Expanding your at-home workforce can have a major impact on network architecture, security/compliance, and corporate workflows. Progent has two decades of background helping small and mid-size businesses to plan, deploy, manage, tune, and troubleshoot IT networks that incorporate at-home workers. Progent can assist your Colorado Springs company to pick the appropriate technologies and adhere to leading practices in creating and maintaining a secure virtual office solution for telecommuters that facilitates teamwork and returns top value. Progent offers services ranging from as-needed guidance for getting you past occasional IT roadblocks to full project management or co-management to help you successfully complete mission-critical tasks.

Progent can assist Colorado Springs, Colorado companies to succeed with any aspect of creating a high-performing work-at-home environment by providing infrastructure design and configuration services, VoIP PBX troubleshooting, video conferencing integration, collaboration platform selection and deployment, cloud connectivity, Help Desk augmentation, security monitoring, data protection solutions, and centralized management.

Network Infrastructure for Teleworkers
Integrating the network infrastructure needed for an at-home workforce can be particularly challenging if you must manage a mix of worker-owned hardware such as desktop computers and notebooks, Internet routers, and Wi-Fi appliances from an assortment of manufacturers and with a variety of OS software and firmware levels. Progent's experience providing online help for both legacy and modern technologies 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 implement essential updates. Support services available from Progent to help your company to create a high-functioning work-at-home ecosystem include:

  • Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology allows you to create a secure connection for authenticated at-home employees to use IT assets located at your company data center or in the cloud. Progent's consultants can help you to deploy and manage VPN access between your at-home workforce and your key network resources by providing online VPN integration consulting. For organizations using Cisco's ASA security appliances, Progent's Cisco ASA Firewall experts can assist your remote workers to set up Cisco's popular AnyConnect client software to provide safe VPN connections for a broad range of devices including Windows, macOS, Apple iOS, Linux, and Android.
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) products allow a telecommuter to see and interact with a remote PC's desktop. This provides IT managers substantial control over the digital environment of at-home employees and ensures them a consistent and more productive experience. Progent's virtual desktop consulting services include Windows Remote Desktop integration and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI expertise.
  • Routers attach home networks to the Internet and support VPN tunnels, local Wi-Fi networks, and firewalls. Progent can provide top-tier online consulting for deploying home routers from a variety of manufacturers. See router integration support from Cisco-certified experts.
  • Home Wi-Fi networks, often supporting the whole family and visitors, are commonly utilized by telecommuters to access their Internet router for work. This can cause performance and security problems. Progent can help businesses to resolve these problems by delivering expertise that include Aironet configuration consulting, Cisco-certified Meraki wireless deployment expertise, and Ubiquiti Unifi WiFi AP setup assistance.
  • Internet connectivity methods impact the speed and reliability of connections between telecommuters and the corporate data center. Mission-critical applications might demand redundant Internet connections in case the primary connection fails. Progent can provide expertise for picking ISPs, choosing appropriate bandwidth and data volume packages, and integrating fault-tolerant Internet connections. See Internet access solutions.

IP Voice Solutions for Teleworkers
Expanding the corporate PBX system to accommodate remote users is critical to maintaining a productive at-home workforce. A broad range of cloud-centric VoIP products are popular with small and mid-size businesses to server teleworkers. Many larger organizations depend on Cisco's modern or legacy platforms for VoIP solutions. Progent can assist businesses of any size to plan or maintain a remote VoIP environment that delivers the versatility, convenience and security needed for remote users. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE Voice experts can provide advanced support to help businesses optimize their current Cisco IP voice systems to handle an expanding at-home workforce.

  • Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM or CUCM) extends enterprise IP telephony capabilities to devices such as VoIP phones, media processing products, Voice over IP gateways, and multimedia apps used throughout the network. CUCM supports additional mixed media services such as messaging, video conferencing, and customer interaction networks. For more information about Progent's Cisco Unified CM or CUCM support, visit Cisco Unified Communications Manager consultants.
  • CallManager is Cisco's earlier call-processing software and has been replaced by Cisco Unified CM. Progent's consultants can assist your company to maintain your current CallManager deployment or upgrade efficiently to Cisco's current IP telephony products. To find out about Progent's support services for CallManager and Cisco's other early VoIP products, visit Cisco CallManager consulting services.
  • Cisco IP Gateways provide connectivity with PSTN networks and with clients operating outside the corporate firewall like at-home workers. Progent can provide consulting expertise for Cisco's legacy IP gateways such as the UC520, UC540 and UC560 series and for modern Cisco SIP gateways. See Cisco SIP gateway integration expertise.
  • Other VoIP Products supported by Progent include Vonage, RingCentral and 8x8. Progent can assist you to expand your WAN architecture to support these solutions and deliver online integration and troubleshooting expertise.

Video Conferencing for At-Home Workers
A broad range of voice/video conferencing products from leading technology companies enable online discussions, video conferencing, chat, and screen sharing for both onsite workers and at-home workers. Many organizations utilize a mix of conferencing products to meet the needs of their various partners and clients. Progent can assist your organization to manage your existing voice/video conferencing ecosystem and enhance the experience of your at-home employees.

  • Skype for Business is Microsoft's leading communications product that enables real-time presence, instant messaging, voice and video calling and conferencing plus the seamless integration of these functions within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 productivity software such as PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook. Progent offers the expertise of Microsoft-certified consultants who can help your company to configure and manage Skype for Business client software to accommodate your remote workforce. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Skype for Business, refer to Skype for Business consulting services.
  • FaceTime is Apple's group video phone app for compatible iOS and Mac computers and smartphones. FaceTime works on Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Later versions of FaceTime allow up to 32 concurrent users for voice/video calls. To learn more about Progent's support services for Apple FaceTime, visit Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
  • Webex Meeting Center supports online conferencing for virtually all computing devices. Delivered via Cisco's Webex Cloud platform, Webex capabilities include sharing specific content or computer screens, presentations that embed rich media including Microsoft PowerPoint, network-based capture, plus revision and playback for future reference. For details about Progent's support services for Cisco Webex and for other IP video solutions from Cisco, see Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
  • Teams is Microsoft's follow-up for Skype for Business. Teams acts as a portal for conferencing, contacts, and information with capabilities that include video conferencing, persistent threaded chat, plus data sharing. To learn more about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft Teams and for other Microsoft 365 products, visit Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
  • Additional Voice/Video Conferencing Platforms supported by Progent include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can provide configuration and debugging services for these products and assist you to optimize your network infrastructure to host them.

Microsoft Collaboration Platforms for At-Home Workers
Microsoft's collaboration platforms are closely integrated with Microsoft's popular Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365 families, providing a powerful environment of productivity apps that deliver a consistent user interface for sharing data and ideas throughout multiple sites and on a broad selection of endpoint devices. Progent has provided online consulting support for SharePoint and Exchange since their initial publication and can help businesses to tune these critical collaboration platforms to maximize the productivity of your at-home workforce.

SharePoint Server Configuration Experts for Remote WorkersSharePoint uses web entities to enable collaboration and knowledge delivery by offering policy-driven delivery of data, business processes, and tools for searching through enterprise-wide business data. SharePoint enables you to create protected portals that permits remote workforce to see and edit consolidated corporate intelligence via Wikis, Blogs, social web sites, and Web Parts. For information about Progent's SharePoint support services, see SharePoint integration and application development expertise.

Exchange Deployment Experts for Remote WorkersExchange 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 find out about Progent's Exchange consulting expertise, refer to deployment consulting for Exchange.

Onedrive Configuration Consultants for At-Home WorkersOneDrive is Microsoft's collaborative cloud file hosting and synchronization service, comparable to GoogleDrive. Remote workers can store files to OneDrive, and colleagues anywhere can retrieve them securely via a web browser. Included with Office and Microsoft 365, OneDrive enables at-home workers to co-edit files. Revisions created offline are automatically uploaded when you go back online. For information about Progent's support services for OneDrive, visit Microsoft Onedrive configuration experts.

