Enlarging your remote workforce may have a significant effect on IT architecture, security, and corporate processes. Progent has two decades of experience assisting SMBs to plan, deploy, manage, optimize, and troubleshoot IT environments that incorporate a remote workforce. Progent can help your Charlotte organization to pick the appropriate tools and adhere to leading practices in creating and operating a secure virtual office solution for teleworkers that facilitates teamwork and delivers maximum value. Progent offers services that go from on demand expertise for helping you over challenging IT roadblocks to full project management or co-management to help you successfully complete mission-critical initiatives.
Progent's consultants can assist Charlotte, North Caroline businesses to with any aspect of building a high-functioning work-from-home ecosystem by delivering infrastructure configuration services, IP voice troubleshooting, video conferencing integration, collaboration platform customization and training, cloud connectivity, Call Desk services, data security, data protection solutions, and streamlined management.
Network Infrastructure for an At-Home Workforce
Configuring the physical and software infrastructure required to support an at-home workforce can be particularly complex if you have to accommodate a mix of worker-owned equipment like desktop computers and laptops, routers, and wireless appliances from an assortment of vendors and with a variety of OS software and firmware releases. Progent's background providing remote help for both legacy and current technologies in virtual office solutions enables you to make cost-effective use of your available infrastructure and provides you with fast access to expertise for making necessary upgrades. Support services offered by Progent to assist your company to implement a high-functioning work-at-home ecosystem include:
IP Voice Solutions for an At-Home Workforce
Extending the corporate PBX system to accommodate remote users is critical to supporting a productive work-at-home solution. A broad range of cloud-centric VoIP platforms are used by small and mid-size businesses to server telecommuters. Many larger organizations depend on Cisco's modern or legacy products for IP voice management. Progent can help organizations of all sizes to design or tune a remote VoIP service that delivers the versatility, transparency and protection required for teleworkers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice experts can provide advanced support to assist businesses optimize their current Cisco VoIP environments to handle an expanding at-home workforce.
Voice/Video Conferencing for Telecommuters
A broad range of voice/video conferencing products from leading vendors enable virtual meetings, video conferencing, chat, and screen/content sharing for both onsite users and telecommuters. 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 manage your existing conferencing environment and optimize the productivity of your at-home workforce.
Microsoft Integrated Collaboration Platforms for Remote Workers
Microsoft's collaboration products are tightly integrated with Microsoft's popular Office and Microsoft 365 families, offering a rich ecosystem of productivity apps that deliver a cohesive user interface for sharing data and ideas throughout a corporate network and on a wide range of endpoints. Progent has delivered remote consulting services for Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange Server since their first releases and can help businesses to configure these critical collaboration products to maximize the productivity 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 on top of Microsoft 365 and integrates with third-party cloud services to provide real-time collaboration. Designed as a replacement for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium can enable chat, video meetings that include screen sharing, phone calls, 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 Microsoft Entra (previously branded Azure Active Directory) for supporting its complete range of features. For details about Progent's support services for Microsoft Teams, visit solution design and deployment consulting for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium.
SharePoint uses web sites to enable collaboration and knowledge delivery by providing policy-based access to data, business processes, and utilities for looking through enterprise-wide business data. SharePoint allows you to build secure web portals that permits at-home workforce to view and edit aggregated business intelligence by means of Wikis, Blogs, social networking sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). For details about Progent's SharePoint consulting services, visit SharePoint configuration and development expertise.
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 support services, see deployment consulting services for Exchange.
OneDrive is Microsoft�s shared cloud-based storage service, similar to GoogleDrive. At-home users can store files to OneDrive, and colleagues can access them safely via a web browser. Included with Office 365, OneDrive allows remote employees to co-author documents. Revisions made offline are automatically synced when you go back online. To learn about Progent's expertise for Microsoft OneDrive, refer to Microsoft Onedrive integration experts.
Public Cloud Integration for Telecommuters
Progent can provide advanced online support for helping organizations to build, manage and optimize cohesive network architectures that include internal data centers, telecommuters, branches, plus public cloud services. Progent offers top-tier consultant for all modes of public cloud service such as Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service. Progent can help remote workers resolve problems with cloud connectivity, authentication, and cybersecurity.
