Even if your Madison small business works with a regular freelance support technician or maintains a full time IT staff that know how to handle day-to-day network issues, Progent’s Microsoft and Cisco certified consultants offer a convenient and transparent remote extension of your on-site resources in cases when your regular service personnel either don't have the bandwidth or the knowledge to solve sudden network crises or particularly complicated integration problems.

Details of Progent's Online Network Support for Madison
Progent's phone help, remote troubleshooting, system security consulting, and system administration services give small offices in Madison or throughout the state of Wisconsin unparalleled leverage for your IT investment. Whether you require one-time phone help and Internet-based troubleshooting or full-time Help Desk Call Center services and system management, Progent's experts can provide your small business world class IT support while allowing you to avoid the cost and hassle of carrying a full-service in-house IT organization. Key features of Progent's online help services include:

• Fast Telephone Contact with Microsoft Qualified Professionals
  Progent's team of Microsoft-certified engineers can deliver fast and affordable expertise to small companies in Madison and is also ideal for networks in more remote areas of Wisconsin that have a limited supply of technicians with in-depth experience supporting Microsoft's current line of server platforms. All Progent engineers have at least 10 years of background integrating Microsoft solutions. As a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner consulting firm, Progent has the advantage of a broad range of Microsoft support tools, technical databases, and on-going training.

• Per Minute Billing to Reduce Costs
  Progent offers online help on a by-the-minute billing plan, so you pay only for the support you use. Progent has no minimum charge for phone help and asks for no monthly retainer. This saves you from facing big bills for quick repairs.

• Access to Cisco Certified Network Infrastructure Specialists
  As a Registered Partner for Cisco, Progent offers access to authorized specialists with skill in designing, deploying, and managing networking solutions powered by Cisco technology. Progent can provide a Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert or Cisco Certified Network Professional to show you how to create fast, reliable, and secure connectivity for wireline and wireless networking.

• Application Specialists Consulting
  Progent's core support services consist of technology integration, MS Exchange consulting, system security planning, and Help Desk Call Center services. Progent's Application Experts Team can provide world-class consulting support for critical application areas. Support available from the Application Experts Group includes:
  • Microsoft Dynamics Great Plains Consulting and Programming
  • Microsoft Dynamics Customer Relationship Management Consulting
  • MS Project Support
  • MS Office Excel Consulting
  • Microsoft Word Expertise
  • Crystal Reports, MS Access, and FRx Custom Reports
  • UNIX, Linux and Sun Solaris Help
  • Apple Macintosh Consulting
  By offering a convenient centralized resource for IT generalists and application experts, Progent is able to deliver fast, cost-effective, and thorough IT solutions that address the specific needs of your business.

• Advanced Online Access Tools
  Protected remote access allows Progent's support experts to observe exactly what your customers see. This makes it possible to find quick fixes to problems that could otherwise demand a costly onsite service call. Sophisticated online connectivity software and expert technicians together allow Progent to repair most network problems rapidly and economically. Progent is a pioneer in offsite support and automated network tracking.

• Support for Mainstream VPN Gateways
  Progent can provide secure VPN connectivity for gateways from major VPN providers including Microsoft, Cisco, Watchguard and Checkpoint. Protected VPN online access allows the experts at Progent's Technical Response Center to access your network remotely without weakening network security.

• 24-hour Support for Maximum System Availability
  For small businesses with vital applications, Progent offers 24x7 online support services. Used in conjunction with remote 24x7 server monitoring based on Microsoft's MOM platform, this offering can help ensure high system uptime.

• Help Desk Services
  Progent's Help Desk support services are intended especially for budget-constrained small organizations whose workers need immediate recourse to a Help Desk service with expert telephone support and complete escalation ability.

Advantages of Progent's Network Help for Small Organizations in Madison
Progent's online support services enable your City# small company to experience the advantages of timely, enterprise-class network support without the cost of maintaining a full-time IT organization. Your network will derive greater business value by being more reliable, efficient, and secure. Benefits to your business include:

• Convenient remote expansion of your on-site support resources
  For most small businesses in Madison or anywhere in Wisconsin, local network support providers, whether represented by freelance consultants or an in-house IT staff, can resolve the majority of technical issues. However, IT crises might spring up when your regular support personnel are overstretched or absent, and some trouble may involve technology that is beyond the scope of your local support personnel. In these instances, Progent's online support experts offer a convenient, quick, and economical way to augment your regular help and to convey valuable information to improve your capability to handle future problems in-house.

