Expanding your remote workforce can have a major effect on IT infrastructure, security, and corporate culture. Progent has 20 years of background helping SMBs to plan, deploy, manage, optimize, and debug IT environments that support at-home workers. Progent can assist your Centennial company to select the right tools and adhere to best practices in creating and maintaining a safe virtual office ecosystem for teleworkers that promotes collaboration and returns top business value. Progent offers support services ranging from on demand expertise for getting you past challenging technical bottlenecks to full project management to help you successfully complete mission-critical tasks.
Progent's consultants can assist Centennial, Colorado companies to succeed with any facet of building a high-performing telecommuting environment by providing network infrastructure design and configuration services, IP voice troubleshooting, voice/video conferencing integration, collaboration platform customization and training, cloud connectivity, Call Desk services, endpoint security, data protection solutions, and centralized management.
Network Infrastructure for an At-Home Workforce
Configuring the network infrastructure needed to support a remote workforce can be especially challenging if you must accommodate a combination of personal hardware like PCs and notebooks, routers, and Wi-Fi APs from an assortment of vendors and with a variety of operating systems and firmware releases. Progent's experience providing remote support for both legacy and modern IT products in virtual office venues allows you to make cost-effective use of your available infrastructure and offers fast access to top-tire consultants for making essential updates. Support services available from Progent to help you to implement a productive work-at-home infrastructure include:
IP Voice Solutions for Teleworkers
Extending the business phone system to accommodate teleworkers is vital to maintaining an effective work-at-home solution. A variety of cloud-based VoIP products are used by SMBs to server teleworkers. Many enterprises depend on Cisco's current or older platforms for VoIP solutions. Progent can assist organizations of all sizes to design or maintain a remote IP voice service that delivers the versatility, transparency and security required for remote users. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice consultants offer advanced support to assist businesses tune their current Cisco IP voice environments to support a growing remote workforce.
Video Conferencing for Teleworkers
A wide selection of video conferencing platforms from major vendors enable virtual discussions, video and voice conferencing, chat sessions, and screen sharing for both local users and teleworkers. Many companies use a mix of products to meet the needs of their various partners and customers. Progent's communications experts can assist your organization to maintain your current conferencing environment and enhance the engagement of your remote employees.
Microsoft Collaboration Software for Telecommuters
Microsoft's collaboration products are tightly integrated with Microsoft's familiar Office and Microsoft 365 families, providing a powerful environment of applications that deliver a consistent user interface for exchanging data and ideas throughout multiple sites and on a wide range of endpoint computers. Progent has delivered online consulting support for SharePoint and Exchange since their first publication and can assist businesses to deploy these flagship collaboration platforms to maximize the effectiveness of your remote workers.
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 with Microsoft 365 and integrates with third-party cloud services to deliver real-time collaboration and communication. Designed as a substitute for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams can enable chat, video meetings with screen sharing, calling, cloud voicemail, group email, as well as file and application sharing. Teams is tightly integrated with Microsoft 365 and depends on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Azure Entra (formerly branded Azure Active Directory) for delivering its full range of features. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium, visit solution design and configuration expertise for Microsoft Teams.
SharePoint uses web entities to allow collaboration and knowledge delivery by providing policy-driven access to content, business processes, and utilities for looking through enterprise-wide information silos. SharePoint permits you to create secure portals that allows remote workforce to view and update consolidated corporate intelligence by means of Intranets (Wikis), Blogs, social networking sites, and Web Parts. For information about Progent's SharePoint consulting services, visit SharePoint configuration and 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 expertise, refer to planning and configuration consulting for Exchange.
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 anywhere can access them safely via a browser. Provided with Office 365, OneDrive enables remote employees to co-author documents. Revisions made offline are synced when you reconnect to the Internet. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for OneDrive, refer to Onedrive integration experts.
Cloud Integration Services for Telecommuters
Progent offers advanced remote support for helping businesses to build, maintain and troubleshoot integrated network architectures that combine physical data centers, remote workers, branch offices, plus cloud resources. Progent can provide top-tier consultant for all modes of public cloud service such as Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help remote workers fix problems with public cloud access, authentication, and security.
Azure is a popular platform for cloud services that allows you to utilize IT infrastructure, servers, and key applications hosted on Microsoft's massive cloud. Azure offers more than one hundred services services such as the ability to host Windows and Linux-powered VMs, scalable cloud storage, messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and data protection. Progent can help you to deploy VMs on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate cloud-based storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity management with Azure AD, and design backup and recovery solutions 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. To learn about Progent's expertise for Microsoft Azure, refer to Microsoft Azure expertise.
