Phantom Technology Solutions Blog

I have two questions for you.

First: how many subscriptions do you pay for that pertain to your business and its software? Second, how many of those subscriptions are actively used in your business’ processes?

This kind of sprawl is too easy to fall into if you aren’t carefully paying attention to these agreements… but you must. Let’s explore why.

Business technology is one of the greatest expenses in your budget, particularly when things don’t go according to plan. These are typically looked at as capital expenses, which means they are expensive and unpredictable by nature… but they don’t have to be. Today, we want to show you a different way of managing your IT that transforms it into a predictable operating expense.

Many businesses are under the impression that their IT, despite being a necessary cost, is just that: a bottomless pit for the company’s hard-earned money. However, this impression could be a sign that the business is not utilizing its technology effectively. Let’s look at three signs that your organization might need to reconsider its relationship with IT spending and how they contribute to your company’s overall impressions of IT (as well as its productivity).

While it might be tempting to take advantage of deals, sales, and even “free” technology, it’s crucial that you acknowledge you’re losing something valuable as a trade-off. The problem with tech is that “cheap” and “quick” doesn’t translate to “effective” and “valuable.” If you’re not careful, you might find yourself a victim of “tech debt,” an issue that can create serious problems for your business.

Experiencing downtime can severely harm your business. If you're not actively monitoring your network to minimize it, you're putting your operations at risk. Downtime refers to any period when your organization isn't functioning as intended, and it's crucial to manage it diligently. Failing to do so can lead to several challenging issues. 

Basically, you run into three different problems. They are:

One of our favorite questions to answer for our clients is, “How do you help us save money?” When you outsource your IT, saving money is one of the big goals, so we thankfully have a full-fledged answer to this question. Today, we will share three of the best ways you’ll save money and resources by working with Phantom Technology Solutions for managed IT services.

For modern businesses, data is king. It's the driving force behind decision-making, strategic planning, and competitive advantage. Enter business analytics.

This powerful tool transforms raw data into meaningful insights, but how can you use small business analytics for yourself?

Budgeting for anything can present challenges, especially when businesses heavily rely on information systems. Securing funds for IT initiatives can be particularly daunting in such organizational landscapes. Despite these hurdles, however, the IT sector continues to build steam, with year-over-year business IT spending reaching its highest levels ever. Let’s go into how your IT budget is pivotal in advancing your organizational technology endeavors.

If there’s one part of any organization’s operational expenses that concerns many business owners, it’s IT expenses. In fact, some companies have so little control over their IT expenses that they practically hemorrhage money, leading to limited capacity for growth and investment in other parts of the organization that desperately need the help. How can you fix your IT spending and improve your organization as a whole?

It all starts with a network audit and some intelligent future planning. Let’s review some of the most important work you can do to help your business better budget for IT expenses.

Information technology, or IT, is an indispensable component for most contemporary businesses and serves as the backbone of their operations. To ensure a smooth operational infrastructure, it is crucial that businesses manage their IT in the most effective manner possible.

One such way businesses can do this is through working with a managed service provider, or MSP. These types of arrangements can provide businesses with clarity and ease of mind as it pertains to IT and operations.

Your IT team plays a crucially important part in your business machinations. However, many small and even medium-sized businesses may not have the in-house resources to effectively cover their needs. If this could easily describe your business, you might want to consider outsourcing some of your technology management needs to a managed service provider. 

Defining art can be a challenging task, particularly in light of the constantly evolving techniques and mediums. At its core, art can be succinctly described as the creative expression of an individual using some form of medium.

The Right to Repair movement has evolved from a simple idea into a full-fledged campaign, with numerous states enacting measures to enhance the rights of consumers and businesses who use various technologies daily. Let's take a moment to assess the current status of this movement and explore what it means for businesses.

Now that we’re in Q3 of 2023, it’s time to start planning out your budget for the next fiscal year—including your IT services budget. Let’s go over some of the considerations you’ll need to keep in mind for this remarkably important aspect of running your business.

The Internet of Things, or IoT for short, has changed how businesses approach many areas of technology management, including how utilities and other systems are managed. Thanks to automated systems that can control utilities such as HVAC systems, heating, lighting, and so on, the IoT gives businesses more opportunities to control costs and improve efforts at efficiency. Let’s look at some of the ways businesses can use IoT devices to produce consistent cost savings.

Your business relies on its profits and continued profitability to succeed, but this priority is surprisingly challenging. By investing in a managed service provider, however, you can gain a considerable advantage while improving your productivity, thus resulting in increased profits for your business.

The past several years have brought about innovations in artificial intelligence, or AI, that has workers worried for their jobs—especially as it moves into more practical and usable mediums. This can all be tied to the Turing Test, a way of measuring the intelligence of a computer, created by one of the most notable minds behind computing, Alan Turing.

Whether you like it or not, organizations are going to get hacked. It’s the cruel truth. There are just so many individuals and organizations looking to gain unauthorized access and siphon off data and money from businesses, that it is basically impossible to go long stretches of time to not have to confront it in some way. With the threat landscape what it is, companies now offer cyber insurance. Let’s take a quick look at cyber insurance and what you need to know about it.

Remote work might have been crucial in the face of the pandemic, but now that companies are bringing employees back to the workplace, many are pushing back. While we can of course assist with your implementation of remote work technologies, there might be more reason to consider allowing for remote work. This doesn’t come from just us; it also comes from industry experts.

There are plenty of companies out there making technology investments, and chances are you are ready to take the plunge yourself by investing in the appropriate business technology solutions to take your company to the next level. However, we want to caution you to only invest in the right technologies, those that push your business forward. Here are some tips you can use to make sure you are keeping this strategy at the top of your mind.