Public Cloud Integration Services for At-Home Workers
Progent can provide advanced online support for helping organizations to build, manage and optimize integrated network architectures that incorporate internal data centers, telecommuters, branch offices, and public cloud services. Progent can provide top-tier consultant for all types of cloud service including Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help at-home workers resolve problems with cloud access, authentication, and cybersecurity.

Azure Integration for At-Home WorkersMicrosoft Azure is a popular platform for public cloud software and services that enables you to use IT infrastructure, virtual servers, and key applications running on Microsoft's massive cloud. Azure features over one hundred services services such as the ability to host Windows and Linux-powered virtual machines, scalable cloud storage, email and messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and data protection. Progent can help your organization to deploy VMs on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity control with Azure AD, and plan data backup and restore systems with Azure Backup. Progent can also show you how to create secure connections to Azure services for teleworkers by configuring and troubleshooting firewall appliances and VPN tunnels. To learn about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft Azure, see Azure consulting services.

Microsoft 365 Integration Services for At-Home WorkersMicrosoft 365, previously called Office 365, is Microsoft's growing suite of client productivity software and cloud-based services offered on a subscription basis. Office apps and cloud services are provided in a variety of plans intended for customers ranging from students and households to large enterprises. Progent offers fast and easy online access to experts familiar with Microsoft 365-compatible devices based on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android technology. Progent can assist you to evaluate the various subscription bundles offered with Microsoft 365 and configure 365 apps for your remote workers to achieve maximum business value. For information about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft 365, go to Microsoft 365 integration support.

Microsoft 365 Exchange Online Integration Services for TeleworkersExchange Online is among the most popular cloud-based applications in the Microsoft 365 product line. Exchange Online offers the benefits of lower spending for physical infrastructure, easier management, dynamic scaling, high reliability, and additional advantages associated with cloud computing. Microsoft has designed Microsoft 365 Exchange Online to operate seamlessly with on-premises Exchange environments, allowing customers to build hybrid networks. Progent's Exchange experts are available for occasional assistance to get you through challenging IT roadblocks and can also provide comprehensive project management outsourcing to make sure your teleworkers have easy and secure access to your Microsoft 365 Exchange Online environment. To find out Progent's consulting services for Exchange Online, go to Exchange Online integration and support consulting.

Amazon AWS Integration for At-Home WorkersAmazon Web Services (AWS) is a trailblazer in the public cloud computing arena and is the industry's top source of cloud services. Progent offers quick and economical online access to cloud connectivity consultants who can assist your organization to plan, deploy, maintain, and debug hybrid IT networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with on-premises resources and with other public clouds like Azure. Progent also can provide access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking consultants to help your company to create a high-availability network architecture so your employees have a consistent computing experience regardless of whether they are working from your main office, a branch office, from home, or on the move. For information about Progent's consulting services for Amazon AWS, go to Amazon AWS consulting services.

Google Cloud Platform Integration for At-Home WorkersGoogle Cloud (GCP) is a popular suite of cloud services that offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service products. Progent's certified Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco experts can assist your organization to scale your current IT assets with the Google Cloud Platform, and Progent's DBA experts can help you make your mission-critical apps cloud friendly so your remote workers can benefit fully from Google Cloud Platform services. Progent can help your business to set up virtual machines on GCP Compute Engine, design a cost-effective storage solution with Google Cloud Storage services, and streamline access management for at-home workers with Google Cloud Identity. Progent can also help your business to use GCP's management technology to control and monitor your GCP environment. To find out, refer to Google Cloud Platform (GCP) integration services.

Help Desk Call Center Support for Teleworkers
An emergency, enterprise-wide transition to a from-home workforce, which could be driven by an epidemic or as a component of a disaster recovery preparedness plan, can overstretch even a well-staffed in-house Call Center. Progent's Call Center services make it possible for organizations of any size to outsource or augment their Help Desk with Progent's online Technical Response Center services.

