Expanding your remote workforce may have a significant impact on network infrastructure, security, and corporate processes. Progent has 20 years of experience helping small and mid-size businesses to design, configure, manage, tune, and debug IT environments that incorporate work-from-home employees. Progent can assist your Montreal company to select the appropriate technologies and follow best practices in creating and operating a secure virtual office solution for teleworkers that promotes teamwork and returns maximum value. Progent offers services that go from on demand expertise for getting you over challenging technical roadblocks to full project management or co-management to help you carry out business-critical tasks.
Progent's consultants can help Montreal, Quebec organizations to with any facet of building a high-functioning telecommuting ecosystem by delivering network infrastructure configuration services, IP voice expertise, video conferencing integration, collaboration platform customization and training, cloud connectivity, Help Desk services, cybersecurity, backup/restore solutions, and streamlined management.
Infrastructure for an At-Home Workforce
Configuring the network infrastructure needed to support a remote work environment can be especially complex if you have to accommodate a mix of worker-owned hardware such as desktop computers and notebooks, Internet routers, and Wi-Fi appliances from different vendors and with a mix of operating systems and firmware levels. Progent's background delivering online support for both legacy as well as modern IT products in virtual office venues enables you to make efficient use of your existing infrastructure and provides you with ready access to expertise for implement necessary updates. Services offered by Progent to help your company to create a productive work-at-home ecosystem include:
IP Voice Integration for Teleworkers
Extending the business PBX environment to include teleworkers is critical to maintaining a productive at-home workforce. A variety of cloud-based digital PBX platforms are popular with small and mid-size businesses to support telecommuters. Many larger organizations depend on Cisco's current or legacy platforms for VoIP solutions. Progent can help organizations of all sizes to design or maintain a remote VoIP environment that provides the flexibility, convenience and protection required for at-home workers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice consultants offer high-level support to help organizations optimize their existing Cisco VoIP systems to support an expanding remote workforce.
Video Conferencing for Teleworkers
A wide range of voice/video conferencing products from major vendors support virtual meetings, video conferencing, chat, and screen sharing for both onsite users and at-home workers. Many organizations use a mix of products to accommodate their different partners and clients. Progent's communications experts can help your organization to manage your current conferencing environment and optimize the productivity of your remote employees.
Microsoft Integrated Collaboration Platforms for Telecommuters
Microsoft's collaboration products are tightly integrated with Microsoft's familiar Office and Microsoft 365 families, providing a rich environment of productivity apps that deliver a consistent user experience 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 initial releases and can help your company to tune these critical collaboration platforms to optimize the productivity of your at-home workforce.
SharePoint utilizes web sites to promote collaboration and knowledge sharing by providing policy-driven delivery of data, business processes, and tools for searching through company-wide information silos. SharePoint enables you to create secure web portals that permits remote workforce to view and update consolidated business intelligence by means of Intranets (Wikis), Blogs, social networking web sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). For details about Progent's SharePoint consulting expertise, refer to 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. For details about Progent's Exchange consulting services, visit planning and configuration expertise for Microsoft Exchange Server.
OneDrive is Microsoft's shared cloud storage service, comparable to GoogleDrive. At-home workers can store files to OneDrive, and co-workers anywhere can share them safely via a web browser. Provided with Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365, OneDrive enables home workers to jointly author files. Revisions created offline are automatically uploaded when you go back online. For details about Progent's support services for OneDrive, visit Onedrive configuration experts.
Cloud Integration Services for Teleworkers
Progent can provide advanced remote support for helping organizations to create, maintain and optimize integrated hybrid network architectures that incorporate internal data centers, telecommuters, branch offices, plus cloud services. Progent can provide expertise for all modes of cloud service including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service. Progent can help teleworkers resolve issues with public cloud connectivity, authentication, and cybersecurity.
