Cloud Integration Consulting Services

Progent can provide fast and economical support from cloud connectivity consultants who can help you to plan, configure, manage, and troubleshoot hybrid networking models that combine Amazon AWS cloud-based services with local datacenters as well as with other popular clouds like Microsoft Azure.

Progent can help you evaluate the advantages and drawbacks of Amazon AWS services compared to competing cloud platforms, move apps and infrastructure to Amazon AWS, develop disaster recovery strategies that leverage Amazon AWS cloud storage services, and resolve firewall and VPN connectivity issues. Progent can provide access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to show you how to create a high-availability network architecture so your clients have a productive computing environment regardless of whether they are working at your corporate headquarters, a branch site, at home, or in transit.

Amazon is an innovator in the public cloud computing market and is the world's top provider of public cloud services. Amazon Web Services can provide a wide selection of cloud-based services including Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) for on-demand compute capacity for virtual servers, Amazon Simple Storage Service for instantly expandable low-latency storage, and Amazon Glacier for value-priced long-term archival backup. These Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) solutions enable businesses of all sizes to transfer some or all of their IT infrastructure to the cloud, taking advantage of a pay-for-use approach to minimize hardware investments while reducing administrative hassle and slashing the time required to roll out new applications.

Hybrid Cloud Integration
For the majority of organizations, utilizing public cloud products and services is a given. The only issue is how to achieve the appropriate balance between cloud and local resources. Many companies run legacy line-of-business applications which are not easy to migrate to the cloud. Performance-driven transaction processing applications may call for local hardware configurations to deliver the highest possible throughput. Also, corporate culture or government regulations could require more direct control over certain types of data than is possible with public clouds. Consequently, hybrid architectures, which combine on-premises and cloud-based resources, are frequently adopted as the best network model.

To complicate things further, Amazon AWS is in competition with other vendors of public cloud services such as Microsoft, whose Azure products include Infrastructure-as-a-Service options as well as a Platform-as-a-Service model specially tuned for Windows environments. Basically, careful evaluation is required for any business to determine the best cloud solution.

Progent's seasoned solution architects can assist you to define and deploy a hybrid cloud environment that incorporates Amazon AWS in a way that optimizes business value. Progent can assist you with every aspect of Amazon AWS integration including requirements analysis, preparedness evaluation, architectural design, testing, deployment, administration, performance optimization, software license management, backup/restore solutions, and security and compliance. Progent can provide advanced expertise with firewalls and VPN technology and can help you create all-cloud or hybrid cloud environments that seamlessly integrate Amazon AWS cloud services. Progent offers as-needed support or provide end-to-end project management outsourcing to help you move efficiently to the Amazon AWS cloud.

Key Amazon AWS Services
The Amazon AWS line of cloud-based services includes more than 70 infrastructure options that cover processing, primary and archival storage, databases, networking, mobility, enterprise applications, administration, Internet of Things, and security, Amazon AWS cloud services popular with organizations of all sizes and for which Progent offers advanced support include:

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, called Amazon EC2, is a virtual machine hosting product that allows you to provision, scale, and administer cloud-hosted virtual servers, known as EC2 instances. You can commission any quantity of EC2 instances and you are charged only for the capacity you actually use. You can control the individual VM and the cluster-level features of a selection of OS platforms, add your hosted apps, and control network access permissions. You also manage your company's own software licenses based on Amazon's Bring Your Own License (BYOL) model. You can use an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) template and deploy a virtual server immediately or you can create your own AMI that incorporates your apps, libraries, data, and configurations. Amazon EC2 can scale compute capacity immediately to align with variations in usage, avoiding the need for sophisticated capacity planning. You have the option of separate geographic locations for high availability and you can request static IP endpoints to work with your application environment.

Amazon Simple Storage Service, or Amazon S3, is a cloud-hosted storage product that offers high-performance storage for any volume of data. Amazon S3 scales easily and you pay only for the capacity you utilize. Amazon S3 is often deployed as remote storage for disaster recovery but is also appropriate for high-demand applications, most prominently Amazon's giant commercial web site. Amazon S3's web service interface can handle multiple storage types intended for various usage cases. These include S3 Standard for storage of primary data, Amazon S3 Standard-Infrequent Access for long-lived but rarely used data, and Amazon Glacier for archives. You can also specify custom lifecycle parameters so your S3 data automatically and seamlessly moves to a different storage category without forcing you to make modifications to your apps. Amazon S3 cloud storage can be used with Amazon EC2 or as an independent service.

Amazon Glacier is a cloud-based storage service intended to offer low-cost archiving and long-term storage for data that is seldomly retrieved. Glacier does not deliver the throughput of Amazon S3 storage and is not suitable for real-time applications. But restore time is slow and can take hours, storage costs are lower than a penny per gigabyte each month, which is less expensive than local storage. In addition, you can cut overall storage costs by specifying lifecycle rules to move groups of Amazon S3 objects automatically to Glacier. Amazon Glacier can also help companies to meet regulatory requirements for data retention by offering ultra-dependable remote backup with features that include periodic, automatic data integrity checks and self-healing functions.

