Progent's IT Consulting and Troubleshooting Services

White Paper:
How Businesses Can Benefit by Outsourcing and Co-sourcing IT Services from Progent
Section 5 of 9

Remote Possibilities
Most IT outsourcing tasks can be performed remotely. For jobs that require an on-premise technician or engineer, Progent offers onsite service in major metropolitan areas throughout the United States, but in the majority of cases Progent encourages clients to take advantage of remote service delivery to slash costs and minimize downtime.

Progent has delivered remote support to businesses in every state in the U.S. Long experience providing online solutions and substantial investments in technology and staff training make it possible for Progent to offer the most comprehensive and cost-effective remote IT outsourcing services available.

Progent’s founder and president Les Kent comments: "We invest heavily in our intellectual assets and information infrastructure. We recruit highly skilled and motivated people, provide them with what's probably the world's most sophisticated virtual office infrastructure, organize advanced and often custom-tailored training from the major vendors, and offer lots of mechanisms that allow our entire staff to share information and experiences."

The benefits of remote vs. onsite service are substantial due to the elimination of travel costs, faster resolution of problems and a corresponding reduction in lost productivity, quicker problem escalation to appropriate remote support experts, and easier coordination of the schedules of both consultants and clients.

Progent offers remote delivery for a broad range of manual and automated outsourced services including:

Immediate Phone Support
Progent’s Technical Response Center (TRC) provides expert phone-based assistance during regular business hours and offers options for round-the-clock availability. Service initiation is fast for new customers and even faster for existing ones. The TRC can work directly with a client, with an on-premise consultant, or through a conference call with a client’s in-house staff to resolve most common network problems. Progent’s TRC charges by the minute with no startup fees, minimums, retainers, or expedite charges. Customers pay only for the service they receive, so quick fixes never translate into big invoices.

Remote Diagnostics and Repair
It is often faster for Progent’s engineers to diagnose and repair a problem by temporarily taking control of a remote desktop. Progent’s engineers are veterans at remote troubleshooting and can quickly set up and remove a secure online connection to a client’s network to keep support costs at a minimum.

Security Scanning and Analysis
Progent’s security inventory scans, available as specially-discounted service packages, give small businesses and enterprises an affordable, objective assessment of their network security. External scans look for vulnerabilities that are exposed outside the network firewall. For internal scans, Progent’s engineers can remotely operate a client’s onsite computer to check for gaps in security within the firewall. Together, these remote scans give Progent’s security experts the data they need to produce a comprehensive security evaluation report and an actionable remediation plan.

Advanced Consulting Services
Most of Progent’s high-level consulting services can be performed remotely. Network infrastructure design, security audits, business continuity planning, VoIP solutions, Exchange and unified messaging architecture, Active Directory set up, application development, database administration, project management, server clustering and load balancing, virtualization strategies, wireless integration, and smartphone management are all examples of complex areas where Progent can deliver world-class expertise remotely.

Server Monitoring with Microsoft System Center Operations Manager
Microsoft System Center Operations Manager features non-stop server monitoring, trend reporting, and automatic alert generation to help businesses track their IT system’s health and resolve potential problems before they disrupt network operation. Progent's Microsoft certified network engineers are skilled at using Microsoft System Center Operations Manager for remotely monitoring key servers, customizing Operations Manager for optimum performance in a client’s unique IT environment, and providing online consulting and troubleshooting services to keep a network available, productive, and secure.

Application Development and Database Administration
Progent can provide a broad array of application development services ranging from writing or updating VBA code for Excel and Word to designing, deploying, and optimizing database applications based on Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, or Access. Program’s Microsoft experts can customize Dynamics GP (Great Plains) and CRM, help businesses to revamp their web sites or establish an effective web presence for a new venture, or create internal SharePoint sites for applications such as human resources or project collaboration.

Network Management
Progent can remotely set up and manage the latest generation of network management technology in order to minimize the cost and improve the consistency of administering a business network. Critical areas that once absorbed a substantial percentage of IT budgets but can now be efficiently automated and affordably outsourced include change and configuration management, security policy enforcement, performance monitoring and tuning, data backup and restore, plus server and desktop virtualization.

Disaster Recovery
Progent is experienced in remote restoration of business networks that have been hacked or suffered catastrophic failure. Progent can perform damage assessment, restore business operations, and retrieve lost information. Progent's security engineers can also perform comprehensive forensic evaluations by examining event logs and using advanced evaluation techniques. Progent's background providing security solutions can help reduce downtime and allows Progent to suggest effective measures to avoid or contain future attacks.

Virtual Classrooms
Progent offers online virtual classrooms for a range of desktop applications including Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, the Office for Mac suite, and graphics and multimedia applications such as Adobe Photoshop and Apple Final Cut Studio. Available to individuals or groups of any size, Progent’s webinars allow the trainer to manage the seminar remotely while students can be dispersed across a campus or throughout the world. Progent’s virtual classrooms support electronic white boards and hand-raising as well as desktop sharing for in-depth training. Virtual classrooms eliminate travel expenses and reduce the hassle of trying to accommodate the schedules of multiple workers.

• Proceed to Section 6: Server and Desktop Virtualization
• Return to the beginning of this white paper

If you are interested in using Progent's outsourcing, consulting or support services, call 800-993-9400 or send email to information@progent.com

To download a PDF file of the complete IT Outsourcing White Paper, click:
How Businesses Can Benefit by Outsourcing and Co-sourcing IT Services from Progent (PDF - 135 KB)