Microsoft 365, previously called Office 365, is Microsoft's popular suite of client productivity applications and cloud-based services available on a subscription basis. Office apps and services are provided in a variety of bundles designed for customers ranging from students and households to large enterprises. Progent can provide quick and affordable remote access to experts knowledgeable about Microsoft 365-compatible endpoint devices running Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android technology. Progent can assist you to evaluate the various subscription bundles offered with Microsoft 365 and configure 365 applications for your telecommuters to achieve maximum business value. To find out about Progent's expertise for Microsoft 365, see Microsoft 365 consulting expertise.
Microsoft 365 Exchange Online is one of the most widely used cloud-based applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product line. Microsoft 365 Exchange Online offers the benefits of reduced spending for physical infrastructure, simplified management, dynamic scaling, high reliability, and other advantages associated with public clouds. Microsoft has engineered Exchange Online to operate seamlessly with local Exchange environments, allowing customers to create hybrid information systems. Progent's certified Exchange consultants can provide occasional assistance to guide you past tough IT roadblocks and can also provide comprehensive project management outsourcing to ensure your at-home workers have convenient and safe access to your Exchange Online environment. To find out Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, go to Exchange Online integration and troubleshooting consulting.
Amazon AWS is a pioneer in the public cloud computing arena and is the world's top source of cloud services. Progent can provide quick and economical online contact with cloud connectivity experts who can assist your organization to plan, deploy, maintain, and debug hybrid information networks that integrate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with on-premises resources and with other public clouds such as Azure. Progent also offers the skills of Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to assist your company to build a high-uptime network model so your employees have a productive computing environment whether they are working from your headquarters, a remote branch, from home, or on the road. To find out about Progent's consulting services for Amazon AWS, go to Amazon AWS consulting expertise.
Google Cloud Platform is a leading collection of cloud computing services that provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco consulting experts can help your business to scale your existing IT assets with the Google Cloud, and Progent's database consultants can help you make your critical apps cloud friendly so your at-home workers can benefit fully from Google Cloud Platform services. Progent can assist your business to set up VMs on GCP Compute Engine, design an efficient storage solution with Google Cloud Storage services, and simplify identity control for remote workers with Google Cloud Identity. Progent can also help your organization to use GCP's management tools to control and monitor your GCP environment. For details, go to Google Cloud Platform (GCP) consulting expertise.
Help Desk Support for Teleworkers
A rapid, organization-wide switchover to a telecommuter business model, which might be the result of a pandemic or as an element of a business continuity process, can overstretch even the most efficient internal Support Desk. Progent's Call Center services make it possible for businesses to outsource or expand their Help Desk Call Center with Progent's online Technical Response Center (TRC) team.
Security for Remote Workers
At-home employees typically use their own computers and usually operate in a poorly secured physical area. This increases their susceptibility to cyber attacks and requires careful configuration of corporate firewalls, AV tools, MFA-based identity verification, remote monitoring, intensive user training, and the creation of policies built on leading practices. Progent's seasoned group of IT security support consultants can help you to design, deploy and maintain a compliant security solution that protects critical IT resources in networks that include remote workers.
Firewalls enable you to create a network that can be safely accessed by on-premises users as well as by teleworkers, mobile workers, vendors, clients, and the public. Modern firewall appliances allow you to assign and manage different permissions to different groups of users and to scale your network and adjust your security as your company evolves and as network attacks become more complex. Progent supports both new and legacy security appliances from all major vendors including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Juniper, and Fortinet. For details about Progent's firewall integration services, go to firewall integration and support services.
Online Endpoint Security Monitoring makes it possible to track the various computers used by an at-home workforce and either block or spot and respond to modern cyber attacks such as ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring services, a lightweight software agent is installed on each secured endpoint device, monitoring all activity and utilizing state-of-the-art machine learning from SentinelOne to detect zero-day attacks before they can spread. When a cyberattack is spotted, ProSight Active Security Monitoring instantly disconnects the infected endpoint from the network to contain the malware. Because the ProSight Active Security Monitoring software agent is self-contained, endpoint devices remain secure even if they are not connected to the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. For details about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, go to remote endpoint security monitoring for an at-home workforce.
