Cloud Integration Consulting Services

Progent offers quick and affordable support from cloud integration consultants to help your business to plan, configure, maintain, and debug hybrid information networks that combine Amazon AWS cloud-based services with on-premises datacenters as well as with additional popular clouds like Azure.

Progent can help you evaluate the advantages and weaknesses of Amazon AWS cloud services compared to other cloud platforms, migrate applications to Amazon AWS, design backup/restore strategies that utilize Amazon AWS cloud storage technology, and resolve firewall and VPN connectivity problems. Progent can provide help from Cisco-certified CCIE networking consultants to assist you create a resilient network architecture so your clients have a productive experience whether they are working at your main office, a remote site, from home, or on the road.

Amazon is a pioneer in the public cloud computing market and is the world's top provider of public cloud services. Amazon AWS can provide a broad selection of cloud services such as Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) for as-needed compute power for virtual servers, Amazon Simple Storage Service for instantly scalable high-performance cloud storage, and Amazon Glacier for economical extended backup and archiving. These Infrastructure-as-a-Service solutions enable organizations of any size to transfer some or all of their IT infrastructure to the Amazon cloud, taking advantage of a pay-for-use model to rein in hardware costs while simplifying management overhead and slashing the time required to deploy new applications.

Hybrid Cloud Integration
For most businesses, utilizing public cloud services is a given. The question is how to strike the best balance between cloud-based and on-premises infrastructure. Many organizations run custom line-of-business applications which are not easy to migrate to a cloud environment. Performance-driven transaction processing applications may require local control to deliver the highest possible throughput. In addition, corporate culture or government regulations could demand more control over key types of data than can be achieved with public cloud environments. In these and other cases, hybrid networks, which integrate on-premises and cloud resources, are commonly selected as the right network model.

To make things even more complicated, Amazon AWS is in competition with other vendors of public cloud services including Microsoft, whose Azure offerings include Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) options as well as a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) model specially tuned for Windows applications. Basically, serious evaluation is needed for any organization to select the right cloud solution.

Progent's veteran solution architects can help your company to plan and configure a hybrid cloud environment that incorporates Amazon AWS in a way that optimizes business value. Progent can assist your IT team with every aspect of Amazon AWS integration including requirements analysis, readiness assessment, system design and review, pilot testing, configuration, administration, performance optimization, licensing management, disaster recovery solutions, and security strategies. Progent can provide advanced expertise with firewalls and VPN connections and can show you how to deploy cloud-centric or hybrid cloud ecosystems that efficiently incorporate Amazon AWS services. Progent can provide occasional expertise or deliver comprehensive project management outsourcing or co-sourcing to help you migrate smoothly to the Amazon AWS cloud.

Key Amazon AWS Services
The Amazon AWS line of cloud products includes more than 70 infrastructure options that cover computing, storage, databases, networking, mobility, software development, administration, Internet of Things, and security, Amazon AWS services used by businesses of any size and for which Progent offers advanced expertise include:

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, or Amazon EC2, is a virtual machine hosting service that allows you to provision, expand, and administer cloud-based virtual servers, known as EC2 instances. Subscribers can commission any number of EC2 instances and you pay just for the capacity you actually use. You can manage the virtual server and the cluster-level functions of a variety of operating systems, add your hosted applications, and manage network access permissions. You also manage your company's own software licenses based on Amazon's Bring-Your-Own-License model. You can utilize a standard Amazon Machine Image template and deploy a virtual server immediately or you can build a custom AMI that includes your applications, libraries, data, and configurations. Amazon EC2 can scale processing capacity immediately to align with up or down spikes in workloads, eliminating the hassle of complex capacity planning. You also can request separate host locations for improved resilience and you can request fixed IP addresses to accommodate your application environment.

Amazon Simple Storage Service, called Amazon S3, is a cloud-hosted storage service that provides low-latency storage for any volume of data. Amazon S3 expands or contracts dynamically and you pay only for the storage you actually use. Amazon S3 is often deployed as remote storage for disaster recovery but is also well fitted for high-demand applications, most notably Amazon's vast retail web site. Amazon S3's interface can handle a range of storage types meant for various usage scenarios. Examples include Amazon S3 Standard for storage of frequently accessed data, Amazon S3 Standard-Infrequent Access for long-lived but rarely used data, and Amazon Glacier for archives. You can also define your own lifecycle policies so your S3 data automatically and seamlessly moves to another storage class without requiring changes to your apps. Amazon S3 cloud storage can be used with Amazon EC2 or as a standalone cloud service.

Amazon Glacier is a cloud storage service intended to provide affordable archiving and long-term storage for data that is infrequently accessed. Amazon Glacier does not deliver the performance of Amazon S3 storage and is not appropriate for online apps. But restore time is slow and can take hours, storage costs are less than a penny per GB per month, which is less expensive than on-premises storage. Also, you can reduce overall storage expense by defining lifecycle rules to move sets of Amazon S3 objects automatically to Amazon Glacier. Amazon Glacier can also assist companies to meet regulatory requirements for data retention by providing ultra-dependable remote backup with features that include periodic, systematic integrity checks and automatic self-healing functions.

