Computer Support for Small Businesses

Microsoft Consulting Best Practices
Progent’s team of Microsoft and Cisco Premier experts average more than ten years of hands-on industry background, at the forefront of network support, performing a broad range of technical tasks for an extensive array of clients. Each Progent consultant shares a proven collection of leading practices which are incorporated into company-wide best practices standards that Progent teaches its consulting staff. This means that you get not only world-class IT skills, but also a consultant with field-tested approaches for applying computer knowledge to fix real-world IT problems rapidly.

Key features and benefits of Progent's best practices include:

• Individual Experts
  Progent’s staff of network consultants is composed of among the most experienced Microsoft and Cisco experts in the industry. With more than 10 years of real-world background for each consultant, Progent's Microsoft and Cisco Premier experts offer a proven set of methodologies for resolving network problems, planning projects, and providing consulting support. The technical depth of Progent's support team allows Progent to provide your company a consulting expert with tested skills and an efficient approach for finding quick and affordable network solutions.

• Problem Escalation Through Teamwork
  When appropriate, Progent utilizes a team approach to solving the most stubborn technical issues. By aggregating hundreds of person-years of background from Progent's Microsoft and Cisco Certified professionals, Progent can quickly and cost-effectively handle even the most challenging problems. Consulting with hundreds of customers and completing thousands of complex implementation and integration projects annually offers Progent a unique view on which techiques succeed and which ones do not. Complex software compatibility issues are a minefield for even the most talented consultants unless they bring a long and diverse background in hands-on experience with a broad variety of technologies.

• Company-wide Standards for Best Practices
  Progent has incorporated the combined experience of its top consulting personnel to develop an internal, corporate-wide collection of methodologies intended to promote fast, cost-effective resolutions of information technology problems and to track and optimize customer approval. These practices include a powerful focus on client communication and services recording. Progent's Founder and President, Les Kent, has a 35-year background of successful technology consulting, corporate management, marketing, and operations. Progent's corporate-wide best practices are significantly influenced by Mr. Kent's experiences creating complex technical solutions while working as a network architect, software developer, task manager, implementation expert and troubleshooter.

• Ongoing Training
  As an authorized partner with Microsoft, Progent makes sure that in-house engineers undergo continued technical and methodology education that includes important information and procedures for technology adoption that have been gleaned from the experience of thousands of technical professionals worldwide. This results in increasingly efficient delivery of support to Progent's customers.

• Internal Database of Problems and Proven Solutions
  Progent's highly evolved service reporting system offers detailed documentation for all provided support. Every Progent team consultant has complete availability of all the details of support provided by any staff member to each customer. This database of problems and resolutions, as well as false alarms and miscues, is arranged as readily accessible internal information store that allows Progent's consultants to communicate their experiences company-wide to ensure that the overall efficiency of Progent's support expands over time. This support history also reduces your reliance on an individual consultant by allowing any Progent expert to take up where another left off while minimizing time wasting getting ramped up on your information system setup. An additional benefit of Progent's support reporting system is that your company can more easily take on IT support services internally if it becomes cost-effective to do so, or you can migrate to a different IT outsourcing firm if you become unhappy with Progent's support.

• Microsoft Solutions Framework Project Methodology
  For larger projects, Progent consultants follow the Microsoft Solutions Framework model for delivering service. MSF divides projects into discrete and rational phases that minimize the risk of a project getting out of control. Each step creates a solid base for the completion of following phases. Design and deployment requirements are identified early in the project cycle so difficulties can be pi pointed and dealt with before client workflow is disrupted. This also prevents costs from going through the roof due to unforeseen crises during large scale deployment. All project components are recorded to create a detailed database of technical services provided and to help in continuing network support.

• Access to External Support Databases
  As authorized support partners of Microsoft and Cisco, Progent has access to the world's largest information technology databases and resource pool. Some of the most powerful technical databases accessible by Progent's consultants are the operational best practices built into the various Management Packs created by Microsoft and other vendors for use with Microsoft Operations Manager, the automated network monitoring software that is the basis of Progent's IT outsourcing and network monitoring packages. Management Packs consist of custom built processing rules that will respond to events, performance margins, and alerts monitored by Microsoft System Center Operations Manager. MPs can also give valuable suggestions on how to handle specific problems by automatically finding relevant technical notes from the extensive Microsoft support database.

For an example of how Microsoft Operations Manager helped a business achieve enterprise-class network management, read the Microsoft Operations Manager Case Study.

To contact Progent about consulting services for your small business network, call 1-800-993-9400 or visit Contact Progent.