Enlarging your remote workforce can have a major impact on IT architecture, security/compliance, and corporate workflows. Progent has two decades of background helping small and mid-size businesses to design, deploy, manage, tune, and troubleshoot IT environments that support a remote workforce. Progent can help your Bristol company to select the appropriate technologies and follow best practices in building and maintaining a safe virtual ecosystem for telecommuters that promotes collaboration and returns top value. Progent can provide services that go from on demand expertise for helping you over challenging IT roadblocks to full project management to help you carry out business-critical initiatives.
Progent can assist Bristol, United Kingdom companies to succeed with any aspect of building a high-functioning work-at-home environment by providing infrastructure design and configuration services, IP voice expertise, voice/video conferencing support, collaboration platform customization and training, public cloud integration, Call Desk services, security and compliance, backup/restore solutions, and unified management.
Infrastructure for Teleworkers
Integrating the network infrastructure needed to support a remote workforce can be particularly complicated if you have to accommodate a mix of worker-owned hardware like PCs and laptops, routers, and wireless APs from various vendors and with a variety of OS software and firmware levels. Progent's background providing remote support for both outdated as well as current IT products in remote office venues enables you to make cost-effective use of your available network infrastructure and provides you with ready access to expertise for making necessary upgrades. Support services offered by Progent to help you to create a productive telecommuting ecosystem include:
VoIP Integration for Remote Workers
Extending the business phone system to accommodate remote users is vital to supporting a productive work-at-home solution. A broad range of cloud-based VoIP platforms are used by small and mid-size businesses to server remote users. Many larger organizations rely on Cisco's modern or older platforms for VoIP solutions. Progent can assist businesses of any size to design or maintain a telecommuter VoIP environment that provides the flexibility, convenience and security required for at-home workers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice consultants can provide high-level support to help organizations tune their existing Cisco VoIP systems to handle a growing at-home workforce.
Video Conferencing for Teleworkers
A wide selection of video conferencing products from leading vendors support online meetings, video conferencing, chat, and content sharing for both local workers and at-home workers. Many companies utilize a mix of products to meet the needs of their different partners and customers. Progent's communications experts can help you to maintain your current voice/video conferencing environment and optimize the experience of your remote workforce.
Microsoft Integrated Collaboration Platforms for Telecommuters
Microsoft's collaboration platforms are tightly integrated with Microsoft's popular Office and Microsoft 365 suites, providing a rich ecosystem of productivity apps that create a cohesive user experience for sharing information throughout multiple sites and on a wide selection of endpoint computers. Progent has provided remote consulting services for SharePoint and Exchange Server since their initial releases and can help your company to configure these critical collaboration products to maximize the productivity of your remote workers.
SharePoint uses web sites to allow collaboration and knowledge delivery by offering policy-based access to data, business processes, and utilities for searching through company-wide information silos. SharePoint enables you to build protected web portals that permits at-home workers to see and edit aggregated corporate intelligence by means of Wikis, Blogs, social sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). For information about Progent's SharePoint consulting expertise, see 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. For information about Progent's Exchange consulting services, go to planning and configuration expertise for Exchange Server.
OneDrive is Microsoft's collaborative cloud storage service, similar to GoogleDrive. Remote users can save files to the OneDrive service, and colleagues anywhere can share them safely through a web browser. Included with Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365, OneDrive allows at-home employees to co-author documents. Revisions made offline are synced when you go back online. For information about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft OneDrive, see Onedrive configuration consulting.
Cloud Integration for Teleworkers
Progent can provide affordable online support for helping businesses to build, maintain and repair integrated hybrid network architectures that incorporate physical data centers, remote workers, branches, plus cloud services. Progent can provide top-tier consultant for all types of cloud service delivery such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service. Progent can help remote workers fix problems with public cloud connectivity, authentication, and security.
