Expanding your remote workforce may have a significant effect on network architecture, cybersecurity, and corporate culture. Progent has two decades of experience assisting SMBs to design, configure, manage, optimize, and debug IT networks that incorporate at-home workers. Progent can help your Midland organization to pick the right technologies and follow leading practices in building and maintaining a secure virtual office solution for telecommuters that promotes collaboration and delivers maximum value. Progent can provide services that go from as-needed expertise for helping you past challenging technical roadblocks to comprehensive project management or co-management to help you carry out mission-critical initiatives.

Progent's consultants can help Midland, Texas organizations to with any aspect of creating a high-performing work-from-home ecosystem by providing network infrastructure configuration services, IP voice troubleshooting, video conferencing support, collaboration platform selection and deployment, public cloud integration, Call Desk services, security monitoring, backup/restore solutions, and centralized management.

Infrastructure for an At-Home Workforce
Integrating the network infrastructure needed to support a remote work environment can be especially challenging if you must manage a mix of personal hardware like desktop computers and laptops, Internet routers, and wireless appliances from an assortment of vendors and with a mix of OS software and firmware releases. Progent's background delivering online help for both outdated as well as current IT products in virtual office venues allows you to make cost-effective use of your existing network infrastructure and provides you with ready access to expertise for making necessary updates. Services offered by Progent to assist your company to create a high-functioning telecommuting ecosystem include:

  • VPN connectivity allows you to establish a safe connection for authorized remote workers to use IT assets situated at your company datacenter or in a public cloud. Progent can help you to deploy and manage VPN access between your at-home workforce and your key IT resources by providing online VPN configuration consulting. For organizations using Cisco's ASA firewalls, Progent's Cisco-certified ASA consultants can help your at-home workers to set up Cisco's AnyConnect client software for safe VPN tunneling for a broad selection of endpoint devices including Microsoft Windows, Mac, Apple iOS, Linux, and Android.
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure products allow a telecommuter to see and use a remote PC's desktop. This technology gives IT managers substantial control over the digital ecosystem of at-home employees and offers remote users a consistent and more productive work experience. Progent's VDI consulting services include Windows Remote Desktop support and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI consulting.
  • Routers connect home computer networks to the Internet and typically support VPN tunnels, local wireless connectivity, and firewalls. Progent offers expert online support for integrating routers from all major vendors. See router integration support from Cisco-certified consultants.
  • Home Wireless networks, typically shared by an entire household and guests, are commonly utilized by telecommuters to connect to their Internet router for work. This can create throughput and cybersecurity problems. Progent can help you to resolve these issues by delivering expertise like Aironet configuration expertise, Cisco-certified Meraki WiFi installation consulting, and Ubiquiti wireless AP integration assistance.
  • Internet access methods impact the performance and availability of connections between at-home workers and the company data center. Line-of-business applications may require backup Internet access in the event the primary connection fails. Progent can provide expertise for picking ISPs, selecting appropriate service offerings, and configuring high-availability Internet access. See Internet access integration services.

VoIP Integration for an At-Home Workforce
Expanding the corporate PBX environment to include teleworkers is critical to maintaining an effective work-at-home solution. A variety of cloud-based VoIP platforms are used by SMBs to server teleworkers. Many enterprises depend on Cisco's current or older products for VoIP management. Progent can help organizations of any size to plan or tune a remote VoIP service that delivers the versatility, transparency and protection required for remote users. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE Voice consultants can provide advanced support to assist organizations tune their current Cisco IP voice systems to support a growing remote workforce.

  • Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) extends advanced telephony features to devices such as VoIP phones, media processing platforms, Voice over IP gateways, and mixed media software used across the network. CUCM supports other combined media services like unified messaging, voice/video conferencing, and customer collaboration networks. For more information about Progent's Unified Communications Manager support, visit Cisco Unified CM expertise.
  • Cisco CallManager is Cisco's earlier call-processing agent and has been superseded by Cisco Unified CM or CUCM. Progent can help your company to support your existing CallManager environment or migrate efficiently to Cisco's current IP telephony products. To learn about Progent's support services for CallManager and Cisco's other older IP voice platforms, see CallManager expertise.
  • Cisco IP Gateways enable integration with PSTN networks and with clients operating beyond the corporate perimeter such as telecommuters. Progent offers expert support for Cisco's legacy IP gateways such as the UC520, UC540 and UC560 products and for modern Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco SIP gateway integration expertise.
  • Additional VoIP Products supported by Progent include Vonage, Intermedia Unite and 8x8. Progent can help you to update your WAN infrastructure to work with these solutions and provide online integration and debugging services.

Voice/Video Conferencing for Remote Workers
A wide selection of voice/video conferencing products from major vendors enable online meetings, video conferencing, chat, and screen sharing for both onsite workers and telecommuters. Many organizations use multiple products to accommodate their different partners and clients. Progent's communications experts can help your organization to manage your existing voice/video conferencing ecosystem and optimize the productivity of your at-home employees.

  • Skype for Business is Microsoft's leading communications product that enables presence, IM, voice and video conferencing plus the transparent integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 productivity software such as PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook. Progent can provide the skills of Microsoft-certified consultants who can help you to set up and manage Skype for Business client software to support your at-home workforce. To learn more about Progent's support services for Skype for Business, see Skype for Business consulting services.
  • FaceTime is Apple's multiuser video calling platform for compatible iOS and macOS devices. FaceTime runs over Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Current editions of FaceTime allow as many as 32 concurrent users for voice/video sessions. To learn more about Progent's support expertise for Apple FaceTime, refer to Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
  • Webex Meeting Center provides remote conferencing for most computing devices. Offered through Cisco's Webex Cloud, Webex capabilities include sharing specific content or computer screens, presentations that incorporate rich media such as Microsoft PowerPoint and Flash videos, network-based recording, plus editing and playback for future reference and training. For details about Progent's support services for Cisco Webex and for other video conferencing products from Cisco, refer to Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
  • Teams is Microsoft's follow-up for Skype for Business. Teams acts as a hub for conferencing, contacts, and content with capabilities that include IP voice and video conferencing, threaded chat, plus file sharing. For details about Progent's support services for Microsoft Teams and for additional Microsoft 365 products, refer to Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
  • Other Conferencing Apps supported by Progent include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can deliver configuration and debugging expertise for these conferencing platforms and help your business to tune your WAN infrastructure to host them.

Microsoft Collaboration Platforms for Telecommuters
Microsoft's collaboration platforms are closely integrated with Microsoft's familiar Office and Microsoft 365 suites, providing a rich environment of applications that deliver a consistent user interface for exchanging data and ideas across a corporate network and on a wide range of endpoints. Progent has provided remote consulting services for SharePoint and Exchange Server since their original releases and can assist your company to configure these flagship collaboration platforms to maximize the effectiveness of your remote workers.

SharePoint Integration Consultants for Remote WorkersSharePoint uses web sites to enable collaboration and information delivery by providing policy-based access to data, business processes, and utilities for looking through enterprise-wide business data. SharePoint allows you to create protected portals that enables remote workforce to see and edit aggregated corporate intelligence by means of Wikis, Blogs, social web sites, and Web Parts. For details about Progent's SharePoint support services, see SharePoint integration and application development expertise.

Exchange Deployment Experts for At-Home 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. For information about Progent's Exchange consulting expertise, go to integration consulting for Exchange.

Onedrive Deployment Consultants for Remote WorkersOneDrive is Microsoft's collaborative cloud file hosting and synchronization service, comparable to GoogleDrive. At-home workers can save files to the OneDrive service, and colleagues can access them safely through a web browser. Included with Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365, OneDrive enables at-home employees to co-edit files. Revisions created offline are uploaded when you go back online. For information about Progent's support services for Microsoft OneDrive, go to Onedrive integration consulting.

