Expanding your telecommuter workforce can have a major effect on IT architecture, security/compliance, and corporate processes. Progent has two decades of background helping businesses of all sizes to plan, deploy, manage, tune, and troubleshoot IT networks that incorporate work-from-home employees. Progent can help your Perth company to select the appropriate technologies and follow leading practices in creating and operating a secure virtual ecosystem for telecommuters that promotes teamwork and returns top value. Progent offers support services that go from as-needed guidance for helping you past occasional IT bottlenecks to full project management to help you carry out business-critical tasks.
Progent's consultants can help Perth, Western Australia companies to succeed with any facet of creating a high-performing telecommuting ecosystem by delivering infrastructure design and configuration services, IP voice expertise, voice/video conferencing support, collaboration platform selection and deployment, cloud connectivity, helpdesk augmentation, cybersecurity, data protection solutions, and streamlined management.
Infrastructure for Teleworkers
Integrating the physical and software infrastructure needed for a remote workforce can be particularly complex if you must accommodate a combination of personal hardware such as desktop computers and notebooks, Internet routers, and Wi-Fi APs from various manufacturers and with a mix of operating systems and firmware releases. Progent's background delivering remote help for both legacy and modern IT products in virtual office solutions enables you to make efficient use of your available infrastructure and provides you with fast access to top-tire consultants for making necessary updates. Support services available from Progent to assist you to implement a productive work-at-home ecosystem include:
VoIP Solutions for an At-Home Workforce
Expanding the corporate PBX environment to accommodate telecommuters is critical to maintaining an effective work-at-home solution. A variety of cloud-based digital PBX platforms are popular with SMBs to support teleworkers. Many larger organizations depend on Cisco's current or older platforms for VoIP solutions. Progent can assist businesses of all sizes to plan or tune a remote IP voice environment that delivers the flexibility, convenience and security required for telecommuters. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice consultants offer advanced support to assist businesses optimize their current Cisco VoIP environments to support an expanding at-home workforce.
Video Conferencing for At-Home Workers
A broad selection of voice/video conferencing platforms from leading vendors support online discussions, video and voice conferencing, chat sessions, and screen/content sharing for both local workers and at-home workers. Many organizations use a mix of conferencing products to meet the needs of their different partners and customers. Progent's communications experts can assist you to manage your current conferencing environment and enhance the engagement of your remote workforce.
Microsoft Collaboration Platforms for Remote Workers
Microsoft's collaboration products are tightly integrated with Microsoft's familiar Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365 families, providing a powerful environment of applications that create a cohesive user interface for sharing data and ideas throughout a corporate network and on a broad range of endpoint devices. Progent has delivered remote consulting support for Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange since their original releases and can assist your company to tune these critical collaboration products to maximize the productivity of your at-home workforce.
SharePoint uses web entities to enable collaboration and knowledge delivery by offering policy-driven access to data, workflow, and utilities for searching through enterprise-wide information silos. SharePoint enables you to create protected portals that permits remote workforce to see and update consolidated business intelligence by means of Intranets (Wikis), Blogs, social sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). For information about Progent's SharePoint expertise, see SharePoint integration and application 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 find out about Progent's Exchange consulting expertise, see planning and configuration consulting services for Exchange Server.
OneDrive is Microsoft's shared cloud-based file hosting and synchronization service, comparable to GoogleDrive. At-home users can store files to OneDrive, and co-workers can access them safely through a web browser. Provided with Office and Microsoft 365, OneDrive enables home workers to jointly author documents. Revisions created offline are uploaded when you reconnect to the Internet. For information about Progent's expertise for OneDrive, refer to Microsoft Onedrive configuration experts.
Cloud Integration for Remote Workers
Progent can provide affordable remote support for enabling businesses to create, maintain and troubleshoot cohesive network models that combine physical data centers, telecommuters, branch offices, and public cloud services. Progent offers expertise for all types of public cloud service delivery including Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service. Progent can help teleworkers resolve problems with cloud access, identity, and security.
