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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.

How You Can Benefit from RMM

How You Can Benefit from RMM

It’s clear that your business’ profession was chosen based on a specific lack or need in your area, but if you don’t have the technology to make sure this need can be met, you’re not providing value to your clients. This is one of the key reasons why businesses like us offer remote monitoring and management services to organizations like yours.

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Managed Services Can Provide a Lot of Value

Managed Services Can Provide a Lot of Value

How does your business manage its technology solutions? If you’re like most small businesses, you likely have limited technology maintenance, and not necessarily due to any fault on your part. Small businesses have limited budgets and resources available to them, making technology maintenance less accessible. Thankfully, managed services are here to make sure that you never settle for less than what your organization needs.

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Remote Management and Monitoring is Ideal for SMBs

Remote Management and Monitoring is Ideal for SMBs

When you experience troubles with your technology, you don’t have time to just sit around and wait for the problem to resolve itself. You need someone by your side to assist with the problem. Yet, many small businesses don’t have the luxury of an in-house IT department that can help its employees resolve problems quickly and efficiently. How can you avoid this common issue and keep downtime to a minimum in the process?

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Because Getting PC Help Should Be Easy and Accessible

Because Getting PC Help Should Be Easy and Accessible

Workstations that don’t work properly can get in the way of even the most diligent of workers. If the IT department is too busy to give them immediate assistance, where can your employees turn to? If your organization has a help desk solution, workers have a great way to get the assistance they need without having to wait.

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When Your Business' Hardware Fails, You’ve Got Options

When Your Business' Hardware Fails, You’ve Got Options

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.

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Tip of the Week: 8 Questions Every Business Should Ask of Their Potential IT Provider

Tip of the Week: 8 Questions Every Business Should Ask of Their Potential IT Provider

It’s not unheard of for organizations to experience immense technological trouble that brings future potential problems into question. Surprises like these can spell trouble for businesses that are unprepared, especially considering the major damage it could cause to your budget. This forces you to ask yourself if you know what your current plan for IT covers, and what you want your provider to do to eliminate unexpected billing surprises.

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How to Stop Wasting Time on Troublesome Technology Issues

How to Stop Wasting Time on Troublesome Technology Issues

Does your organization have trouble managing and maintaining its technology? Usually, this responsibility falls to an IT department, but this assumes that you actually have one. Furthermore, it’s easy for an IT department to be so busy with maintaining the state of things that they don’t have time to innovate and improve operations. What’s a business owner to do?

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What it Looks Like When Your Network is Managed Remotely

What it Looks Like When Your Network is Managed Remotely

Business owners have a lot to worry about. However, keeping workstations, server units, mobile devices, and various software solutions in good working order doesn’t have to be a concern--that is, if you outsource these responsibilities to the right IT professionals.

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Pressed for Time and Money? Managed IT Services are Designed With You in Mind!

Pressed for Time and Money? Managed IT Services are Designed With You in Mind!

Many of those who are responsible for a business could tell you that managing it isn’t an easy task--and when IT is involved, it can very quickly get a lot more complicated. Of course, those that say that are more than likely using an antiquated, break-fix approach. Those who utilize managed IT services, however, will likely have a much different opinion.

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3 Compelling Reasons to Make the Switch to Managed IT

3 Compelling Reasons to Make the Switch to Managed IT

Your organization needs its technology solutions in order to keep up with day-to-day operations, but at the same time, you’ll need to maintain them. Organizations that don’t have an IT department will sometimes turn to their employees to do the required maintenance, but this can put your infrastructure at risk.


To keep your IT out of danger due to inexperience or negligence, we want to share with you a way that you can keep your technology up-to-date and functional, without putting it at risk. It’s called managed IT services, and you’d be surprised what they can do for you. We’ll discuss some of the many benefits that your business can stand to take advantage of by forsaking break-fix IT in favor of managed IT.

Cost Savings
You’ll notice an immediate cost savings when using managed services as your core method of IT maintenance. Right off the bat, you’re saving money. Since you only pay a monthly service fee rather than large up-front costs, you’ll benefit immediately. You receive any sort of maintenance as per your service level agreement from your managed service provider, which is more effective than paying for unexpected maintenance from break-fix IT.

Plus, since you’re taking proactive measures to ensure that your organization’s technology is maintained, you’ll be less likely to experience crippling hardware failure. Break-fix IT providers basically depend on your technology not working properly for them to make money, so they have no real incentive to ensure that your technology is working properly in the long run. Managed IT providers, on the other hand, want to build a relationship with the client and prevent problems from happening in the first place, saving your organization money and boosting rapport in the process.