Cloud Integration for Teleworkers
Progent can provide advanced online assistance for enabling organizations to create, maintain and optimize cohesive network architectures that combine internal data centers, remote workers, branch offices, and public cloud services. Progent can provide top-tier consultant for all modes of cloud service such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help telecommuters resolve issues with public cloud connectivity, authentication, and cybersecurity.

Azure Integration for TeleworkersAzure is a leading platform for public cloud services that enables you to use infrastructure, virtual servers, and critical apps running on Microsoft's massive cloud. Microsoft Azure includes more than one hundred services services such as hosting for Windows and Linux-based virtual machines, scalable cloud storage, email and messaging, application development with Visual Studio, and backup/restore. Progent can assist you to set up virtual machines on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate cloud-based storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity management with Azure AD, and design data backup and restore solutions with Azure Backup. Progent can also show you how to establish secure connections to Azure for at-home workers by configuring and debugging firewalls and VPN tunnels. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Azure, refer to Azure consulting.

Microsoft 365 Integration Services for TeleworkersMicrosoft 365, previously called Office 365, is Microsoft's popular suite of client productivity software and cloud services available on a subscription basis. Microsoft apps and cloud services are marketed in a variety of plans designed for customers ranging from students and small offices to major corporations. Progent can provide quick and easy remote contact with experts familiar with Microsoft 365-compatible clients running Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android operating systems. Progent can help you to evaluate the numerous subscription plans available for Microsoft 365 and configure 365 applications for your remote workers in a way that delivers maximum business value. To learn about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft 365, see Microsoft 365 integration support.

Exchange Online Integration for At-Home WorkersExchange Online is among the most popular cloud-based applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product line. Exchange Online offers the benefits of lower spending for data center infrastructure, easier management, on-demand scaling, high reliability, and other advantages associated with public clouds. Microsoft has engineered Exchange Online to operate smoothly with on-premises Exchange environments, enabling you to build hybrid cloud/onsite networks. Progent's certified Exchange consultants are available for occasional assistance to guide you through challenging IT bottlenecks and can also provide end-to-end project management services to ensure your at-home workers have easy and safe access to your Exchange Online environment. To find out Progent's expertise for Exchange Online, visit Exchange Online configuration and support consulting.

Amazon AWS Integration Services for TelecommutersAmazon AWS is a pioneer in the public cloud computing arena and is the world's biggest provider of cloud services. Progent offers fast and economical online access to cloud integration consultants who can assist your organization to design, deploy, manage, and debug hybrid IT networks that integrate Amazon AWS cloud services with on-premises data centers and with other public clouds like Microsoft Azure. Progent also can provide the skills of Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to assist you to create a high-availability network model so your users have a productive computing environment whether they are working from your main office, a branch office, at home, or on the road. For information about Progent's support services for Amazon AWS, go to Amazon AWS consulting support.

Google Cloud Integration Services for TelecommutersGoogle Cloud Platform (GCP) is a leading collection of cloud computing services that offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service products. Progent's certified Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco experts can assist you to extend your current IT assets with the Google Cloud Platform, and Progent's database experts can help you make your mission-critical apps cloud ready so your at-home workers can benefit fully from Google Cloud Platform services. Progent can help your business to deploy virtual machines on GCP Compute Engine, plan an efficient storage system with Google Cloud Storage, and simplify access management for at-home workers with Google Cloud Identity services. Progent's consultants can also help you to utilize GCP's unified management technology to administer and monitor your GCP ecosystem. For details, go to Google Cloud Platform (GCP) integration expertise.

Help Desk Call Center Services for Remote Workers
An emergency, enterprise-wide changeover to a teleworker business model, which could be motivated by a pandemic or as part of a disaster recovery preparedness plan, can overwhelm even a well-staffed internal Call Desk. Progent's Help Desk services allow organizations of any size to outsource or expand their Support Desk with Progent's online Technical Response Center (TRC) team.