Microsoft Azure is a popular family of cloud services that allows you to use infrastructure, servers, and key apps hosted on Microsoft's extensive cloud. Azure features over one hundred cloud-based services including the ability to host Windows and Linux-powered VMs, scalable cloud storage, email and messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and data protection. Progent can help your organization to set up virtual machines on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate storage on Azure Storage services, streamline identity management with Azure Active Directory, and design backup and recovery systems with Azure Backup. Progent can also help you establish protected connections to Azure services for at-home workers by configuring and debugging firewalls and VPN IPsec tunnels. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Azure, go to Microsoft Azure expertise.
Microsoft 365, previously branded Office 365, is Microsoft's popular family of client productivity software and cloud-based services available by subscription. Microsoft applications and services are provided in a selection of bundles designed for users ranging from students and households to major enterprises. Progent offers quick and easy remote access to consultants familiar with Microsoft 365-compatible endpoints running Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android technology. Progent's experts can assist you to assess the various subscription plans available for Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 apps for your teleworkers in a way that delivers top business value. To learn about Progent's expertise for Microsoft 365, refer to Microsoft 365 consulting support.
Exchange Online is among the most popular cloud-based applications in the Microsoft 365 product line. Microsoft 365 Exchange Online offers the benefits of reduced spending for physical infrastructure, simplified management, dynamic scaling, high reliability, and additional advantages inherent with cloud computing. Microsoft has engineered Microsoft 365 Exchange Online to operate smoothly with on-premises deployments of Exchange, enabling customers to build hybrid cloud/onsite networks. Progent's certified Exchange consultants can provide occasional help to guide you through tough IT bottlenecks and also offer end-to-end project management services to ensure your remote workers have easy and safe access to your Microsoft 365 Exchange Online deployment. To find out Progent's consulting services for Exchange Online, refer to Exchange Online configuration and troubleshooting expertise.
Amazon AWS is a pioneer in the public cloud computing market and is the world's leading source of cloud-based services. Progent can provide rapid and economical online contact with cloud connectivity consultants who can assist your organization to design, deploy, manage, and troubleshoot hybrid information networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud services with local data centers and with other popular cloud platforms like Microsoft Azure. Progent also offers access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to assist you to build a high-uptime network model so your users have a consistent computing experience whether they are working from your headquarters, a branch office, at home, or on the road. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Amazon AWS, visit Amazon AWS integration support.
Google Cloud is a leading suite of cloud services that provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco experts can help your organization to extend your existing IT assets with the Google Cloud, and Progent's database consultants can help you make your critical apps cloud friendly so your remote workers can take full advantage of Google Cloud services. Progent's consultants can assist your organization to set up virtual machines on Google Cloud Compute Engine, plan an efficient storage system with GCP Storage services, and streamline access management for remote workers with GCP Cloud Identity. Progent's consultants can also assist your organization to utilize GCP's unified management technology to control and track your GCP environment. To find out, go to Google Cloud Platform (GCP) integration expertise.
Help Desk Services for At-Home Workers
A rapid, enterprise-wide switchover to a telecommuter workforce, which might be activated by a pandemic or as a component of a business continuity process, can overwhelm even a high-performing internal Call Center. Progent's Call Center services make it possible for businesses of any size to outsource or supplement their Call Center with Progent's online Technical Response Center (TRC) services.
Security for At-Home Workers
Work-from-Home (WFH) staff members commonly utilize their personal devices and usually work in a poorly secured physical space. This situation increases their vulnerability to cyber attacks and requires careful deployment of firewalls, AV tools, multi-factor authentication, remote endpoint monitoring, intensive end-user education, and the development of policies based on best practices. Progent's seasoned group of data security solutions consultants can help you to plan, deploy and maintain a compliant security solution that guards vital IT assets in networks that include telecommuters.
Firewalls enable companies to create a network environment that can be securely utilized by local users as well as by telecommuters, mobile users, suppliers, clients, and the public. Next-generation firewall appliances allow you to configure and manage appropriate access rights to various groups of users and to expand your network and modify your cybersecurity posture as your business evolves and as network attacks grow more sophisticated. Progent supports both new and legacy security appliances from all leading vendors including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Juniper, and Fortinet. To find out more about Progent's firewall integration services, visit firewall integration and support expertise.
