Ferrum Technology Services Blog

Getting a new computer or smartphone is always exciting for the individual. For the growing business, however, getting new computers can be a giant pain in the neck. That’s not to say that a hardware refresh isn’t an exciting time for a business, it’s just that to get the new hardware to a point where it can be usable takes some doing. Today, we’ll talk a little bit about bloatware, why manufacturers install it, and how to get rid of it quickly. 

Information technology has a critical role in any business. The key part of an outstanding IT system, is the technology itself. Businesses greatly benefit from IT support that procures the latest and greatest technological developments. So, is your IT provider delivering the best value possible?

Think about how much office technology has changed over just the last 10 years. Remember those bulky, 60-pound CRT monitors? Remember thinking a 32” screen was a TV, not a computer monitor? While you more than likely have replaced those old computer monitors, what is the status of your computer hardware? If you purchased your computer at the same time as that monitor, your hardware is also extremely outdated. How do you know exactly how old your computer is, and when it’s nearing retirement?

You might think you have all the information you need to make the best decision possible for your business’ computers, but there are a few other odds and ends you should think about. This final part of our computer buying guide will focus on topics that didn’t seem to fit in other parts of our guide.

Your new desktop is nothing but show without a display to make use of it. Here are some of the major considerations you’ll need to think about when purchasing a new display for your device.

In this part of our computer buying guide, we’re focusing on storage space. Modern devices have several options available to them for storage, but the amount of space will vary by the brand of the device and the types of external storage used. Needless to say, knowing how much storage is available on your device will be extremely important, as it will dictate how you use it and what you store on it.

In part two of our desktop buying guide, we’ll focus on RAM, or random access memory. Some users have difficulty understanding this, so we’ll do our best to make sure it’s easy to grasp and apply to your own purchasing habits. You’ll learn how to make the best decisions regarding how much RAM your device will need.

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.