Desktop Support Services

Progent's Co-managed Help Desk Service
Progent's Shared Help Desk service is intended for organizations with between 50 and 500 end users and permits your information technology staff to split activity for Help Desk services transparently between your in-house support staff and Progent's nationwide roster of IT support technicians, engineers and subject matter experts. Progent's Co-managed Help Desk service is a collaborative IT service solution based on ConnectWise Manage, the leading Professional Services Automation tool for managing IT service calls, generating trouble tickets, designating responsibility, tracking progress, and producing management reports. The price for Level 1 support for Progent's Co-managed Help Desk service averages below $18 per user per month.

Progent's Shared Service Desk offers a seamless supplement to your corporate network support team. User access to the Service Desk, delivery of technical assistance, problem escalation, trouble ticket creation and tracking, efficiency measurement, and maintenance of the service database are cohesive whether incidents are resolved by your core support staff, by Progent, or both. All client support requests are ranked as Level 1, 2 or 3 issues. Progent handles whatever support level or levels you select (usually Levels 1 and 3). Initial support requests are assigned either to your internal IT support organization or to Progent's Technical Response Center (TRC), based on your requirements. Level 2 or Level 3 issues can be referred to Progent's Experts Team of subject matter experts (SMEs). The assignment activity is seamless for your clients. Your business has complete versatility to expand or reduce your share of support work as required. Progent takes care of initial deployment and onboarding of the professional services PSA software plus workflow documentation, validation and education.

Progent's Technical Response Center (TRC)
Progent's Technical Response Center has been providing remote technical help for more than two decades and serves active customers in each state in the country (refer to Progent's client testimonials.) The Technical Response Center maintains the pool of veteran computer technicians who can resolve Level 1 trouble tickets, which represent the majority of Help Desk service requests. The Technical Response Center, like Progent's Experts Team, uses the ConnectWise Manage professional services automation (PSA) platform to automate ticketing, tracking progress, responsibility delegation, escalation and management reporting. This proven solution prevents problems from falling through the cracks and gives users clear understanding about all support services provided. Progent's TRC targets 90% in-person answer performance and allows Progent's Co-managed Service Desk Services to offer a 60-minute service-level agreement. Service times are 5am to 7pm PST on standard work days. Extended support times and on-premises help are available at additional cost. For more details about Progent's Technical Response Center, see The Technical Response Center Customer Commitment.

Service Levels
Progent offers three levels of online IT help, which are equivalent to industry-recognized Tier 1 to Tier 3 support. You can pick which support levels will be handled exclusively or in part by Progent's support team and your in-house service group. The depth and scope of Progent's roster of subject matter experts enables rapid and effective escalation and makes it possible to count on Progent as a single source for most IT issues at any Tier. In addition, Progent's provision of knowledge transfer allows key service issues to move from higher to lower Tiers as resolution workflows become recorded and standardized so they can be performed by less skilled and lower-cost service personnel.

Service levels are described as:

• Level 1 Support: Filters Service Desk requests and delivers baseline technical help and troubleshooting, like password resets, printer set up, break/fix instructions, ticket routing and promotion to Level 2 and Level 3 support. A Level 1 tech gathers and analyzes information about the user's issue and determines the best way to resolve the problem. Level 1 support can also include assistance for familiar Level 2 or Level 3 issues where mitigation solutions have already been recorded.
• Level 2 Support: Primarily handles break/fix, configuration issues, troubleshooting, application or OS installations, and hardware fixes including in-house fixes or coordinating depot services. This Level deals with promoted issues that Level 1 support is not qualified to handle. Level support will occasionally escalate to Level 3, based on the problem and the manner the Service Desk is structured.
• Level 3 Support: Debugging, setup, database administration, and fixes or updates for OS and applications servers, hybrid networks, messaging, file shares, and various integration issues. Besides having the capability to deploy fixes to new problems, a Level 3 engineer usually has the most expertise.

This particular implementation of Progent's Shared Help Desk Service has a 4-phase ticket lifecycle:

1. Your clients initiate requests via the online support, a dedicated phone number, or simply by sending a message to a designated mailbox. This immediately launches an open request in the ticket system.
2. Progent's Technical Response Center (TRC) receives the open request and decides whether it will be serviced or escalated to your internal Service Desk.
3. Your Service Desk gets the forwarded trouble ticket request and decides the best way to service the issue. If necessary, your Help Desk can in turn send the ticket request back to Progent for assignment to Progent's Experts Team.
4. Progent gets the updated trouble ticket request, identifies the best suited SME from the Experts Team, and assigns the chosen subject matter exert to co-operate with your IT group until the issue is solved or closed.