Microsoft Azure is a leading family of cloud software and services that enables you to use infrastructure, virtual servers, and critical apps running on Microsoft's extensive cloud. Microsoft Azure includes over 100 services services including hosting for Windows and Linux-powered virtual machines, on-demand cloud storage, messaging, application development with Visual Studio, and data backup. Progent can assist you to deploy VMs on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate cloud-based storage on Azure Storage services, streamline identity management with Azure Active Directory, and plan backup and restore systems with Azure Backup. Progent can also show you how to create secure connections to Azure services for telecommuters by configuring and troubleshooting firewall appliances and VPN IPsec tunnels. For details about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft Azure, go to Microsoft Azure consulting.
Microsoft 365, previously branded Office 365, is Microsoft's growing suite of client productivity software and cloud-based services available by subscription. Office applications and cloud services are marketed in a selection of plans intended for customers ranging from students and households to major enterprises. Progent can provide fast and affordable online access to consultants familiar with Microsoft 365-compatible clients based on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android technology. Progent's experts can assist your business to evaluate the various subscription plans offered with Microsoft 365 and configure 365 apps for your at-home workers to achieve top business value. For details about Progent's expertise for Microsoft 365, go to Microsoft 365 integration expertise.
Exchange Online is one of the most widely used applications in the Microsoft 365 product line. Microsoft 365 Exchange Online offers the benefits of lower spending for data center infrastructure, easier management, on-demand scaling, high availability, and additional advantages inherent with cloud computing. Microsoft has engineered Exchange Online to operate seamlessly with local Exchange environments, enabling you to create hybrid cloud/onsite networks. Progent's certified Exchange consultants can provide as-needed help to get you through tough technical bottlenecks and can also provide end-to-end project management outsourcing to make sure your telecommuters have convenient and secure access to your Microsoft 365 Exchange Online environment. To learn Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, refer to Exchange Online integration and support expertise.
Amazon AWS is a pioneer in the public cloud arena and is the industry's biggest source of cloud services. Progent offers quick and economical online access to cloud integration consultants who can assist your organization to plan, deploy, maintain, and debug hybrid IT networks that integrate Amazon AWS cloud services with on-premises data centers and with other popular cloud platforms like Microsoft Azure. Progent also can provide access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to help you to build a high-availability network model so your users have a productive computing environment regardless of whether they are working from your headquarters, a branch office, from home, or on the move. To find out about Progent's consulting services for Amazon AWS, go to Amazon AWS consulting expertise.
Google Cloud is a popular collection of cloud services that offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco consulting experts can help your business to extend your current IT resources with the Google Cloud, and Progent's DBA consultants can show you how to make your key apps cloud ready so your remote workers can take full advantage of Google Cloud Platform services. Progent's consultants can help you to set up VMs on GCP Compute Engine, plan a cost-effective storage system with GCP Storage, and simplify access control for remote workers with GCP Cloud Identity services. Progent can also help your organization to utilize GCP's unified management technology to control and monitor your Google Cloud environment. For information, see Google Cloud Platform (GCP) consulting support.
Help Desk Call Center Support for Remote Workers
An emergency, enterprise-wide changeover to a telecommuter workforce, which might be the result of a pandemic or as an element of a disaster recovery/business continuity plan, can overstretch even a well-staffed in-house Call Desk. Progent's Help Desk services make it possible for businesses to outsource or augment their Call Desk by using Progent's remote Technical Response Center services.
Security and Compliance for Teleworkers
At-home employees typically utilize their own computers and often operate in a poorly secured physical environment. This situation multiplies their susceptibility to cyber attacks and requires judicious configuration of firewalls, anti-malware tools, multi-factor authentication, remote monitoring, intensive user training, and the development of security policies built on best practices. Progent's seasoned group of cybersecurity support experts can assist you to design, implement and maintain an effective security solution that guards critical information assets in networks that include telecommuters.
Firewalls allow companies to build a network that can be safely utilized by local users and by telecommuters, mobile employees, suppliers, customers, and the public. Next-generation firewall appliances permit you to assign and control appropriate permissions to various groups of users and to scale your IT network and modify your security profile as your business evolves and as network attacks become more complex. Progent supports both new and older firewall devices from all major manufacturers like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, WatchGuard, Juniper, and Fortinet. To learn more about Progent's firewall integration services, go to firewall configuration and support services.
