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Ferrum Technology Services Blog

Ferrum Technology Services has been serving the Elgin area since 2007, providing IT Support such as technical helpdesk support, computer support, and consulting to small and medium-sized businesses.

Tip of the Week: Simple Steps to Safer Email Practices

Tip of the Week: Simple Steps to Safer Email Practices

Security is always a business priority, and with so many business needs now fulfilled digitally, it is critical that cybersecurity has a strong presence in organizations big and small. Nowadays, collaboration solutions have also had even greater importance in the workplace, making tools like email completely essential. Unfortunately, this gives cybercriminals an increased opportunity to use it as a means of attack.

You Need Data Backup Even If You Think You Don’t

You Need Data Backup Even If You Think You Don’t

We tell every business owner we come into contact with the same thing: If you haven’t done so yet, you‘ll want to establish a data backup strategy. Some businesses are really small, some operate in industries where the cost of backing up data is seemingly prohibitive to the success of the business. To the people that operate those businesses, we repeat: If you haven’t done so yet, you‘ll want to establish a data backup strategy. Let’s examine why. 

A History of Android’s Many Versions

A History of Android’s Many Versions

Android has been around in one of its many forms for over a decade, and looking back, the changes that have been made over time is remarkable. Let’s go through each version to review some of the adjustments and improvements that each new version has introduced.

Tip of the Week: Google Lens Makes a Handy Productivity Tool

Tip of the Week: Google Lens Makes a Handy Productivity Tool

While Google Lens has flown under the radar for most Android users, it can be leveraged as a major productivity booster. Let’s go over a few of the capabilities that can be embraced after installing the application on your mobile device for this week’s tip.

Blockchain Is Changing the World, One Node at a Time

Blockchain Is Changing the World, One Node at a Time

Blockchain was all the rage for five years. You couldn’t talk about technology without someone bringing it up. At that point, it was listed as the remedy for all the world’s problems. Five years later, it’s not being mentioned quite as much, but it has been used to create some very useful products. Let’s take a look at what is going on with blockchain technology in 2020. 

Partition Your Network to Improve Productivity

Partition Your Network to Improve Productivity

Most homes and businesses use Wi-Fi of some sort. It is the most useful way to get the computing resources to computers and mobile devices without having to go through the headache of laying cables and dealing with data overages. What you may not know about your Wi-Fi network is that it can be set up in a way that can ensure that your most important Wi-Fi processes get the bandwidth they need. Let’s take a look at how partitioning your Wi-Fi can benefit your business.

Tip of the Week: How to Make Social Media a Little Less Political

Tip of the Week: How to Make Social Media a Little Less Political

Social media platforms have proven their worth as a communication tool and advertising platform… something that many political campaigns are embracing with an election looming. As a result, many people have found their feeds cluttered with campaign ads. The thing is, the ads aren’t always welcomed on a platform that many use to keep up with friends and family—even less so if the content doesn’t align to their political views.

Is Blockchain Still a Big Deal? (It Sure Is)

Is Blockchain Still a Big Deal? (It Sure Is)

It seemed that, not so long ago, everything was going to be associated in some way to blockchain and blockchain technology. All online transactions and data were going to use the blockchain for security. However, as 2020 has provided some very effective distractions from the thought of blockchain, it seems to have slipped from the public consciousness. Let’s look at how blockchain is still being used today to drive innovation as a quick reminder.

What’s the Oldest Piece of Tech You Use?

What’s the Oldest Piece of Tech You Use?

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...

Tip of the Week: Keeping a Smartphone Cool

Tip of the Week: Keeping a Smartphone Cool

Smartphone users know how hot their devices can get, seemingly without reason, and how unnerving that can be. No wonder—these heat levels can damage the device itself. This means it is very important to try and control its temperature as best you can. We’ve put together some tips to help you keep your phone from overheating.

Employees Can Be Your Business’ Best Defense Policy

Employees Can Be Your Business’ Best Defense Policy

A business’ employees are perhaps its greatest weakness in terms of its cybersecurity, although they also have the potential to be one of its greatest advantages if trained properly. To demonstrate this, let’s consider a few examples that exemplify either case.

Which is a Better Spreadsheet Option, Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel?

Which is a Better Spreadsheet Option, Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel?

Spreadsheets are a supremely useful tool for businesses to use, but it is important for you to consider which option will work out best for your particular needs. Let’s consider the biggest two spreadsheet applications available today—Microsoft’s Excel and Google’s Sheets—to familiarize yourself with your options.

Why You Should Encourage Breaks

Why You Should Encourage Breaks

In modern business culture, productivity reigns supreme. So much so, in fact, that the concept of a break is unofficially frowned upon and seen as an indicator of an unproductive employee. Breaks can actually benefit the productivity of your team. Let’s go over the perception of a break, and what the reality is.

How to Balance Employee Health with Business Productivity

How to Balance Employee Health with Business Productivity

Traditionally, when you talk about employee health, issues come up about health insurance and workplace safety. With the COVID-19 pandemic six months old, new considerations have to be made. The pandemic has caused many businesses to reassess the way they go about doing things to ensure that their workforces aren’t exposed to the virus, and that employees can handle their jobs with the pressures brought forth by the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Today, we’ll review some of the considerations business owners have to make to keep their workforces safe. 

Is This Bug in Your System? Chances Are, It Was!

Is This Bug in Your System? Chances Are, It Was!

Cybersecurity is challenging enough… you don’t need issues coming from one of your key applications. However, since a bug was found in some of the most popular Internet browsers today—potentially risking billions of people’s data security—you could very well see these kinds of issues. Let’s go over this vulnerability, and what you can do to address it.

How to Effectively Spread Out Your Wi-Fi

How to Effectively Spread Out Your Wi-Fi

Wireless Internet connectivity is an indispensable utility in today’s modern office. However, implementing one that will perform optimally is far from a straightforward task. Here, we wanted to offer you some tips to make the planning process for your Wi-Fi implementation both simpler, and more productive.

Technology Innovations to Get Your Business Going

Technology Innovations to Get Your Business Going

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. 

Why You Need to Prioritize IT Resilience

Why You Need to Prioritize IT Resilience

I want you to take a moment and consider something: is your business prepared to survive any kind of data disaster? If you aren’t, you need to ensure that your systems—all your systems—can recover from whatever feasible event might impact them. This is what is known as IT resilience. Let’s dive in a little deeper.

Tip of the Week: Three Tips to Improve Your Remote Meetings

Tip of the Week: Three Tips to Improve Your Remote Meetings

While remote work can be a hugely popular and successful strategy to ensure your business’ goals are accomplished, remote meetings can often offer up challenges for those that aren’t used to them. For this week’s tip, we’re offering three ways that you can help make these meetings easier to manage.

Many Businesses are Still Using Windows 7...

Many Businesses are Still Using Windows 7...

So many organizations continue to use a decade-old operating system, and they really, really shouldn’t.

Here’s the thing: Windows 7 is dead and gone… and yet, as of July, it still had a market share of about 23 percent, making it the second-most-popular operating system. Here, we’ll be going over just why it is—if your company is still using Windows 7—that you need to update to Windows 10 immediately (if not sooner).

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