Highlights of Progent's Help Desk Service
Important features of Progent's Shared Call Desk offerings are:

• Pooled Level 1 help from Progent's Technical Response Center (TRC) team
• Level 1 online help available 5 days a week, 5am-7pm PST, 60 Minute SLA
• Discounted per-hour rate and one-minute granularity for Tier 1 desktop support for clients
• Average price of Level 1 support is about $18 montly per user
• Level 2 and Level 3 help from Progent SME provided as an option at Progent's standard consulting fees
• De-escalation permits issues that at first call for Level 2 or Level 3 support to move to a lower, less costly Tier once solutions are documented
• StreamlineIT includes a full implementation of ConnectWise service desk software with secure multitenancy

• Available only in the United States and US territories
• One-time setup charge based on complexity of the deployment
• Starting the first day, Progent assigns you a Technical Resource Center (TRC) Coordinator and a TRC Service Lead to resource, assign and communicate with your service group and your clients. The TRC Service Lead will work with you to develop a What Goes Where document to help seamlessly escalate to your service group or de-escalate back to Progent's team of engineers.
• Live Answer of inbound service requests to Progent Technical Response Center (TRC) with a goal of 90% Live Answer of all calls
• After determining if server or networking support is required, some requests will be escalated to Level 2 or Level 3 support
• All support that needs Level 2 or Level 3 expertise will be handled by a Progent consultant pending your authorization
• 1 hour SLA for Level 1 desktop support in most cases
• Level 1 Service is for end users and covers Windows-based systems and Apple devices
• Progent Level 2 or 3 services will be provided at standard hourly consulting prices
• Progent will provide personnel - Technical Response Center (TRC) desktop specialists during standard hours, Level 2 and Level 3 as required
• Progent will dedicate a toll-free phone number and email mailbox for inbound support requests
• Free Remote Control agent with screen sharing for efficient technical support
• Free ProSight IT Asset Management services for IT documentation management
• All Level 1 remote support is billed at a special hourly rate with per-minute granularity
• All Level 1 service will be done remotely, no onsite work included
• All onsite work will be billed at regular hourly consulting rates
• All on-premises work will have an additional fixed charge plus any documented travel costs
• All travel cost projections will be provided and require customer approval before work or travel will be performed
• Contracted projects and distinct Statements of Work (SoWs) will include their own estimates and costs defined and will be undertaken only after approval by customer

Initial Steps

• Create your personalized Service Desk experience, including your in-house support group, locations, and client information
• Progent will work with your service team to review current incoming service calls
• Configure your incoming help request system to include email, software agents, and a dedicated telephone number

• Progent delivers trouble ticket management training for your support team
• Jointly create core workflow and ticket escalation procedures
• Integrate all your teams and resources that will provide IT support
• Create the roll-out description and promotion of the new Call Desk solution
• Designate a specific location or small groups to onboard first
• Bring more groups of users into the solution at a workable pace

• Review reports and system setup for efficient information and workflow
• Create any reports or fields required to improve the detection or monitoring of common issues
• Identify key information that could enable a higher success rate for Level 1 service requests

• All users have been exposed to the support system and can access it
• All relevant user and hardware data is populated in the service system
• You are able to transfer and administer tickets transparently between your internal support group and Progent
• You can track service performance and trends

• Retain complete control over your IT service issues: you decide what trouble tickets are escalated to Progent's support group or taken care of by your internal support team.
• Immediate availability of additional IT support experts when and if you require them: Progent's professional services PSA software programmatically distributes in-house trouble tickets or allows you manually forward to Progent's TRC.
• Productivity: Progent's IT support experts will analyze your incoming service requests and propose missing information that would allow a higher resolution rate for common desktop requests. Progent's team can also assist you with tag management to speed up problem resolution.
• Seamlessness: Progent's Shared Service Desk is a virtual extension of your in-house support desk with centralized ticketing and documentation so nothing falls through the cracks.
• Contented workers: Users are able to monitor the progress and status of their IT service requests quickly and conveniently.
• Management analytics: You have the metrics, responsibility assignments, and activity reporting of a modern PSA system to assist you to build a custom Help Desk environment that delivers maximum business value.
• Focus on your strategic business initiatives, not IT support requests and disgruntled end-users: Your network management personnel escape being saddled with trying to manage day-to-day support calls.