Azure is a leading platform for cloud services that enables you to utilize infrastructure, servers, and key applications running on Microsoft's extensive cloud. Azure features more than 100 services services such as the ability to host Windows and Linux-powered VMs, scalable cloud storage, messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and data backup. Progent can help your organization to deploy VMs on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate cloud-based storage on Azure Storage services, streamline identity control with Azure Active Directory, and design backup and recovery solutions with Azure Backup. Progent can also show you how to create protected access to Azure for teleworkers by setting up and troubleshooting firewalls and VPN tunnels. For information about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft Azure, visit Microsoft Azure consulting services.
Microsoft 365, previously branded Office 365, is Microsoft's growing family of client productivity software and cloud services available on a subscription basis. Microsoft applications and services are provided in a selection of plans designed for users ranging from individuals and small offices to large corporations. Progent can provide quick and easy online contact with consultants familiar with Microsoft 365-compatible clients running Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android operating systems. Progent can assist your business to assess the numerous subscription bundles available for Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 applications for your remote workers to achieve top business value. For information about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft 365, visit Microsoft 365 integration expertise.
Exchange Online is among the most widely used cloud-based applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product line. Exchange Online provides the benefits of lower spending for physical infrastructure, easier management, on-demand scaling, high reliability, and additional benefits associated with cloud computing. Microsoft has engineered Microsoft 365 Exchange Online to run transparently with on-premises deployments of Exchange, allowing you to build hybrid cloud/onsite information systems. Progent's Exchange experts are available for as-needed help to guide you past tough IT roadblocks and also offer comprehensive project management outsourcing to make sure your remote workers have easy and safe access to your Exchange Online deployment. To find out Progent's consulting services for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, go to Exchange Online integration and troubleshooting consulting.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a pioneer in the public cloud computing market and is the industry's leading provider of cloud services. Progent offers quick and affordable online access to cloud connectivity experts who can assist your business to design, implement, maintain, and troubleshoot hybrid IT networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud services with on-premises data centers and with other public clouds like Azure. Progent also offers access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to assist your company to create a high-uptime network model to make sure your users have a consistent computing experience whether they are working from your headquarters, a remote branch, from home, or on the road. For details about Progent's expertise for Amazon AWS, go to Amazon AWS integration support.
Google Cloud is a popular collection of cloud computing services that offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service products. Progent's certified Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco consulting experts can assist you to expand your existing IT assets with the Google Cloud, and Progent's DBA experts can help you make your critical apps cloud friendly so your teleworkers can benefit fully from Google Cloud services. Progent's consultants can help you to set up virtual machines on Google Cloud Compute Engine, plan a cost-effective storage solution with GCP Storage services, and streamline identity management for at-home workers with Google Cloud Identity. Progent's consultants can also help your organization to utilize GCP's management technology to control and track your GCP ecosystem. To learn, refer to Google Cloud Platform consulting expertise.
Help Desk Call Center Services for Teleworkers
A sudden, enterprise-wide transition to a teleworker business model, which might be activated by a pandemic or as a component of a disaster recovery/business continuity process, can overwhelm even a high-performing internal Support Desk. Progent's Help Desk services allow businesses of any size to outsource or augment their Support Desk by using Progent's online Technical Response Center services.
Security and Compliance for Telecommuters
At-home workers typically utilize their own devices and usually work in a poorly secured physical space. This increases their vulnerability to cyber threats and calls for judicious configuration of firewalls, anti-malware tools, multi-factor authentication, remote endpoint monitoring, intensive end-user training, and the development of security policies based on leading practices. Progent's veteran roster of IT security support experts can assist you to plan, implement and maintain an effective cybersecurity solution that guards critical IT resources in environments that incorporate remote workers.
Firewalls enable companies to create a network environment that can be securely accessed by local users as well as by an at-home workforce, mobile users, suppliers, customers, and the public. Modern firewall appliances permit you to assign and control different permissions to different groups of users and to expand your IT network and adjust your cybersecurity posture as your company evolves and as cyber threats become more sophisticated. Progent supports both current and legacy firewall devices from all major vendors including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Juniper, SonicWall and Fortinet. For details about Progent's firewall integration expertise, refer to firewall support expertise.