Remote Endpoint Security Monitoring makes it easy to watch over the various devices utilized by at-home workers and either reject or identify and mitigate modern threats like ransomware. With Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring services, a lightweight agent is put on each secured endpoint device, watching all activity and utilizing state-of-the-art machine learning from SentinelOne to detect zero-day attacks at inception. When an attack is spotted, ProSight ASM instantly isolates the infected device from the network to contain the malware. Since the ProSight ASM software agent is self-contained, endpoints stay protected even when they are disconnected from the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. To learn more about ProSight ASM, see remote endpoint security monitoring for remote workers.
Progent's Duo authentication Services utilize Cisco's Duo cloud technology to protect against stolen passwords by using two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo enables one-tap identity confirmation on Apple iOS, Android, and other personal devices. With 2FA, whenever you log into a secured online account and give your password you are asked to confirm your identity via a unit that only you have and that uses a different ("out-of-band") network channel. A broad range of devices can be utilized for this second form of ID validation such as a smartphone or wearable, a hardware token, a landline phone, etc. You can register several verification devices. For more information about ProSight Duo identity validation services, go to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for telecommuters.
Security Audits can evaluate the vulnerability of your network to all classes of external and local security threats for an environment that incorporates telecommuters. Progent can deploy online, automated cybersecurity analysis software for rapidly and economically detecting a wide variety of security gaps that can be surfaced over the Internet. Progent's security audit experts, which can be managed by network security experts with top certifications including CISA, ISSAP, and GIAC, can assist your company to audit your operations and policies and review your network architecture to enable you to design top-level security for your remote workers.
Horizon3.ai's NodeZero PEN Testing Platform is a leading-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that can deliver autonomous threat assessment of your at-home environment and your internal and perimeter networks to help you expose, prioritize, fix, and confirm security vulnerabilities before threat actors can take advantage of them. Progent can help you to deploy NodeZero to carry out thorough pentests of your perimeter and your internal IT infrastructure in order to evaluate your current security posture. Progent can also assist you to harden your existing network security and can help you to design and deploy a cohesive cybersecurity strategy that simplifies management and provides maximum cyber defense for on-prem, cloud-based, at-home, and perimeter IT resources. To learn more information about Progent's vulnerability assessment services powered by on NodeZero's PEN test platform, visit Consulting Support for NodeZero's Penetration Test Products.
Download White Paper: Securing a Work-From-Home (WFH) Network
To read or download a white paper about key things to concentrate on for securing an IT environment that supports work-from-home staff, 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 restoring vital data so as to avoid data loss and minimize restoration time in case of storage failures due to equipment breakdowns, software hiccups, human mistakes, cyber attack, or other causes. Dependable data protection solutions can be especially challenging to architect and manage in hybrid environments that incorporate local data centers, cloud resources, and an at-home workforce.
Unified Management for At-Home Workers
Microsoft has rebranded and rebundled its endpoint management platforms under the name Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which encompasses Intune for cloud management of remote devices and Configuration Manager for managing local endpoints. Microsoft Endpoint Manager features a unified solution for protecting critical information by controlling local, mobile, and at-home endpoint devices.
Intune
Intune is a component of Microsoft's Endpoint Management family that also includes Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and securing remote computers and software. Managed endpoint computers can be user owned or company owned. Network administrators managing the enrolled endpoint computers of telecommuters can use Intune to deploy and authenticate applications on managed devices, push updates and certificates, set up policies for permission to access information and networks, manage passwords, establish VPN tunnels, determine how teleworkers share information, establish threat protection, ensure security compliance, and wipe sensitive information from missing, stolen or deactivated devices. Intune runs with iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X devices. To learn about Microsoft Intune and how Progent can assist you to use this platform to administer the endpoint devices of your teleworkers, refer to Intune teleworker endpoint management experts.
VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich unified Mobile Device Management (MDM) product that allows network administrators to keep off-premises endpoint devices current and protected. Workspace ONE uses VMware AirWatch technology for unified endpoint management plus VMware's Horizon virtual application delivery technology for identity control, application management, and configuration management of endpoint computers. Workspace ONE runs with devices 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 service or as an on-site deployment via a perpetual license. Key capabilities of Workspace ONE include fast remote provisioning of new notebooks, quick onboarding of new users, policy set up and enforcement for all classes of endpoints, aggregated reporting and performance analytics, email encryption, and integration with Microsoft applications and cloud products. To find out about Progent's support services for VMware Workspace ONE, refer to VMware Workspace ONE remote device management expertise.
Contact Progent for Remote Workforce Expertise
To get in touch with Progent about building and managing a productive work-from-home environment for your Charlotte, North Caroline business, call