Microsoft Azure is a leading family of public cloud software and services that allows you to utilize IT infrastructure, virtual servers, and key apps running on Microsoft's massive cloud. Microsoft Azure offers over one hundred services services including the ability to host Windows and Linux-powered VMs, scalable cloud storage, email and messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and data backup. Progent can assist your organization to deploy VMs on Azure Virtual Machines, configure cloud-based storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity management with Azure Active Directory, and design data backup and restore solutions with Azure Backup. Progent can also show you how to establish secure connections to Azure services for telecommuters by setting up and troubleshooting firewalls and VPN tunnels. To learn about Progent's support services for Microsoft Azure, refer to Microsoft Azure consulting services.
Microsoft 365, formerly branded Office 365, is Microsoft's growing family of business productivity software and cloud-based services offered by subscription. Microsoft applications and cloud services are marketed in a selection of bundles intended for users ranging from students and small offices to major enterprises. Progent can provide quick and affordable online access to consultants familiar with Microsoft 365-compatible clients based on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android technology. Progent can assist your business to evaluate the various subscription plans offered with Microsoft 365 and configure 365 apps for your at-home workers in a way that delivers top business value. To learn about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft 365, go to Microsoft 365 integration services.
Exchange Online is one of the most widely used applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product line. Exchange Online provides the benefits of reduced spending for data center infrastructure, simplified management, on-demand scaling, high availability, and additional benefits inherent with public clouds. Microsoft has designed Exchange Online to operate transparently with on-premises deployments of Exchange, allowing customers to build hybrid cloud/onsite networks. Progent's Exchange experts are available for as-needed assistance to get you through tough technical bottlenecks and also offer end-to-end project management services to ensure your at-home workers have easy and secure access to your Microsoft 365 Exchange Online deployment. For information Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, refer to Exchange Online configuration and troubleshooting expertise.
Amazon AWS is a trailblazer in the public cloud computing market and is the world's leading provider of cloud services. Progent offers fast and economical online contact with cloud integration consultants who can help your business to plan, implement, maintain, and troubleshoot hybrid IT networks that integrate Amazon AWS cloud services with on-premises resources and with other popular cloud platforms such as Microsoft Azure. Progent also can provide access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to help you to build a high-availability network model to make sure your employees have a consistent computing experience whether they are working from your headquarters, a remote branch, from home, or on the road. To find out about Progent's consulting services for Amazon AWS, visit Amazon AWS integration support.
Google Cloud Platform is a popular collection of public cloud services that provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco experts can help you to scale your existing IT assets with the Google Cloud, and Progent's DBA consultants can show you how to make your critical apps cloud ready so your teleworkers can benefit fully from Google Cloud services. Progent can help your business to set up VMs on Google Cloud Compute Engine, plan a cost-effective storage system with GCP Storage, and simplify access control for telecommuters with Google Cloud Identity services. Progent can also help your organization to use GCP's unified management tools to control and track your GCP environment. To learn, see Google Cloud Platform integration expertise.
Help Desk Support for Remote Workers
A fast, company-wide changeover to a teleworker business model, which could be activated by an epidemic or as a component of a disaster recovery/business continuity process, can overwhelm even a well-staffed in-house Support Desk. Progent's Help Desk Call Center services allow organizations to outsource or supplement their Call Center with Progent's remote Technical Response Center team.
Cybersecurity for Teleworkers
Work-from-Home (WFH) workers typically use their personal computing devices and often operate in an unsecured physical space. This situation multiplies their susceptibility to malware attacks and calls for judicious configuration of corporate firewalls, AV tools, MFA-based identity verification, remote monitoring, thorough end-user education, and the creation of policies based on leading practices. Progent's veteran roster of IT security solutions experts can assist your business to design, deploy and maintain a compliant cybersecurity solution that guards vital information assets in networks that include remote workers.
Firewalls enable companies to create a network that can be safely utilized by local users and by telecommuters, mobile workers, suppliers, clients, and other stakeholders. Next-generation firewall devices allow you to assign and manage appropriate access rights to different classes of users and to expand your IT network and adjust your security profile as your business evolves and as network attacks grow increasingly complex. Progent supports both current and legacy firewall appliances from all leading vendors like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, WatchGuard, Juniper, SonicWall and Fortinet. To learn more about Progent's firewall configuration expertise, go to firewall configuration and support services.