• Reduced Dependence on Individual Consultants
  For network support, small businesses often rely on individual freelance service providers. Although independent consultants have smaller overhead than big consulting companies and can often charge marginally less, they are often overbooked, making it impossible to respond quickly to urgent situations. If an independent service provider is busy with another client, sick, on vacation, or in training, the lack of fallback personnel may force your company to wait for help during an IT crisis. As your small business expands, network unavailability and trouble with critical applications are more expensive. The budget you thought you were conserving on a freelancer can be eaten up quickly by reduced productivity. Progent provides a ready source of reserve support experts to make sure your IT system is always up and running.

• Create a Scalable Basis for Smooth Expansion
  Small businesses often start with an information system implemented on a modest budget. Without a proper framework, band-aid fixes can get thrown onto a weak foundation. When a company grows, stability and expandability problems can hinder the success of the organization. Such badly designed systems need proper assessment, intelligent strategic planning, and wide technical expertise to evolve to a system architecture able to deliver the stable foundation to meet current business demands and simplify downstream growth.

• Interact with Solution Providers Rather Than Technology Sellers
  Small offices require guidance and technical education to navigate through an ever more complicated maze of product alternatives capable of accelerating business growth and improving productivity. Businesses hardly need a computer engineer who is trying to sell a specific vendor's products. Network support and product selling can result in a situation where the proposed solution is designed around a profitable technology instead of the true requirements of a client. Progent avoids these conflicts of interest by offering just services instead of products. This allows Progent to match IT expertise with the real interests of customers.

How Is Progent Unique from Other Support Organizations?
Progent is a Microsoft Gold Partner consulting firm and Progent's head count, depth of technical background, fine tuned support tools, and understanding of corporate IT enable small offices to avoid the pitfalls associated with excessive dependence on smaller consulting firms, individual freelance service providers, or limited internal IT help.

Progent adds value by providing:

• Certified Knowledge of Microsoft's Full Line of Server Platforms
  Progent can provide in-depth expertise for Microsoft’s powerful server platforms with services such as Windows 2003 consulting, Microsoft Windows 2000 upgrades, Windows NT upgrades, Exchange Server 2003 support, Exchange Server 5.5 and Exchange Server 2000 migration, and SQL Server support.

• Proven Methodology
  Progent’s team of Microsoft and Cisco qualified experts average longer than a decade of real-world industry background, at the front lines of network service, performing a broad variety of IT projects for a large array of businesses. Each Progent support professional shares a proven set of personal best practices which are combined into shared best practices training that Progent instills in its support team. This means that you get not just expert IT help, but also a consultant with proven approaches for applying technical knowledge to resolve actual network problems efficiently.

• Value Pricing
  Progent's pricing policy is to charge for phone service and in-person help per minute. Consequently, you are billed exclusively for delivered services. Progent does not impose a higher rate for after-hours or priority support, and within California or in areas where Progent provides on-site service, Progent does not charge for travel time except for urgent support where on-site time is less than 4 hours. Also, Progent imposes no minimum charge and requires no retainer. Many service organizations impose substantial minimum fees or charge for every quarter hour or longer. Progent's one-minute granularity avoids large bills for fast solutions so you won't be forced to permit minor problems to stay unaddressed.

• Complete Documentation of IT Services
  Progent has created a sophisticated service reporting system that stores and organizes complete documentation for all delivered support activities. Unlike many freelance consultants or small support firms who provide scant documentation or details of tasks performed, each service provided by Progent is tracked by comprehensive documentation. Every Progent consultant has access to the support reports transmitted by every staff member to every customer. The practice of detailing and organizing support activity results in more efficient support and eliminates a variety of common misfortunes such as when a service customer is effectively held hostage to a consultant who refuses to let go of vital service information.

• Knowledge 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 can concentrate on delivering high-value skills where Progent faces little competition. Companies who work with familiar freelance consultants or who maintain in-house support personnel benefit when Progent passes on knowledge about new technology and tested processes to make their IT environments more robust, secure, and efficient.

• 24x7 Server Monitoring with Microsoft Operations Manager
  Progent is one of the few support companies to provide round-the-clock system tracking services powered by Microsoft Operations Manager. This package allows your computer support to be proactive rather than reactive. By anticipating possible issues before they result in downtime, system monitoring can save your information network from stressful and expensive availability disruptions.

How Does My Business Start Getting Online Network Help from Progent?
To initiate Progent's online help services or to find out more about Progent's phone support programs, contact Progent at 888-412-5546 or send email to information@progent.com. If you have an urgent requirement for network support, visit Immediate Urgent Support.