  • Progent's Standard Help Desk services leverage Progent's nationwide team of remote IT support specialists along with world-class trouble ticketing and tracking software to offer an affordable, modern Help Desk. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services offer a comprehensive solution that handles all aspects of online Level 1 desktop support from initial service requests to trouble ticket generation, desktop sharing, issue resolution, and incident reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal allows telecommuters to track or edit their active trouble tickets, add information, and append screenshots or attachments. Support services are provided at a significant price reduction off Progent's ordinary Level 1 desktop support rates, and Progent makes available optional rapid hand-off to Level 2 and Level 3 IT experts to resolve complex issues. For details, visit Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services for small and mid-size businesses.
  • Progent's Help Desk Call Center Supplemental Service allows your business to augment your current Call Center organization by sharing delivery of Help Desk Call Center support transparently between your in-house IT support organization and Progent's nationwide team of desktop support engineers and subject matter specialists. Progent's co-managed Call Desk service uses a co-sourcing support solution based on the leading professional services automation tool for handling service requests and trouble tickets, assigning responsibility, monitoring progress, and producing reports. For information about how Progent's Support Desk Supplementation Services can help your company to deliver world-class IT support to your telecommuters, visit Progent's Help Desk augmentation Services.

Cybersecurity for At-Home Workers
Work-from-Home staff members commonly use their personal computers and usually operate in a poorly secured physical environment. This situation multiplies their vulnerability to cyber attacks and calls for careful deployment of corporate firewalls, anti-malware tools, multi-factor authentication, remote monitoring, extensive end-user education, and the development of security policies built on leading practices. Progent's seasoned group of IT security solutions experts can assist you to design, configure and manage a compliant security solution that protects critical IT assets in networks that include at-home workers.

Firewall Integration Services for At-Home WorkersFirewalls enable you to create a network that can be safely utilized by on-premises users as well as by an at-home workforce, mobile employees, suppliers, customers, and the public. Modern firewall appliances permit you to configure and manage appropriate permissions to different classes of users and to scale your network and adjust your security as your business evolves and as cyber threats become more sophisticated. Progent works with both new and legacy firewall appliances from all major manufacturers like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Juniper, and Fortinet. To learn more about Progent's firewall integration expertise, see firewall integration and support expertise.

Remote Security Monitoring and Management Services for TeleworkersOnline Endpoint Monitoring makes it possible to track the various computers used by an at-home workforce and either reject or spot and respond to the latest cyber attacks such as ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring services, a lightweight software agent is installed on each protected endpoint device, monitoring all activity and using advanced machine learning and full execution context from SentinelOne to detect zero-day threats at inception. When an attack is spotted, ProSight ASM immediately isolates the infected endpoint device from the corporate network to quarantine the malware. Since the ProSight ASM agent is self-contained, endpoints stay protected even if they are not connected to the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. For details about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, visit remote endpoint security monitoring for at-home workers.

Two-factor Authentication (2FA) Services for At-Home WorkersProgent's Duo authentication Service Plans incorporate Cisco's Duo cloud technology to protect against compromised passwords by using two-factor authentication. Duo enables single-tap identity confirmation with Apple iOS, Google Android, and other out-of-band devices. Using 2FA, whenever you log into a protected application and enter your password you are asked to verify who you are on a unit that only you possess and that is accessed using a separate network channel. A wide selection of devices can be utilized for this second means of ID validation such as an iPhone or Android or watch, a hardware token, a landline telephone, etc. You can designate several verification devices. To find out more about ProSight Duo two-factor identity validation services, see Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for teleworkers.

Security Audit Services for At-Home WorkersSecurity Audits can evaluate the vulnerability of your information system to all classes of external and local security attacks for an environment that incorporates at-home workers. Progent can run online, automated security inventory software for quickly and economically uncovering a wide variety of security gaps that can be surfaced via the Internet. Progent's security assessment experts, which can be provided by network security professionals with advanced certifications including CISA, ISSAP, and GIAC, can assist you to audit your processes and policies and review your network architecture to allow you to design top-level protection for your at-home workers.