Remote Endpoint Monitoring makes it easy to watch over the various computers used by telecommuters and either block or identify and mitigate modern threats such as ransomware. With Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) services, a lightweight agent is put on each protected endpoint, watching all activity and using state-of-the-art behavioral threat analysis from SentinelOne to identify new threats at inception. When a cyberattack is spotted, ProSight ASM immediately disconnects the infected device from the corporate network to contain the threat. Because the ProSight ASM software agent is autonomous, endpoints stay secure even when they are offline. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. For details about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, go to remote endpoint security monitoring for remote workers.
Progent's Duo MFA services utilize Cisco's Duo technology to protect against compromised passwords by using two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo supports single-tap identity confirmation on iOS, Android, and other out-of-band devices. Using Duo 2FA, when you log into a protected application and enter your password you are requested to confirm your identity on a unit that only you possess and that is accessed using a separate network channel. A broad selection of out-of-band devices can be used for this second form of authentication such as a smartphone or wearable, a hardware/software token, a landline telephone, etc. You can designate multiple verification devices. For details about Duo identity validation services, visit Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for an at-home workforce.
Security Audits can assess the vulnerability of your network to all types of outside and local security threats for an environment that includes remote workers. Progent can run online, automated cybersecurity analysis software for quickly and affordably uncovering a broad range of security gaps that can be surfaced via the Internet. Progent's endpoint security audit experts, which can be provided by security experts with advanced credentials such as CISM, CISSP, and GIAC, can assist your business to audit your procedures and policies and assess your network architecture to allow you to implement top-level security for your teleworkers.
Download White Paper: Securing a Work-From-Home Environment
To view or download a white paper describing key things to focus on for protecting a network that supports telecommuters, click:
Securing a Work-From-Home (WFH) Network White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)
Data Protection for Remote Workers
Data Protection covers saving and restoring critical information in order to prevent data loss and reduce restoration time in case of storage problems resulting from equipment issues, software hiccups, user error, malware, or any other reason. Dependable data protection strategies can be especially challenging to architect and manage in hybrid networks that combine in-house data centers, cloud resources, and at-home workers.
Unified Management for Remote Workers
Microsoft has rebranded and reshuffled its endpoint management platforms under the title Endpoint Manager, which includes Intune for cloud management of remote devices and Configuration Manager for managing on-premises endpoints. Microsoft Endpoint Manager provides a unified platform for safeguarding critical information by controlling onsite, mobile, and home-based endpoint devices.
Intune
Intune is part of Microsoft's Endpoint Management family that also features Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and protecting remote computers and applications. Managed endpoint devices can be user owned or business owned. IT administrators managing the enrolled endpoint computers of at-home workers can use Intune to deploy and validate applications on devices, push updates and certificates, configure rules for accessing information and networks, set passwords, create VPN tunnels, determine how home-based workers share data, set up threat protection, ensure compliance, and erase corporate information from missing, stolen or decommissioned endpoint devices. Intune can be used with iOS/iPadOS, Android, Windows, and macOS computers. To learn about Intune and how Progent can help your company to use Microsoft's Endpoint Management to administer the devices of your teleworkers, see Intune remote endpoint management experts.
VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich unified MDM platform that helps network administrators to keep remote endpoint devices current and protected. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch technology for centralized endpoint management combined with VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery technology for authorization control, application management, and configuration management of endpoints. Workspace ONE runs with devices powered by Windows 10, macOS, iOS, Google Android, Chrome OS, or popular distributions of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is available by subscription as a cloud-based service or as an on-site deployment via a one-time purchase. Key capabilities of VMware Workspace ONE include rapid remote provisioning of out-of-the-box laptops, quick onboarding of new employees, policy set up and enforcement for all classes of devices, unifies reporting and analytics, email encryption, and seamless integration with Microsoft applications and cloud products. For details about Progent's expertise for VMware Workspace ONE, refer to VMware Workspace ONE remote device management consultants.
Contact Progent for Remote Workforce Support Services
To get in touch with Progent about creating and maintaining a productive work-from-home solution for your Perth, Western Australia business, phone