Expanding your remote workforce can have a major effect on network infrastructure, security/compliance, and corporate culture. Progent has 20 years of background helping small and mid-size businesses to plan, deploy, administer, optimize, and debug IT networks that incorporate work-from-home employees. Progent can help your Brisbane company to select the appropriate technologies and follow best practices in creating and operating a secure virtual office solution for teleworkers that facilitates teamwork and returns maximum value. Progent can provide support services that go from as-needed expertise for helping you over occasional technical roadblocks to full project management to help you successfully complete mission-critical tasks.
Progent's consultants can help Brisbane, Queensland companies to with any facet of creating a high-performing telecommuting environment by providing infrastructure design and configuration services, VoIP PBX troubleshooting, video conferencing integration, collaboration platform customization and training, public cloud integration, helpdesk augmentation, cybersecurity, backup/restore solutions, and streamlined management.
Infrastructure for Telecommuters
Configuring the network infrastructure required to support an at-home work environment can be especially complicated if you have to accommodate a mix of personal equipment such as PCs and notebooks, routers, and wireless appliances from different manufacturers and with a mix of operating systems and firmware releases. Progent's background delivering remote help for both outdated and current IT products in virtual office solutions enables you to make cost-effective use of your available network infrastructure and provides you with ready access to top-tire consultants for implement necessary upgrades. Services available from Progent to assist your company to implement a high-functioning telecommuting ecosystem include:
IP Voice Integration for an At-Home Workforce
Extending the corporate PBX system to accommodate remote users is critical to supporting an effective work-at-home solution. A broad range of cloud-based VoIP products are popular with SMBs to support telecommuters. Many enterprises rely on Cisco's modern or older platforms for VoIP solutions. Progent can assist businesses of any size to plan or tune a telecommuter IP voice environment that delivers the flexibility, convenience and security needed for at-home workers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice experts can provide high-level support to help organizations optimize their existing Cisco VoIP systems to support an expanding at-home workforce.
Video Conferencing for Teleworkers
A broad selection of video conferencing platforms from leading vendors support virtual meetings, video and voice conferencing, chat sessions, and screen sharing for both local users and at-home workers. Many companies utilize multiple conferencing products to accommodate their various partners and customers. Progent's communications experts can assist you to manage your existing voice/video conferencing ecosystem and optimize the engagement of your remote workforce.
Microsoft Integrated Collaboration Platforms for Teleworkers
Microsoft's collaboration platforms are closely integrated with Microsoft's familiar Office and Microsoft 365 families, offering a rich ecosystem of productivity apps that create a cohesive user experience for exchanging data and ideas throughout multiple sites and on a broad selection of endpoints. Progent has delivered remote consulting support for Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange since their first publication and can help your company to configure these critical collaboration platforms to optimize the effectiveness of your at-home workforce.
Microsoft's collaboration platforms are tightly integrated with Microsoft's popular Office suite, providing a rich ecosystem of applications that deliver a consistent user experience for sharing information across multiple sites and on a wide variety of endpoint devices. Progent has provided remote consulting services for SharePoint and Exchange since their initial releases and can help at-home workers set up and use these flagship collaboration platforms to maximize productivity.
Microsoft Teams works on top of Microsoft 365 and integrates with third-party cloud services to deliver real-time collaboration. Designed as a substitute for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams can support chat, audio/video meetings that include screen sharing, calling, cloud voicemail, group email, as well as file and application sharing. Teams is closely integrated with Microsoft 365 and relies on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Microsoft Entra (formerly called Azure Active Directory) for supporting its complete range of features. To learn more about Progent's support services for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium, visit solution design and deployment expertise for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium.
SharePoint uses web sites to enable collaboration and information sharing by offering policy-driven delivery of data, workflow, and utilities for looking through company-wide business data. SharePoint permits you to create secure web portals that permits remote workers to see and edit consolidated business intelligence via Wikis, Blogs, social sites, and Web Parts. To find out about Progent's SharePoint expertise, visit SharePoint configuration and application development consulting.
Exchange and Exchange Online offer secure collaboration features including public folders, shared mailboxes, and shared calendars and contacts. Progent's Microsoft certified Exchange experts can show you how to activate and utilize these features for your at-home workers. To learn about Progent's Exchange consulting services, refer to planning and configuration consulting for Microsoft Exchange Server.
OneDrive is Microsoft�s shared cloud file hosting and synchronization service, comparable to GoogleDrive. Remote users can save files to the OneDrive service, and co-workers can share them safely via a web browser. Provided with Office 365, OneDrive enables home workers to co-author files. Edits created offline are automatically synced when you reconnect to the Internet. For details about Progent's expertise for Microsoft OneDrive, refer to Microsoft Onedrive configuration consulting.
