Even if your Chicago small business works with a regular independent consultant or employs a full time IT staff that know how to handle common network problems, Progent’s Microsoft certified engineers provide an easy and transparent virtual expansion of your on-site resources in cases when your usual service personnel either lack the availability or the expertise to address unexpected system crises or especially complicated integration projects.

Details of Progent's Online Computer Services for Chicago
Progent's online support, remote troubleshooting, network security consulting, and system administration services offer small offices in Chicago or anywhere in the state of Illinois unparalleled leverage for your support budget. Whether you require occasional phone support and remote network repair or full-time Help Desk outsourcing support and network management, Progent's experts can provide your small business world class network support while allowing you to avoid the cost and hassle of carrying a full-service internal IT staff. Key features of Progent's National Remote Support program include:

• Fast Phone Contact with Microsoft Qualified Experts
  Progent's staff of Microsoft-certified technicians can provide fast and affordable expertise to small offices in Chicago and is also ideal for customers in geographic regions of Illinois that have a limited supply of consultants with in-depth experience supporting Microsoft's current family of server platforms. All Progent engineers have at least 10 years of experience integrating Microsoft solutions. As a Microsoft Gold Partner support company, Progent has the advantage of a wide range of Microsoft support tools, technical information, and on-going training.

• Per Minute Billing to Reduce Costs
  Progent offers online support on a by-the-minute billing plan, so you are charged only for the services you use. Progent has no minimum fee for online help and requires no periodic retainer. This protects you from paying big bills for quick fixes.

• Access to Cisco Certified Network Architecture Experts
  As a Registered Partner for Cisco, Progent offers the services of on-staff specialists with expertise in planning, deploying, and supporting networking environments based on Cisco technology. Progent can offer a Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert or Cisco Certified Network Professional to help you build fast, reliable, and secure infrastructure for local and remote networking.

• Application Specialists Consulting
  Progent's core support offerings consist of technology integration, Microsoft Exchange consulting, corporate security design, and Help Desk outsourcing services. Progent's Experts group offers world-class consulting support in specific business applications. Support available from the Application Experts staff includes:
  • Great Plains Software Consulting and Programming
  • Microsoft Customer Relationship Management Consulting
  • Microsoft Project Training
  • Microsoft Office Excel Consulting
  • Microsoft Office Support
  • Crystal Reports, MS Access, and FRx Programming
  • UNIX, Linux and Sun Solaris Help
  • Mac Integration
  By offering a full service one-stop resource for IT generalists and specialists, Progent can deliver fast, inexpensive, and thorough IT solutions that align with the unique needs of your business.

• Advanced Remote Connectivity Tools
  Protected online connectivity permits Progent's service professionals to see exactly what your users see. This makes it easier to produce fast solutions to issues that might otherwise require a costly personal visit. Sophisticated online access tools and expert technicians combine to allow Progent to resolve most IT problems rapidly and economically. Progent is a pioneer in offsite troubleshooting and automated system tracking.

• Compatibility with Mainstream VPN Products
  Progent supports safe VPN connectivity for gateways from leading VPN vendors such as Microsoft, Cisco, Watchguard and Checkpoint. Protected VPN online connectivity enables the experts at Progent's Technical Response Center to repair your network remotely without compromising network security.

• 24x7 Support for Maximum Network Availability
  For small businesses with vital applications, Progent can provide 24x7 online support services. Combined with remote 24x7 network monitoring based on Microsoft Operations Manager, this offering can help ensure maximum system uptime.

• Help Desk Services
  Progent's Help Desk Call Center programs are intended specifically for budget-constrained small businesses whose workers need instant access to a Help Desk service with effective telephone support and full escalation capability.

Advantages of Progent's Network Help for Small Offices in Chicago
Progent's online support services enable your City# small company to experience the benefits of immediate, world-class network support without the cost of managing an in-house IT staff. Your information system will derive added strategic worth by becoming increasingly reliable, efficient, and secure. Advantages to your company include:

• Seamless virtual extension of your local support resources
  With most small companies in Chicago or anywhere in Illinois, local network service providers, whether represented by outside consultants or an in-house IT staff, can deal with the majority of technical problems. However, major troubles sometimes strike when your regular resources are too busy or unavailable, and some trouble may involve technology that is beyond the scope of your onsite service personnel. In these instances, Progent's on-call support professionals give you an easy, fast, and economical way to supplement your regular resources and to transfer valuable information to improve your capability to resolve downstream problems locally.