How Progent Can Help You with Amazon AWS Services
If you are planning to incorporate Amazon’s AWS cloud services into your business using either a fully cloud-based or a hybrid architecture, Progent can help you evaluate the advantages of the Amazon AWS cloud platform compared to competing cloud solutions. Progent can help with every facet of your cloud integration project including needs analysis, system design, pilot testing, deployment, administration, performance optimization, license management, and disaster recovery strategies. Progent also offers access to certified data security experts to ensure. make sure your system is protected and compliant with applicable regulations.

Progent can assist your business to identify which of your critical applications are appropriate for Amazon AWS and help you upgrade legacy applications so they can be migrated to Amazon AWS. Progent offers affordable remote and on-premises expertise to help you resolve occasional technical bottlenecks, or Progent can provide comprehensive project management outsourcing or co-sourcing to ensure that you execute your cloud integration project on schedule and on budget.

A common technical issue encountered while integrating your information system with Amazon AWS, or with any other cloud, is establishing secure links for different devices located either within or outside your corporate firewall. Progent offers the expertise of Cisco-certified CCIE network consultant as well as firewall integration experts certified by Symantec, Barracuda, WatchGuard, Check Point and others to help you set up and administer firewalls for accessing Amazon AWS services. Progent can also provide the support of iOS technology consultants and Android configuration consultants to assist you to connect smartphones and tablets for your Amazon AWS environment.

Some examples of remote integration support available from Progent to assist businesses interface with Amazon AWS include:

• Plan or review the system design for hybrid environments that incorporate Amazon EC2 and Simple Storage Service
• Install and debug VPN access to AWS
• Set up Cisco AnyConnect and Symantec AWS Gateway Service
• Install and troubleshoot firewalls from Barracuda, Cisco, WatchGuard, Check Point and others
• Design, deploy, and validate backup and recovery solutions based on Amazon Simple Storage Service
• Build and verify AMI images for Windows or Linux virtual servers and applications
• Set up Java tools for AMI images
• Specify, configure and test security rules
• Debug dynamic and static IP issues
• Resolve DNS and load balancing problems
• Set up NATs for headquarters and branch offices
• Generate PHP routines for signing Amazon AWS requests
• Create Active Directory instances for Amazon EC2
• Provide expertise for Amazon Simple Queue Service

Other Cloud Integration Support Offered by Progent
Progent offers support for all major public clouds and can provide quick online access to a public cloud integration consultant. Key cloud platforms and services supported by Progent include:

Amazon Marketplace Web Service (Amazon MWS) is a collection of APIs that allows Amazon sellers to improve the efficiency of their operations by automating crucial sales activities such as listings, orders, shipments, fulfillment, and reports. By leveraging Amazon's extensive online ecosystem and automating their sales, merchants can expand their reach, reduce their cost of sales, accelerate response time to customers, and increase their bottom line. Progent's Amazon Marketplace Web Service consultants can work with your development staff and provide application programming, workflow integration, project management support, and training so you can cut development time and speed up your return on investment.

Progent's Microsoft Azure cloud planning and integration experts can help you with any aspect of Azure cloud migration including requirements definition, readiness evaluation, solution architecture, pilot testing, implementation, centralized management, performance tuning, license management, disaster recovery strategies, security policy enforcement, and regulatory compliance validation. Progent can help you to configure and debug firewalls and VPN tunnels so your clients can securely access to Azure-based services, and Progent's Microsoft-certified consulting experts can help you set up critical Microsoft technologies to work in Azure including Microsoft Windows Server, Exchange Server, SQL and SharePoint. Progent can also help your organization to set up a hybrid ecosystem that transparently integrates physical datacenters with Azure-based resources.

Microsoft has made a strong effort to enable transparent hybrid ecosystems that integrate Office 365 and local installations of Exchange. This allows you to have some Exchange mailboxes located on your corporate datacenter or private cloud and other mailboxes resident on Office 365. Progent's Microsoft-certified Exchange consulting team can help your organization with any facet of designing, implementing and debugging your hybrid Exchange network. Progent's Exchange specialists can provide occasional support to help you through challenging technical bottlenecks and also offer extensive project management outsourcing or co-sourcing to make sure your hybrid Office 365/Exchange initiative is successfully completed on schedule and within budget. For more information about Progent's consulting support for hybrid Office 365 and on-premises Exchange environments, visit Office 365 Exchange Online integration with on-premises Exchange.

Progent's certified Office and Office 365 consultants can assist companies of any size to integrate Office desktop and Office 365 apps such as Office Excel, Office Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Microsoft Access, Project and Publisher into a seamless solution that provides fast ROI and promotes better business results. Progent can assist you to interface Office or Office 365 apps with each other and with other core Microsoft technologies such as SharePoint, Exchange Server and Microsoft SQL Server running locally or hosted in the cloud. Progent can also assist you to fix compatibility issues between various versions of Office and can provide live online Office and Office 365 instruction to individual users and teams.

Progent's Google Cloud Platform (GCP) integration consultants can provide affordable online and on-premises consulting to assist businesses of any size to move all or part of their core IT resources to Google Cloud Platform services. This can save management hassle and hardware costs and allow the use of Google's cutting edge AI and machine learning tools. Progent can help your IT team with every aspect of Google Cloud Platform integration including needs analysis, readiness assessment, architectural design and review, testing, deployment, administration, performance tuning, software license management, backup/restore mechanisms, and security and compliance.