Even if your Austin small business deals with a local freelance support technician or maintains an in-house organization that know how to deal with the majority of network issues, Progent’s Microsoft certified consultants provide an easy and transparent remote extension of your local resources for situations when your usual IT support personnel either lack the availability or the experience to address sudden network emergencies or especially tough integration projects.

Features of Progent's Online Computer Services for Austin
Progent's phone help, Internet-based troubleshooting, network security consulting, and system administration services give small companies in Austin or anywhere in the state of Texas unparalleled leverage for your support investment. Whether you require occasional phone support and remote troubleshooting or full-time Help Desk outsourcing services and system administration, Progent's experts can deliver your organization world class network support while permitting you to eliminate the cost and administration overhead of running a full-service in-house IT staff. Key features of Progent's National Remote Support program include:

• Immediate Telephone Contact with Microsoft Qualified Experts
  Progent's team of Microsoft-certified engineers can deliver fast and economical expertise to small businesses in Austin and is also ideal for customers in geographic regions of Texas that lack consultants with in-depth experience supporting Microsoft's current family of server technologies. All Progent phone support staff have over 10 years of background integrating Microsoft solutions. As a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner consulting company, Progent has the use of a wide array of Microsoft support tools, service information, and on-going education.

• By the Minute Billing to Reduce Costs
  Progent offers online help on a by-the-minute basis, so you pay only for the services you receive. Progent requires no minimum charge for online help and imposes no periodic subscription fee. This protects you from facing big bills for simple fixes.

• Availability of Cisco Certified Network Design Experts
  As a Certified Partner for Cisco, Progent offers access to on-staff professionals who have skill in designing, deploying, and managing networking environments based on Cisco technology. Progent can provide a CCIE or Cisco Certified Network Professional to help you build fast, high-availability, and secure infrastructure for wireline and wireless networking.

• Application Specialists Group
  Progent's core support offerings consist of technology integration, Microsoft Exchange Server expertise, network security design, and Help Desk outsourcing support. Progent's Experts Team offers in-depth consulting expertise in specific business applications. Support available from the Application Experts Team includes:
  • Microsoft Dynamics Great Plains Support and Programming
  • Microsoft CRM Help
  • Microsoft Office Project Support
  • Microsoft Excel Programming
  • MS Office Expertise
  • Crystal Reports, MS Access, and FRx Programming
  • UNIX, Linux and Solaris Integration
  • Apple Macintosh Help
  By providing a full service one-stop source for IT generalists and application experts, Progent is able to deliver fast, cost-effective, and thorough information technology solutions that match the special needs of your business.

• Advanced Online Connectivity Tools
  Protected remote access permits Progent's support experts to see exactly what your users see. This makes it possible to produce fast solutions to problems that might otherwise require an expensive onsite visit. Sophisticated online connectivity software and expert engineers combine to enable Progent to repair most network problems quickly and affordably. Progent is an industry leader in offsite troubleshooting and remote network tracking.

• Compatibility with Popular VPN Products
  Progent can provide safe Virtual Private Network connectivity for gateways from major VPN vendors such as Microsoft, Cisco, Netscreen and Checkpoint. Protected VPN online connectivity allows the experts at Progent's Technical Response Center to access your system remotely without weakening network security.

• 24-hour Support for Maximum Network Uptime
  For small offices with mission-critical applications, Progent offers 24x7 remote support services. Combined with automated 24x7 network monitoring based on Microsoft Operations Manager, this offering can help ensure maximum network uptime.

• Help Desk Services
  Progent's Help Desk Call Center services are designed specifically for budget-conscious small companies whose clients require instant access to a Help Desk service with effective telephone support and complete escalation capability.

Advantages of Progent's Network Help for Small Companies in Austin
Progent's remote IT consulting services allow your City# small business to have the advantages of timely, expert network support without the expense of managing an in-house IT organization. Your network will derive greater business value by becoming increasingly reliable, productive, and secure. Benefits to your business include:

• Seamless virtual extension of your local IT resources
  For most small businesses in Austin and throughout Texas, local network service resources, whether represented by outside consultants or a full-time IT staff, can resolve the majority of technical issues. On the other hand, IT crises may spring up when local resources are too busy or unavailable, and some trouble may be associated with IT products that is unfamiliar to your local service personnel. In these situations, Progent's on-call service professionals give you an easy, quick, and economical way to supplement your regular resources and to transfer valuable information to increase your capability to handle downstream problems in-house.

