changed a lot over the years. Nowadays, special characters are commonplace for the modern person to communicate with. The special characters that are most frequently used are called emojis. They have become a staple in mobile communications, even among professionals. After all, who hasn’t responded to a message with an emoji thumbs up or a smiley face?

Technology has revolutionized business. However, along with all the advantages and benefits technology affords us, it comes with a few risks and vulnerabilities that some businesses are still struggling to come to terms with. For example, storing records electronically makes them easier to organize and locate when they’re needed. It also makes them vulnerable to hacker and cyber-attacks. Still, most SMBs are working toward mitigating risks as opposed to abandoning the use of technology in their business operations - and a current assessment of the situation does show improvement over past years.

Network security is equally important for businesses of all sizes. Ensuring that your infrastructure remains firm is one of the most crucial tasks in managing a business. You don’t have to do it alone, though. There are enterprise-level tools available that can give small businesses the same security standards as larger organizations, and it all starts with a Unified Threat Management (UTM) solution.

It would be hard to find someone who has never experienced the feeling of a time crunch, a situation where someone has more to do than they had hours to do it in. This feeling can be reduced by enhancing productivity through better time management. For our tip this week, let’s discuss some methods to improve time management within your office.

Servers are responsible for the distribution and storage of your business’s data infrastructure, as well as the deployment of important applications and data. However, if your organization is responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of these server units, you’ll be tasked with having the knowledge of how to keep them in optimal shape. We’ll discuss some of the ways you can better take care of your server units, as well as the optimal solution: server hosting.

What is your business’s preferred method of communication? It’s usually email or some type of telephone solution. Especially for a telephony solution, you need to make sure that your communication infrastructure is designed specifically for your organization. To this end, a traditional telephone system could be holding your business back from achieving its most lofty goals.

Google Drive is certainly a worthy cloud solution, and if you have the good fortune of using it for your organization, you know that it can offer everything from word processing to file storage options. However, there are always hidden features that can help you improve the way you use Google Drive. We’ll walk about three of the lesser known ways to use Drive that can help you better use it for your organization’s benefit.

There’s no denying that there is a lot to do in a business environment, and some things take longer than others...or at least they should. Is your business investing enough time into its network management, and all the tasks, processes, and responsibilities that it involves?

Procuring equipment is a necessary part of managing any business, but this is often easier said than done. Your organization works with multiple vendors, which could be both confusing and time-consuming. How does your business manage its vendors, and is there a way to make this easier and more efficient?

Back in 1995, scammers pulled the first phishing attack. They took the identity of AOL employees and requested the billing information of users through instant messaging. More sophisticated phishing attempts have evolved over the years, culminating in the commonly-seen email phishing attack, which tricks users into handing over personal or sensitive information. Phishing attacks can be seen through, so we’ll show you how you can identify threats before they become a problem.

Chances are that you, like most business owners, have assembled your staff very carefully, looking for people who are the best-in-class, willing to work their hardest for the good of the company. However, this staff will be made up of humans, and will therefore make mistakes. As such, you need to make sure that your data is managed in a way that keeps it safe.