NodeZero Pen Testing for Work-from-Home EnpointsHorizon3.ai's NodeZero PEN Testing Platform is a breakthrough penetration test (pentest) product family that supports autonomous testing of your work-from-home connectivity solution as well as your internal and perimeter networks so you can expose, prioritize, remediate, and confirm cybersecurity weaknesses before malicious hackers can exploit them. Progent's pentest experts can assist you to use NodeZero to carry out thorough pentests of your perimeter and your internal IT infrastructure in order to determine your present security posture. Progent's NodeZero experts can also help you to harden your network security and can help you to plan and deploy a cohesive cybersecurity ecosystem that simplifies management and delivers optimum protection for on-premises, multi-cloud, remote, and perimeter IT resources. To learn additional details about Progent's threat analysis services based on on NodeZero's penetration test products, see Consulting Support for NodeZero's PEN Test Platform.

Download White Paper: Protecting a Work-From-Home (WFH) Network
To read or download a white paper about key areas to focus on for protecting a network that includes work-from-home staff, click:
Protecting a Work-From-Home Environment White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection for Teleworkers
The field of Data Protection involves backing up and restoring vital data in order to prevent data loss and minimize restoration time in case of storage system failures due to equipment issues, software glitches, human mistakes, malware, or other causes. Dependable data protection solutions can be especially challenging to architect and manage in hybrid networks that combine private data centers, public clouds, and at-home workers.

  • Backup/Recovery solutions for remote workers must address diverse kinds of personally owned endpoints. Progent can provide fast online access to consultants knowledgeable about a wide range of products for backing up Windows, Apple Mac and Linux/UNIX servers and desktops as well as notebooks, iPads and smartphones. Popular backup/recovery solutions supported by Progent's data protection consultants include Barracuda Backup, Microsoft Azure Backup, Symantec Backup Exec, CrashPlan, Retrospect, and Time Machine. To protect data spread across a wide area network, Progent can provide ProSight Data Protection Services, a backup/recovery subscription service that uses cloud storage and features granular restore and unified management capabilities.
  • Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity plans commonly anticipate scenarios that require a rapid changeover to telecommuting. Progent's expert disaster recovery planning experts and business continuity planning specialists can help you to produce, document and validate a DR/BC plan that addresses the logistics of moving to an at-home workforce.

Unified Management for At-Home Workers
Microsoft has rebranded and rebundled its endpoint management platforms under the title Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which includes Intune for cloud management of remote devices and Configuration Manager for managing local computers. Microsoft Endpoint Manager provides a centralized environment for safeguarding critical information by controlling onsite, mobile, and home-based endpoint devices.

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 securing off-premises devices and software. Managed endpoint devices can be personally owned or company owned. IT admins managing the enrolled endpoint devices of at-home workers can utilize Intune to deploy and authenticate applications on managed devices, push updates and certificates, set up policies for accessing information and resources, set passwords, create VPN connections, determine how teleworkers share information, establish threat defense, ensure security compliance, and erase corporate data from missing, stolen or decommissioned endpoint devices. Intune runs with iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X devices. To learn about Intune and to find out how Progent can assist you to use Microsoft's Endpoint Management to administer the devices of your teleworkers, go to Intune telecommuter endpoint management experts.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is an advanced centralized Mobile Device Management platform that allows network administrators to keep offsite endpoints current and protected. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch technology for unified endpoint administration along with VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery technology for authorization control, app management, and configuration management of endpoint computers. Workspace ONE runs with endpoints based on Windows 10, macOS, Apple iOS, Google Android, Chrome OS, or leading distributions of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is offered by subscription as a cloud-based service or as an on-premises product through a perpetual license. Top features of Workspace ONE include rapid over-the-air provisioning of new notebooks, quick onboarding of new users, policy setting and enforcement for all categories of endpoints, aggregated management reporting and performance analytics, an email encryption gateway, and seamless integration with Microsoft applications and cloud-based products. To find out about Progent's support for VMware Workspace ONE, go to VMware Workspace ONE mobile device management consultants.

Contact Progent for At-Home Worker Expertise
To contact Progent about creating and managing an efficient work-from-home solution for your Midland, Texas organization, phone 1-800-993-9400 or refer to Contact Progent.