Public Cloud Integration Services for At-Home Workers
Progent can provide advanced remote assistance for enabling businesses to build, manage and repair integrated hybrid network architectures that incorporate physical data centers, at-home workers, branches, plus public cloud resources. Progent can provide expertise for all modes of public cloud service delivery including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help remote workers resolve problems with public cloud connectivity, authentication, and security.
Microsoft Azure is a leading platform for public cloud software and services that enables you to utilize IT infrastructure, virtual servers, and key apps running on Microsoft's massive cloud. Azure includes over 100 cloud-based services including the ability to host Windows and Linux-based VMs, scalable cloud storage, email and messaging, application development with Visual Studio, and backup/restore. Progent can assist you to deploy VMs on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate storage on Azure Storage services, streamline identity control with Azure Active Directory, and design data backup and recovery systems with Azure Backup. Progent's cloud experts can also show you how to establish secure connections to Azure services for telecommuters by setting up and troubleshooting firewall appliances and VPN tunnels. For details about Progent's expertise for Azure, see Azure consulting services.
Microsoft 365, previously branded Office 365, is Microsoft's popular family of client productivity applications and cloud services offered by subscription. Microsoft apps and cloud services are marketed in a variety of bundles designed for users ranging from students and households to major corporations. Progent offers fast and affordable remote contact with consultants knowledgeable about Microsoft 365-compatible endpoint devices running Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android technology. Progent's experts can help your business to assess the various subscription bundles available for Microsoft 365 and configure 365 applications for your at-home workers to achieve top business value. For information about Progent's support services for Microsoft 365, see Microsoft 365 consulting support.
Microsoft 365 Exchange Online is among the most popular cloud-based applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product suite. Microsoft 365 Exchange Online offers the benefits of lower spending for data center infrastructure, simplified management, dynamic scaling, high availability, and additional advantages inherent with public clouds. Microsoft has designed Exchange Online to run smoothly with on-premises Exchange environments, allowing customers to build hybrid cloud/onsite networks. Progent's Exchange experts are available for occasional help to guide you through tough technical bottlenecks and can also provide end-to-end project management outsourcing to make sure your teleworkers have easy and safe access to your Exchange Online deployment. For information Progent's consulting services for Exchange Online, refer to Exchange Online configuration and troubleshooting consulting.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a trailblazer in the public cloud market and is the industry's top provider of cloud services. Progent offers fast and affordable online contact with cloud integration consultants who can help your organization to plan, implement, manage, and troubleshoot hybrid information networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with local data centers and with other popular cloud platforms such as Azure. Progent also can provide the skills of Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to help your company to build a high-availability network model so your employees have a productive computing environment regardless of whether they are working from your headquarters, a remote branch, at home, or on the road. For information about Progent's support services for Amazon AWS, refer to Amazon AWS consulting services.
Google Cloud is a popular collection of public cloud services that provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco experts can help you to scale your current IT resources with the Google Cloud, and Progent's DBA experts can help you make your mission-critical applications cloud ready so your teleworkers can take full advantage of Google Cloud Platform services. Progent's consultants can assist your organization to deploy virtual machines on GCP Compute Engine, design a cost-effective storage system with Google Cloud Storage services, and simplify access control for telecommuters with Google Cloud Identity. Progent's consultants can also assist your organization to use GCP's unified management technology to control and track your Google Cloud environment. For information, refer to Google Cloud Platform integration support.
Help Desk Call Center Support for Telecommuters
An emergency, enterprise-wide transition to a from-home business model, which could be the result of a pandemic or as a component of a disaster recovery/business continuity preparedness plan, can overwhelm even a high-performing internal Call Desk. Progent's Help Desk Call Center services make it possible for businesses of any size to outsource or expand their Call Center by using Progent's remote Technical Response Center (TRC) team.
Security and Compliance for Remote Workers
Work-from-Home (WFH) employees commonly use their personal devices and usually operate in a poorly secured physical space. This situation increases their susceptibility to malware threats and requires careful configuration of corporate firewalls, anti-malware tools, MFA-based identity verification, remote monitoring, intensive user training, and the development of security policies based on best practices. Progent's veteran group of data security support experts can assist your business to plan, configure and maintain an effective cybersecurity solution that guards critical information assets in networks that incorporate telecommuters.
Firewalls enable companies to create a network that can be securely utilized by on-premises users as well as by teleworkers, mobile users, vendors, clients, and the public. Next-generation firewall appliances permit you to assign and control different permissions to different classes of users and to expand your network and modify your security as your company evolves and as network attacks grow more complex. Progent supports both current and legacy security appliances from all leading manufacturers like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, WatchGuard, Juniper, and Fortinet. To find out more about Progent's firewall configuration expertise, refer to firewall support expertise.