Online Endpoint Security Monitoring makes it easy to track the various devices used by remote workers and either block or spot and respond to modern cyber attacks such as ransomware. With Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) services, a small-footprint agent is put on each secured endpoint, monitoring all activity and using advanced AI technology from SentinelOne to detect zero-day threats at inception. When a cyberattack is spotted, ProSight Active Security Monitoring instantly disconnects the infected endpoint from the network to contain the threat. Because the ProSight ASM agent is autonomous, endpoints stay secure even when they are disconnected from the Internet. To find out more about ProSight ASM, refer to remote endpoint security monitoring for remote workers.
Progent's Duo authentication managed services incorporate Cisco's Duo technology to defend against compromised passwords through the use of two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo enables one-tap identity verification on iOS, Google Android, and other out-of-band devices. With Duo 2FA, whenever you sign into a protected application and give your password you are asked to verify your identity via a device that only you possess and that uses a different network channel. A broad range of out-of-band devices can be used as this second means of ID validation such as an iPhone or Android or wearable, a hardware token, a landline phone, etc. You can designate several verification devices. To find out more about Duo two-factor identity authentication services, go to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for an at-home workforce.
Security Audits can evaluate the exposure of your information system to all types of outside and internal security threats for a network that incorporates an at-home workforce. Progent can run remote, automated cybersecurity inventory scanning for quickly and affordably uncovering a broad range of security weaknesses that can be found over the Internet. Progent's security audit consulting services, which can be provided by security experts with advanced credentials such as CISA, ISSAP, and GIAC, can help you to audit your operations and governance policies and assess your IT architecture to allow you to design top-level security for your an at-home workforce.
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 supports work-from-home staff, click:
Securing a Work-From-Home Environment White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)
Data Protection Solutions for Teleworkers
The field of Data Protection covers saving and restoring vital information in order to avoid data loss and minimize restoration time and effort in case of storage problems due to equipment issues, programming glitches, human mistakes, cyber attack, or other causes. Reliable data protection solutions can be particularly difficult to design and maintain in hybrid networks that incorporate local data centers, public clouds, and an at-home workforce.
Unified Management for Telecommuters
Microsoft has rebranded and rebundled its endpoint management products under the name Endpoint Manager, which encompasses Intune for cloud-based management of mobile and remote endpoints and Configuration Manager for managing onsite computers. Microsoft Endpoint Manager provides a unified solution for safeguarding critical information by managing local, 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 service for managing and securing mobile computers and software. Managed endpoint computers can be user owned or business owned. Network administrators managing the endpoint computers of telecommuters can use Intune to deploy and validate apps on managed devices, push updates and certificates, set up policies for permission to access information and networks, set passwords, create VPN tunnels, control how teleworkers share information, establish threat protection, ensure security compliance, and erase sensitive data from missing, stolen or decommissioned endpoint devices. Intune works with iOS/iPadOS, Google Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X devices. To find out about Microsoft Intune and how Progent can assist you to use this platform to manage the devices of your telecommuters, refer to Intune remote device management experts.
VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich centralized Mobile Device Management product that allows network managers to keep off-premises endpoint devices up to date and secure. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch technology for centralized endpoint management plus VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery platform for identity control, application management, and setup management of endpoints. Workspace ONE operates with endpoints based on Windows 10, macOS, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, or popular distributions of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is available by subscription as a cloud service or as an on-site deployment through a perpetual license. Key capabilities of Workspace ONE include rapid over-the-air provisioning of new laptops, quick onboarding of new users, policy set up and enforcement for all classes of devices, aggregated management reporting and analytics, an email encryption gateway, and tight integration with Microsoft applications and cloud-based services. For details about Progent's support services for VMware Workspace ONE, go to VMware Workspace ONE mobile device management consultants.
Contact Progent for Telecommuter Support Services
To contact Progent about building and managing an efficient work-from-home solution for your Montreal, Quebec business, call