How Progent's Experts Can Assist You with Amazon AWS Services
If you are planning to integrate Amazon's AWS cloud services into your business using either a cloud-centric or a hybrid cloud/on-premises architecture, Progent can help you evaluate the business benefits of the Amazon AWS cloud platform compared to alternative cloud solutions. Progent can provide expertise for every phase of your cloud integration migration including needs analysis, system design, pilot testing, deployment, administration, performance tuning, software license management, and disaster recovery strategies. Progent also offers access to certified cybersecurity experts to ensure. make sure your environment is protected and in compliance with government and industry standards.

Progent can assist you to identify which of your critical applications are appropriate for Amazon AWS and show you how to you upgrade legacy software so they can be migrated to the Amazon AWS cloud. Progent offers affordable online and on-premises consulting to help you resolve occasional technical issues, or Progent can provide end-to-end project management outsourcing or co-sourcing to ensure that you execute your cloud integration initiative on time and on budget.

A typical issue encountered while extending your information system with Amazon AWS, or any public cloud, is configuring secure access for different devices located either within or outside your corporate firewall. Progent can provide the expertise of Cisco-certified CCIE network consultant as well as firewall integration consultants certified by Symantec, Barracuda, WatchGuard, and others to help you set up and administer firewalls for connecting safely to the Amazon AWS cloud. Progent can also provide the support of iOS technology specialists and Android integration experts to help you to connect mobile endpoints for your Amazon AWS solution.

Some examples of remote integration services provided by Progent to assist companies integrate with Amazon AWS include:

• Plan or review the system architecture for hybrid environments that incorporate Amazon EC2 and Simple Storage Service
• Install and troubleshoot VPN connections to Amazon AWS
• Deploy Cisco AnyConnect and Symantec AWS Gateway Service
• Deploy and debug firewalls from Barracuda, Cisco, WatchGuard, Check Point and others
• Plan, implement, and validate backup and recovery solutions based on Amazon Simple Storage Service
• Create and test Amazon Machine Images for Windows or Linux VMs and apps
• Set up Java utilities for Amazon Machine Images
• Define, configure and verify security rules
• Debug elastic and static IP address issues
• Troubleshoot DNS and load balancing problems
• Configure NATs for headquarters and remote offices
• Create PHP routines for signing AWS requests
• Create AD LDS service instances for Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud
• Provide expertise for Amazon Simple Queue Service

Additional Cloud Integration Support Services Available from Progent
Progent offers support for all leading public cloud platforms and can provide fast online access to a public cloud integration specialist. Popular cloud platforms and services supported by Progent include:

Amazon Marketplace Web Service (Amazon MWS) is an integrated library of APIs that allows Amazon sellers to improve the efficiency of their business processes by automating key sales functions such as listings, orders, shipments, fulfillment, and reports. By leveraging Amazon's extensive online selling environment and automating their sales, merchants can expand their reach, lower their operating costs, accelerate reaction time to customers, and increase their profits. Progent's Amazon Marketplace Web Service (Amazon MWS) consultants can collaborate with your development team and provide application programming, workflow integration, project management support, and training so you can shorten development time and costs and expedite your ROI.

Progent's Microsoft Azure cloud integration experts can help you with every stage of Microsoft Azure integration including needs definition, prerequisites assessment, system design, pilot testing, implementation, automated management, performance optimization, license management, disaster recovery strategies, security planning, and regulatory compliance validation. Progent can help you to configure and debug firewall appliances and VPN tunnels so that your users can safely access to Azure resources, and Progent's Microsoft-certified consultants can assist you integrate key Microsoft technologies to run in the cloud including Microsoft Windows Server, Exchange Server, SQL Server and Skype for Business. Progent can also assist your organization to set up a hybrid environment that seamlessly combines on-premises datacenters with Azure services.

Microsoft has made a strong effort to enable seamless hybrid networks that integrate Microsoft 365 and local installations of Exchange. This permits you to have certain mailboxes hosted on your on-premises datacenter or private cloud and other mailboxes hosted by Microsoft 365. Progent's Microsoft-certified Exchange consulting team can help your organization with any facet of designing, integrating and debugging your hybrid Exchange network. Progent's Exchange consultants can deliver occasional expertise to help you through stubborn technical issues and also can provide comprehensive project management outsourcing to make sure your hybrid Exchange initiative is carried out on schedule and on budget. For details about Progent's consulting support for hybrid Microsoft 365 Exchange and on-prem Exchange environments, refer to Microsoft 365 Exchange Online integration with on-premises Exchange.

Progent's certified Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365 consultants can assist companies of any size to incorporate Office desktop and Microsoft 365 apps including Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Microsoft Access, Visio and Publisher into a seamless productivity solution that provides fast return on investment and enables improved business outcomes. Progent can help you to integrate Microsoft Office or Microsoft 365 apps with one another and with additional key Microsoft platforms including SharePoint, Exchange Server and SQL Server running on-premises or in the cloud. Progent can also help you to fix compatibility problems with various releases of Office and can provide customized online Office and Microsoft 365 training to individuals or groups.

Progent's Google Cloud Platform (GCP) integration experts offer affordable remote and onsite consulting to assist organizations of any size to move any portion of their critical IT resources to Google Cloud Platform (GCP). This can save management hassle and equipment costs and enable access to Google's state-of-the-art AI and machine learning technology. Progent can assist you with every phase of Google Cloud Platform migration and troubleshooting including needs analysis, preparedness assessment, architectural design, testing, deployment, centralized administration, performance tuning, software license management, backup/restore solutions, and security strategies.