Remote Endpoint Monitoring makes it easy to track the various devices used by telecommuters and either reject or identify and mitigate modern cyber attacks like ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) services, a lightweight agent is installed on every secured endpoint, monitoring all activity and using advanced machine learning and full execution context from SentinelOne to identify new threats before they can spread. When a cyberattack is discovered, ProSight ASM instantly disconnects the impacted endpoint from the corporate network to quarantine the threat. Because the ProSight Active Security Monitoring agent is autonomous, endpoints stay secure even if they are not connected to the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. To learn more about ProSight ASM, refer to remote endpoint monitoring for an at-home workforce.
Progent's Duo MFA managed services incorporate Cisco's Duo cloud technology to protect against stolen passwords by using two-factor authentication. Duo enables one-tap identity verification on iOS, Android, and other out-of-band devices. Using 2FA, whenever you sign into a protected application and enter your password you are asked to verify your identity via a device that only you have and that is accessed using a separate network channel. A broad selection of devices can be used for this second means of ID validation including a smartphone or watch, a hardware token, a landline phone, etc. You can register several validation devices. For more information about Duo two-factor identity authentication services, refer to Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for remote workers.
Security Audits can evaluate the exposure of your network to all classes of external and internal security threats for a network that incorporates remote workers. Progent can run online, automated security analysis scanning for rapidly and affordably detecting a broad range of security holes that can be found over the Internet. Progent's endpoint security assessment experts, which can be managed by security experts with advanced certifications including CISA, CISSP, and GIAC, can assist your business to evaluate your procedures and policies and review your WAN architecture to enable you to design the highest level of protection for your an at-home workforce.
Download White Paper: Securing a Work-From-Home (WFH) Environment
To view or download a white paper about key areas to concentrate on for protecting a network that includes work-from-home staff, click:
Protecting a Work-From-Home (WFH) Environment White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)
Data Protection Solutions for At-Home Workers
Data Protection involves saving and restoring critical data in order to prevent data loss and minimize recovery time and effort in the event of storage system problems resulting from hardware issues, programming hiccups, operator error, malware, or other causes. Dependable data protection strategies can be particularly challenging to architect and manage in hybrid environments that combine private data centers, public clouds, and at-home workers.
Unified Management for Telecommuters
Microsoft has rebranded and rebundled its endpoint management products under the title Endpoint Manager, which includes Intune for cloud-based management of mobile and remote devices and Configuration Manager for managing local endpoints. Endpoint Manager provides a centralized environment for protecting corporate information by managing onsite, mobile, and at-home endpoint devices.
Intune
Intune is a component of Microsoft's Endpoint Management family that also features Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud service for managing and protecting off-premises devices and software. Managed endpoint computers can be user owned or company owned. IT admins managing the endpoint devices of teleworkers can use Intune to deploy and authenticate apps on devices, push patches and certificates, set up rules for accessing data and networks, set passwords, create VPN connections, determine how home-based workers share information, establish threat defense, verify compliance, and wipe sensitive information from missing, stolen or deactivated devices. Intune runs with iOS/iPadOS, Google Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X endpoints. For information about Microsoft Intune and to find out how Progent can help your company to use this platform to manage the endpoint computers of your telecommuters, see Intune telecommuter device management expertise.
VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is an advanced unified Mobile Device Management platform that allows network administrators to keep off-premises endpoints up to date and protected. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch for unified endpoint administration plus VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery platform for identity control, app management, and setup management of endpoints. Workspace ONE runs with endpoints powered by Windows 10, macOS, iOS, Google Android, Chrome OS, or leading distributions of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is available by subscription as a cloud-based service or as an on-site product through a perpetual license. Top capabilities of VMware Workspace ONE include fast remote deployment of out-of-the-box notebooks, immediate onboarding of new employees, policy setting and enforcement for all categories of devices, aggregated reporting and analytics, an email encryption gateway, and tight integration with Microsoft apps and cloud-based products. To learn about Progent's support for VMware Workspace ONE, see VMware Workspace ONE remote device management expertise.
Contact Progent for At-Home Worker Support Services
To get in touch with Progent about building and maintaining an efficient work-from-home solution for your Bristol, United Kingdom company, phone