• Reduced Dependence on Freelance Service Providers
  For network maintenance, small organizations commonly depend on individual freelance service providers. While freelance service people carry smaller overhead than big consulting organizations and can afford to charge marginally less, they are sometimes overbooked, making it hard to respond rapidly to urgent situations. If a freelance service provider is occupied with another customer, ill, on a trip, or in class, the absence of fallback personnel may require your company to wait for assistance during an IT crisis. As your small business expands, network downtime and trouble with critical software become more costly. The budget you thought you were conserving on a freelancer can be eaten up quickly by lost productivity. Progent offers a ready source of reserve service experts to insure your network is always up and running.

• Build a Solid Basis for Smooth Growth
  New businesses often start with an information architecture created on a modest budget. Lacking a proper infrastructure, slap-dash repairs often get thrown on top of a weak foundation. As a network grows, reliability and expandability issues can impede the success of the organization. These badly built environments need careful assessment, smart long-term planning, and extensive IT expertise to evolve to a system infrastructure that can provide the solid foundation to meet critical business requirements and facilitate future expansion.

• Interact with Solution Providers Rather Than Technology Resellers
  Small organizations require advice and technical training to navigate through an ever more complex array of technology options capable of promoting business success and enhancing productivity. They hardly need a network engineer who is trying to resell a specific vendor's products. Network support and product selling can lead to a scenario where the proposed solution is designed around a profitable product rather than the true needs of a client. Progent avoids these conflicts of interest by offering just services rather than products. This enables Progent to match IT expertise with the real needs of customers.

What Makes Progent Different from Other Service Organizations?
Progent is a Microsoft Gold Partner support company and Progent's staff size, breadth of IT background, fine tuned remote support software, and understanding of enterprise networking allow small companies to avoid the limitations of exclusive dependence on smaller consulting organizations, independent freelance consultants, or limited in-house IT help.

Progent stands out by offering:

• Certified Expertise in Microsoft's Full Range of Server Platforms
  Progent can provide world-class support for Microsoft’s popular server platforms with services such as Windows Server 2003 consulting, Microsoft Windows 2000 migration, Microsoft Windows NT migration, Exchange 2003 Server integration, Exchange Server 5.5 and Exchange Server 2000 migration, and SQL Server 2005 support.

• Proven Methodology
  Progent’s staff of Microsoft and Cisco qualified experts average more than a decade of hands-on industry experience, at the front lines of network service, executing a wide range of IT projects for a large array of clients. Each Progent consultant shares a proven set of personal best practices which are combined into shared best practices training that Progent instills in its support team. This guarantees that you get not only expert IT capability, but also a consultant with proven approaches for applying technical knowledge to repair actual network problems quickly.

• Value Pricing
  Progent's pricing model is to charge for online service and on-site help per minute. Consequently, you are invoiced just for delivered support. Progent does not demand a more expensive rate for after-hours or urgent service, and inside California or in regions where Progent offers in-person service, Progent does not charge for travel time except for emergency support where on-site time is less than four hours. Also, Progent imposes no initialization fee and requires no monthly commitment. Many service organizations demand large minimum payments or charge for each fifteen minutes or longer. Progent's one-minute granularity does away with large invoices for fast solutions so you won't be forced to allow minor problems to stay unaddressed.

• Complete Records of IT Services
  Progent has created a comprehensive service reporting system that records and formats detailed documentation for all delivered services. Unlike many freelance consultants or small service firms who offer minimal documentation or specifics of tasks done, every service provided by Progent is tracked by full documentation. Every Progent consultant has access to the support reports sent by each staff member to every client. The practice of documenting and organizing support activity results in more effective service and eliminates a variety of common misfortunes such as when a service client is effectively held hostage to a consultant who won’t let go of vital service information.

• Knowledge Transfer
  Progent is committed to knowledge transfer from Progent's consultants to clients. By educating customers to resolve technical issues that are within their scope, Progent can focus on providing high-value services where Progent faces few competitors. Businesses who work with familiar independent consultants or who maintain in-house support staffs benefit when Progent transfers information about new technology and tested methodologies to make their IT environments more reliable, secure, and productive.

• 24x7 Server Monitoring with Microsoft MOM
  Progent is one of the only IT service firms to provide 24x7 remote tracking services based on Microsoft Operations Manager. MOM allows your computer maintenance to be proactive rather than reactive. By revealing potential issues before they result in downtime, system monitoring can save your information network from painful and expensive service disruptions.

How Does Our Company Begin Receiving Online Computer Support from Progent?
To get started with Progent's online help offerings or to learn more about Progent's online support programs, contact Progent at 888-412-5546 or send email to information@progent.com. If you have an urgent requirement for network help, visit Immediate Emergency Support.