  • Progent's Standard Support Desk services utilize Progent's extensive team of online IT support experts combined with enterprise-class trouble ticketing and follow-up software to offer an economical, modern Help Desk. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services provide an end-to-end solution that handles all facets of online Level 1 PC technical support from initial help requests to trouble ticket creation, screen sharing, issue resolution, and reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal enables telecommuters to track or edit the status of their active trouble tickets, add information, and upload screen captures and attachments. Desktop support services are provided at a substantial price reduction off Progent's ordinary Level 1 desktop service rates, and Progent offers optional rapid escalation to Level 2 and Level 3 support specialists to resolve advanced issues. To find out more, see Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services outsourcing for small companies.
  • Progent's Call Desk Augmentation Service enables your business to supplement your existing Help Desk Call Center organization by sharing responsibilities for Help Desk Call Center services seamlessly between your in-house support organization and Progent's extensive roster of desktop support technicians and subject matter specialists. Progent's shared Help Desk service uses a co-sourcing support model based on the leading professional services automation (PSA) platform for handling service requests and ticketing, assigning ownership, monitoring progress, and generating reports. For information about how Progent's Call Desk Supplementation Services can help your business to deliver best-in-class desktop support to your at-home workforce, see Progent's Help Desk Call Center supplementation Services.

Security for Telecommuters
At-home staff members typically utilize their personal computers and usually work in a poorly secured physical area. This situation multiplies their vulnerability to malware attacks and calls for careful deployment of firewalls, AV tools, MFA-based identity verification, remote endpoint monitoring, extensive user education, and the development of policies built on leading practices. Progent's seasoned team of cybersecurity support experts can assist your business to plan, configure and maintain an effective security solution that protects critical IT resources in environments that include remote workers.

Firewall Integration Services for At-Home WorkersFirewalls enable you to build a network that can be securely accessed by on-premises users as well as by telecommuters, mobile workers, suppliers, customers, and the public. Next-generation firewall devices allow you to assign and control appropriate access rights to various groups of users and to scale your network and modify your security as your company evolves and as network attacks become increasingly complex. Progent supports both current and older firewall appliances from all leading manufacturers like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Juniper, and Fortinet. For details about Progent's firewall configuration services, see firewall configuration and support services.

Remote Security Monitoring for TelecommutersRemote Endpoint Monitoring makes it possible to track the disparate computers used by an at-home workforce and either reject or spot and mitigate the latest cyber attacks like ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring services, a lightweight software agent is put on each secured endpoint device, watching all activity and using advanced machine learning and full execution context from SentinelOne to detect new attacks at inception. When an attack is spotted, ProSight ASM immediately disconnects the infected endpoint device from the network to contain the malware. Since the ProSight Active Security Monitoring software agent is autonomous, endpoint devices remain protected even when they are disconnected from the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. To learn more about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, go to remote endpoint security monitoring for an at-home workforce.

Two-factor Authentication Services for Remote WorkersProgent's Duo authentication Service Plans incorporate Cisco's Duo technology to protect against stolen passwords through the use of two-factor authentication. Duo enables one-tap identity confirmation with iOS, Google Android, and other out-of-band devices. With 2FA, whenever you sign into a protected online account and give your password you are asked to confirm who you are on a unit that only you possess and that uses a different network channel. A broad selection of devices can be utilized for this added form of authentication including an iPhone or Android or watch, a hardware/software token, a landline telephone, etc. You may register several verification devices. To learn more about ProSight Duo identity authentication services, visit Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for at-home workers.

Security Audit Services for At-Home WorkersSecurity Audits can evaluate the vulnerability of your information system to all types of outside and internal security threats for a network that incorporates teleworkers. Progent can deploy remote, automated security inventory software for rapidly and affordably detecting a wide variety of security holes that can be found over the Internet. Progent's security assessment consulting services, which can be managed by security professionals with top certifications such as CISM, ISSAP, and GIAC, can assist your company to evaluate your processes and policies and assess your IT architecture to allow you to design the highest level of security for your at-home workers.