Online Endpoint Monitoring makes it easy to track the disparate computers utilized by remote workers and either reject or spot and respond to the latest threats such as ransomware. With Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring services, a small-footprint agent is installed on each protected endpoint, watching all activity and utilizing advanced machine learning from SentinelOne to identify new threats before they can spread. When a cyberattack is discovered, ProSight ASM immediately isolates the targeted endpoint from the corporate network to quarantine the malware. Because the ProSight Active Security Monitoring agent is self-contained, endpoints stay secure even when they are not connected to the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. For details about ProSight ASM, go to remote endpoint monitoring for an at-home workforce.
Progent's Duo authentication Service Plans utilize Cisco's Duo cloud technology to defend against password theft through the use of two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo supports single-tap identity confirmation with Apple iOS, Android, and other out-of-band devices. Using 2FA, when you sign into a secured online account and enter your password you are requested to confirm your identity via a unit that only you have and that uses a different network channel. A broad range of out-of-band devices can be utilized for this added form of ID validation including a smartphone or wearable, a hardware token, a landline phone, etc. You may register several validation devices. To learn more about Duo two-factor identity authentication services, refer to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for remote workers.
Security Audits can assess the vulnerability of your network to all types of external and internal security attacks for a network that incorporates teleworkers. Progent can run online, automated cybersecurity analysis scanning for quickly and economically detecting a broad range of security holes that can be found over the Internet. Progent's endpoint security audit experts, which can be managed by security experts with top certifications such as CISA, CISSP, and GIAC, can assist your business to audit your operations and policies and review your network infrastructure to enable you to design top-level protection for your remote workers.
Horizon3.ai's NodeZero Penetration Testing Platform is a leading-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that supports autonomous threat assessment of your work-from-home connectivity solution as well as your internal and perimeter networks so you can expose, rank, remediate, and verify cybersecurity weaknesses before malicious hackers can take advantage of them. Progent's pentest experts can help you to use NodeZero to perform thorough penetration tests of your network perimeter and your internal IT infrastructure in order to evaluate your current security profile. Progent can also assist you to harden your existing network security and can assist you to design and deploy a cohesive cybersecurity strategy that streamlines management and delivers optimum cyber defense for on-premises, multi-cloud, remote, and perimeter IT resources. To find out more details about Progent's threat assessment services based on on NodeZero's PEN test platform, see Consulting Support for NodeZero's Penetration Test Products.
Download White Paper: Protecting a Work-From-Home Network
To read or download a white paper describing key things to focus on for securing an IT environment that incorporates telecommuters, click:
Protecting a Work-From-Home Environment White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)
Data Protection Solutions for Telecommuters
The field of Data Protection covers backing up and recovering critical data so as to prevent data loss and minimize restoration time and effort in case of storage failures resulting from hardware issues, software glitches, operator error, malware, or other causes. Reliable data protection solutions can be especially difficult to design and maintain in hybrid environments that incorporate local data centers, cloud resources, and an at-home workforce.
Unified Management for Telecommuters
Microsoft has renamed and rebundled its endpoint management products under the title Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which includes Intune for cloud management of remote devices and Configuration Manager for managing local computers. Endpoint Manager offers a centralized solution for protecting critical data by managing on-premises, mobile, and home-based endpoints.
Microsoft Intune
Intune is a component of Microsoft's Endpoint Management suite that also features Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and protecting off-premises devices and software. Managed endpoint computers can be user owned or company owned. IT administrators managing the endpoint computers of at-home workers can utilize Intune to provision and authenticate applications on managed devices, push patches and certificates, configure rules for permission to access information and resources, set passwords, establish VPN tunnels, control how teleworkers share data, set up threat protection, ensure compliance, and wipe sensitive data from missing, stolen or deactivated devices. Microsoft Intune can be used with iOS/iPadOS, Google Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X endpoints. For details about Microsoft Intune and how Progent can assist you to use Microsoft's Endpoint Management to administer the endpoint computers of your teleworkers, refer to Intune mobile endpoint management consultants.
VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is an advanced unified Mobile Device Management (MDM) platform that helps network administrators to keep off-premises endpoint devices up to date and protected. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch technology for centralized endpoint administration combined with VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery platform for access control, app management, and configuration management of endpoint computers. Workspace ONE runs with endpoints powered by Windows 10, macOS, Apple iOS, Google Android, Chrome OS, or leading distros of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is available by subscription as a cloud-based service or as an on-premises product through a perpetual license. Key features of VMware Workspace ONE include fast remote provisioning of new notebooks, quick onboarding of new users, policy set up and enforcement for all categories of endpoints, aggregated reporting and performance analytics, email encryption, and seamless integration with Microsoft applications and cloud services. To learn about Progent's support services for VMware Workspace ONE, refer to VMware Workspace ONE remote endpoint management expertise.
Contact Progent for At-Home Worker Support Services
To get in touch with Progent about creating and maintaining a productive work-from-home environment for your Brisbane, Queensland business, call