• Reduced Dependence on Freelance Service Providers
  For IT support, small organizations commonly rely on individual freelance service providers. Although freelance service people carry less overhead than larger consulting organizations and can often charge lower rates, they are sometimes overbooked, making it hard to respond rapidly to crisis situations. If a freelance consultant is busy with another customer, sick, on a trip, or in training, the lack of backup help may require your company to wait for assistance during an emergency. As your company grows, system downtime and problems with critical software are more expensive. The budget you thought you were conserving on a freelancer can be eaten up quickly by lost productivity. Progent offers an on-call source of backup service expertise to insure your network stays up and running.

• Create a Solid Basis for Smooth Expansion
  New businesses typically start with an IT architecture created on a modest budget. Lacking a strong infrastructure, band-aid fixes can get thrown on top of a shaky foundation. When a company grows, reliability and expandability problems can hinder the success of the organization. These badly built environments require careful analysis, intelligent long-term planning, and broad-based IT knowledge to evolve to a network infrastructure that can provide the solid foundation to meet vital business demands and facilitate future growth.

• Work with Problem Solvers Instead of Technology Resellers
  Small businesses require guidance and technical education to navigate through an increasingly complex maze of technology alternatives capable of promoting business growth and improving efficiency. They hardly need a computer consultant who is attempting to earn a commission on a specific vendor's products. IT consulting and product sales can lead to a situation where the recommended solution is built around a profitable technology rather than the true requirements of a small business. Progent avoids these conflicts by selling only services rather than products. This enables Progent to align technical consulting with the best interests of clients.

What Makes Progent Unique from Other Service Firms?
Progent is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner consulting company and Progent's number of employees, range of IT knowledge, fine tuned remote support tools, and familiarity with enterprise networking enable small businesses to escape the pitfalls of exclusive dependence on smaller consulting firms, independent freelance service providers, or over=stretched in-house resources.

Progent adds value by offering:

• In-depth Knowledge of Microsoft's Full Line of Servers
  Progent offers in-depth support for Microsoft’s popular server platforms with services such as Windows Server 2003 consulting, Windows 2000 Server upgrades, Windows NT upgrades, Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 consulting, Microsoft Exchange 5.5 Server and Exchange Server 2000 upgrades, and Microsoft SQL Server 2005 consulting.

• Proven Methodology
  Progent’s staff of Microsoft and Cisco qualified consultants average more than a decade of hands-on professional background, at the front lines of network service, executing a wide range of technical projects for a large mix of customers. Each Progent support professional shares a refined set of personal best practices which are incorporated into company-wide best practices training that Progent teaches its support staff. This ensures that you get not just world-class technical skills, but also a support engineer with field-tested approaches for using technical knowledge to repair actual IT problems quickly.

• Value Pricing
  Progent's pricing model is to charge for online service and in-person help by the minute. As a result, you pay only for received services. Progent does not demand a more expensive rate for off-hours or urgent service, and inside California or in areas where Progent offers on-site service, Progent does not bill for travel except for emergency support where on-site work is less than four hours. Also, Progent imposes no startup charge and requires no retainer. Many service firms demand substantial minimum payments or charge for every quarter hour or longer. Progent's one-minute granularity eliminates large invoices for quick fixes so you won't be forced to allow less critical problems to stay unaddressed.

• Full Documentation of Delivered Services
  Progent has developed a comprehensive service reporting system that records and formats detailed documentation for all billed support activities. Unlike some independent consultants or local support firms who offer minimal documentation or details of services performed, each service delivered by Progent is tracked by comprehensive documentation. Every Progent consultant has use of the support documentation sent by each consultant to every client. The discipline of documenting and archiving service activity results in more effective service and avoids a variety of common problems such as when a support client is virtually held captive to a consultant who won’t release the keys to the kingdom.

• Information Transfer
  Progent practices knowledge transfer from Progent's consultants to customers. By teaching customers to resolve technical issues that are within their comfort zone, Progent is able to focus on providing high-value services where Progent has few competitors. Businesses who utilize familiar independent consultants or who employ internal IT staffs benefit when Progent transfers information about new technology and proven processes to make their networks more robust, protected, and efficient.

• Remote Network Monitoring with Microsoft Operations Manager
  Progent is one of the only IT service firms to offer 24x7 network tracking services based on Microsoft Operations Manager. This package causes your network support to be anticipatory instead of reactive. By uncovering possible problems before they cause lost productivity, system monitoring can save your information network from stressful and costly availability disruptions.

How Does My Business Start Getting Online Technical Support from Progent?
To initiate Progent's online help offerings or to learn more about Progent's online support options, contact Progent at 888-412-5546 or send email to information@progent.com. If you have an urgent need for IT help, visit Immediate Emergency Support.