NodeZero Pentetration Testing for Work-from-Home EnpointsHorizon3.ai's NodeZero Pentest Platform is a breakthrough penetration test (pentest) product family that can deliver automated testing of your at-home connectivity solution as well as your internal and perimeter networks so you can uncover, rank, fix, and confirm cybersecurity vulnerabilities before threat actors can exploit them. Progent can help you to deploy NodeZero to perform thorough pentests of your network perimeter and your internal IT infrastructure in order to evaluate your current security posture. Progent can also assist you to strengthen your network security and can assist you to plan and implement a unified cybersecurity strategy that simplifies management and delivers maximum cyber defense for on-premises, multi-cloud, remote, and perimeter IT resources. To learn additional 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 (WFH) Network
To view or download a white paper about key things to concentrate on for protecting an IT environment that includes telecommuters, click:
Protecting a Work-From-Home Network White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection Solutions for Telecommuters
Data Protection covers saving and restoring critical information in order to prevent data loss and reduce restoration time and effort in the event of storage failures due to equipment breakdowns, software glitches, user error, malware, or other causes. Reliable data protection strategies can be particularly challenging to design and maintain in hybrid environments that combine in-house data centers, cloud resources, and an at-home workforce.

  • Backup/Restore strategies for remote workers must cover multiple types of user-owned endpoint devices. Progent can provide fast remote access to consultants familiar with a broad array of products for protection Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac and Linux/UNIX servers and desktop computers as well as notebooks, iOS and Android tablets and smartphones. Leading backup/recovery solutions maintained by Progent's data protection experts include Barracuda Backup, Microsoft Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, Acronis Backup and Recovery, Retrospect, and Time Machine. To protect resources distributed throughout a wide area network, Progent offers ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a backup/recovery subscription service that utilizes cloud storage and includes fine-grained recovery and centralized management.
  • Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity (DR/BC) plans commonly anticipate scenarios that call for a rapid switch to a work-at-home environment. Progent's senior disaster recovery preparedness experts and business continuity planning specialists can help your business to create, document and test a DR/BC plan that addresses the process of switching to telecommuting.

Unified Management for At-Home Workers
Microsoft has rebranded and rebundled its endpoint management platforms under the title Endpoint Manager, which encompasses Intune for cloud-based management of remote endpoints and Configuration Manager for managing on-premises endpoints. Microsoft Endpoint Manager features a centralized platform for safeguarding critical data by managing onsite, mobile, and home-based 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 protecting remote devices and software. Remote endpoint computers can be personally owned or company owned. IT administrators managing the endpoint devices of teleworkers can use Intune to provision and authenticate applications on devices, push patches and certificates, configure policies for permission to access data and resources, set passwords, establish VPN tunnels, control how telecommuters share information, set up threat defense, verify compliance, and delete sensitive information from lost, stolen or deactivated devices. Intune works with iOS, Google Android, Windows, and macOS devices. To find out about Intune and to find out how Progent can assist you to use Microsoft's Endpoint Management to manage the devices of your teleworkers, see Intune mobile device management expertise.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich centralized Mobile Device Management (MDM) platform that helps network managers to keep off-premises endpoint devices current and protected. Workspace ONE uses VMware AirWatch technology for centralized endpoint administration plus VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery platform for access control, app management, and setup management of endpoint devices. Workspace ONE operates with endpoints powered by Windows 10, macOS, Apple iOS, Android, Chrome OS, or popular distributions of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is available by subscription as a cloud service or as an on-premises deployment through a one-time purchase. Key capabilities of Workspace ONE include fast remote deployment of new laptops, immediate onboarding of new users, policy setting and enforcement for all categories of devices, aggregated reporting and performance analytics, email encryption, and tight integration with Microsoft applications and cloud-based products. For information about Progent's support for VMware Workspace ONE, refer to VMware Workspace ONE remote endpoint management expertise.

Contact Progent for Remote Workforce Support Services
To contact Progent about creating and maintaining a productive telecommuter solution for your Colorado Springs, Colorado organization, phone 1-800-993-9400 or go to Contact Progent.