Progent's Duo authentication Service Plans utilize Cisco's Duo technology to protect against compromised passwords by using two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo supports one-tap identity verification with Apple iOS, Android, and other out-of-band devices. With 2FA, whenever you sign into a protected online account and give your password you are requested to confirm your identity on a unit that only you have and that is accessed using a separate network channel. A broad selection of out-of-band devices can be used as this added form of ID validation including an iPhone or Android or wearable, a hardware token, a landline telephone, etc. You may designate multiple verification devices. To find out more about ProSight Duo identity authentication services, visit Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for at-home workers.
Security Audits can evaluate the vulnerability of your network to all types of outside and internal security threats for a network that incorporates telecommuters. Progent can run remote, automated cybersecurity inventory software for rapidly and economically detecting a broad range of security weaknesses that can be surfaced via the Internet. Progent's security audit consulting services, which can be managed by data security experts with advanced certifications including CISM, CISSP, and GIAC, can assist your business to audit your operations and policies and review your IT architecture to enable you to implement top-level security for your telecommuters.
Horizon3.ai's NodeZero PEN Testing Platform is a cutting-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that can deliver autonomous testing of your at-home environment as well as your internal and perimeter networks to help you identify, prioritize, fix, and confirm security weaknesses before threat actors can take advantage of them. Progent's pentest experts can assist you to deploy NodeZero to perform comprehensive penetration tests of your perimeter and your internal IT infrastructure so you can determine your current security profile. Progent can also assist you to strengthen your existing network security and can assist you to plan and deploy a cohesive cybersecurity ecosystem that streamlines management and delivers optimum protection for on-prem, cloud-based, remote, and perimeter IT resources. To find out more details about Progent's threat assessment services powered by on NodeZero's pentest platform, refer to Consulting Support for NodeZero's Penetration Test Products.
Download White Paper: Securing a Work-From-Home Environment
To view or download a white paper describing critical things to concentrate on for protecting an IT environment that includes work-from-home staff, click:
Securing a Work-From-Home (WFH) Environment White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)
Data Protection Solutions for At-Home Workers
The field of Data Protection covers backing up and recovering vital data so as to avoid data loss and minimize restoration time and effort in case of storage failures due to hardware breakdowns, software glitches, operator mistakes, cyber attack, or other causes. Reliable data protection strategies can be especially challenging to design and maintain in hybrid networks that incorporate in-house data centers, cloud resources, and an at-home workforce.
Unified Management for Teleworkers
Microsoft has renamed and reshuffled its endpoint management products under the name Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which includes Intune for cloud management of remote devices and Configuration Manager for managing local computers. Microsoft Endpoint Manager features a centralized solution for safeguarding critical data by managing on-premises, mobile, and home-based endpoints.
Microsoft Intune
Intune is a component of Microsoft's Endpoint Management family that also includes Microsoft Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and protecting mobile devices and applications. Remote endpoint computers can be personally owned or business owned. Network admins managing the enrolled endpoint devices of at-home workers can utilize Intune to provision and validate apps on managed devices, push patches and certificates, configure rules for permission to access information and resources, set passwords, establish VPN tunnels, determine how telecommuters share information, set up threat protection, verify security compliance, and wipe corporate information from missing, stolen or decommissioned endpoint devices. Microsoft Intune works with iOS/iPadOS, Android, Windows, and macOS computers. For details about Microsoft Intune and how Progent can assist your company to use this platform to manage the endpoint computers of your at-home workers, refer to Intune mobile device management experts.
VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich centralized MDM product that allows network managers to keep remote endpoint devices up to date and secure. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch technology for centralized endpoint administration plus VMware's Horizon virtual application delivery technology for identity control, application management, and setup management of endpoint computers. Workspace ONE runs with devices based on Windows 10, macOS, Apple iOS, Google Android, Chrome OS, or popular distros of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is offered by subscription as a cloud service or as an on-site deployment via a perpetual license. Key capabilities of VMware Workspace ONE include fast remote provisioning of new laptops, immediate onboarding of new employees, policy setting and enforcement for all categories of endpoints, unifies reporting and analytics, email encryption, and tight integration with Microsoft applications and cloud services. To learn about Progent's expertise for VMware Workspace ONE, visit VMware Workspace ONE remote endpoint management expertise.
Contact Progent for Telecommuter Support Services
To get in touch with Progent about building and managing an efficient telecommuter environment for your Centennial, Colorado organization, call