Less Wasted Time
Small businesses have a tough time acquiring an internal IT department due to budget restraints, but if you do have one, it’s probably swamped with work. This means that the work is either not getting done, or it’s being done poorly due to time constraints. You can’t cut corners in IT, as it could lead to dangerous downtime or missing important updates, putting your data at risk. In fact, one of the most important skipped maintenance procedures is the administration of patches and security updates--something that absolutely shouldn’t be missed.

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This Cyber Crime Landed a Former IT Administrator 2 Years in Jail

This Cyber Crime Landed a Former IT Administrator 2 Years in Jail

Managing permissions for their network is something that many organizations may only consider when it’s too late to do anything about it. This can provide outsiders with access to sensitive information that shouldn’t be seen by anyone but your employees. To learn a few lessons about user permissions, let’s look at the misfortune of PA Online, a Pennsylvania-based Internet service provider.

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Tip of the Week: 3 Basic Practices for Maintaining Your PC

Tip of the Week: 3 Basic Practices for Maintaining Your PC

You may need business technology to ensure that operations go off without a hitch, but at the same time, you’re reliant on it in order to function. If your technology fails, you’ll be left with a large deficit to fill. Here are three ways that you can improve PC performance with basic maintenance practices.

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3 Ways Managed Services Can Improve Operations for Every Business

3 Ways Managed Services Can Improve Operations for Every Business

When you take your broken-down technology to a break-fix IT technician, they’ll usually fix the problem, but you’ll be stuck with a hefty, per-hour rate that could easily ruin your IT budget. Unfortunately, small and medium-sized businesses often have little choice in the matter, as they can’t afford in-house technicians. Thankfully, there’s a third option for your IT solutions, and it’s called managed IT services.

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3 Initiatives That Every IT Department Wants to See

3 Initiatives That Every IT Department Wants to See

If you’re one of the small businesses that has the resources to devote to an internal IT department, then you know how difficult it is playing at help desk with the rest of your employees. Their role is crucial to helping those who are less tech-savvy, but there’s always the chance that even your IT department will be stumped. That’s not to mention the fact that your help desk could be filled with potentially-avoidable requests.

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The 3 Major Ways Managed IT Beats Break-Fix IT, Every Time

The 3 Major Ways Managed IT Beats Break-Fix IT, Every Time

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.

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Why a Reboot is Like a Magic Wand for Your PC

b2ap3_thumbnail_power_of_a_reboot_400.jpgHave you ever called tech support only to be answered with this generic response: “Have you tried turning it off and on again?” More often than not, a simple reboot can resolve many issues with a computer. However, you still need to be cautious of more serious issues that a reboot won't fix. Here’s how a PC reboot works, and why it’s such an effective tool for resolving PC troubles.

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3 Tips to Get the Most Out of Your IT Infrastructure

b2ap3_thumbnail_rethink_your_organizations_it_400.jpgEvery business wants to be equipped with the latest and greatest IT equipment and software. Yet, due to realities like budget shortcomings, time constraints, and the lack of knowledge about IT trends, it can be difficult for the average SMB to attain that dream technological setup on their own. However, by being smart about how you approach IT, your company can still have a network that exceeds your expectations.

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How Your Business Would Benefit From Help Desk Support

b2ap3_thumbnail_call_center_options_400.jpgWhat if you can have one employee who’s dedicated to receiving calls and answering tech support questions from the rest of your staff? Essentially, someone having this role would be like a help desk for your business. If you don’t think you can afford filling in a seat like this, consider how much time/money a move like this would save you if employees didn’t have to waste time seeking out needed information.

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Why Your Team Should Have A Basic Understanding of Technology

b2ap3_thumbnail_troubleshoot_your_own_pc_issues_400.jpgWhat separates the average PC user from the IT technician who routinely takes care of your technology issues? In essence, the only difference is the amount of technical training. Our years of technical expertise have given us the ability to diagnose and resolve varieties of problems, but we don’t hold our knowledge close to the chest. Rather, we want to share it with you.

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3 of the Biggest Benefits of the Managed IT Model

b2ap3_thumbnail_proactive_it_support_400.jpgIT can be a tricky concept to the business owner, and we all know how touchy technology can be at times. It can be working one minute, then completely incapacitated the next. This unpredictability is one reason why the concept of help desk support was created. It’s an important way to assist individuals when they need help most.

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