Check Out Progent's White Paper: Is Co-managed IT a Good Idea?
Even though having a self-sufficient local IT services group can prove a burden from the cost perspective, plenty of companies prefer that approach since it provides them greater control over their information system management. But did you realize that your organization can continue to leverage the benefits of a managed services provider within the shared IT service approach. The co-managed model allows you to stay in command over your IT infrastructure while reinforcing your local IT services team simply and affordably.

For more information, read our white paper: Is co-managed IT a good idea? (PDF - 632 KB).

Download Progent's Shared Help Desk Datasheet
To view a single-page datasheet in PDF format describing Progent's Shared Service Desk, see:
Progent's Shared Service Desk Datasheet. (PDF - 108 KB)

Progent's ProSight Line of Managed Services
Progent has developed the ProSight suite of remote monitoring and management (RMM) services to streamline vital activities associated with network administration, security and upkeep. Any of these services can be used with Progent's Shared Call Desk service by installing agent software on computers to be monitored and managed. Notifications sent by these agents can be forwarded directly to Progent's Technical Response Center (TRC), managed via the ticketing and monitoring system, and categorized for Level 1, 2 or 3 treatment.

Examples of ProSight Remote Monitoring and Management packages include:

• ProSight LAN Watch: Network, Server, and Endpoint Remote Monitoring
  ProSight LAN Watch is Progent's network, server, and endpoint monitoring managed service that incorporates state-of-the-art remote monitoring and management (RMM) techniques to keep your IT system operating at peak levels by tracking the state of critical assets that drive your business network. When ProSight LAN Watch uncovers a problem, an alert is transmitted automatically to your specified IT management staff and your Progent engineering consultant so that all looming issues can be addressed before they have a chance to impact your network. ProSight LAN Watch is National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) compliant. Learn more about ProSight LAN Watch network, server, and endpoint monitoring consulting.

• ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM: Unified RMM Solution for Networks, Servers, and Workstations
  ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM software delivers a unified, cloud-driven solution for managing your client-server infrastructure by providing an environment for streamlining common time-consuming tasks. These include health monitoring, patch management, automated remediation, endpoint configuration, backup and recovery, A/V protection, remote access, standard and custom scripts, asset inventory, endpoint profile reporting, and troubleshooting support. When ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM spots a serious incident, it sends an alert to your specified IT management personnel and your Progent consultant so potential issues can be fixed before they interfere with your network. Learn more details about ProSight LAN Watch with NinjaOne RMM server and desktop monitoring consulting.

• ProSight WAN Watch: Infrastructure Remote Monitoring and Management
  Progent's ProSight WAN Watch is a network infrastructure management service that makes it simple and inexpensive for small and mid-sized businesses to diagram, track, optimize and debug their networking appliances such as routers, firewalls, and load balancers as well as servers, endpoints and other devices. Incorporating state-of-the-art RMM technology, ProSight WAN Watch makes sure that infrastructure topology maps are always current, captures and displays the configuration of almost all devices on your network, tracks performance, and sends notices when problems are detected. By automating tedious network management activities, ProSight WAN Watch can cut hours off ordinary chores such as making network diagrams, expanding your network, finding devices that need important software patches, or resolving performance problems. Find out more about ProSight WAN Watch infrastructure management consulting.

• ProSight Reporting: Real-time and In-depth Reporting for Ticketing and Network Monitoring Applications
  ProSight Reporting is an expanding line of real-time reporting tools designed to work with the top ticketing and remote network monitoring applications such as ConnectWise Manage, ConnectWise Automate, Customer Thermometer, Auvik, and SentinelOne. ProSight Reporting incorporates Microsoft Graph and utilizes color coding to surface and contextualize key issues such as inconsistent support follow-through or endpoints with missing patches. By exposing ticketing or network health problems concisely and in near-real time, ProSight Reporting improves network value, reduces management hassle, and saves money. For details, visit ProSight Reporting for ticketing and network monitoring platforms.

• ProSight Data Protection Services: Managed Backup and Disaster Recovery
  Progent has worked with advanced backup/restore product vendors to create ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a selection of subscription-based management offerings that deliver backup-as-a-service (BaaS). ProSight DPS products manage and monitor your backup operations and enable non-disruptive backup and rapid recovery of important files/folders, applications, images, plus VMs. ProSight DPS lets you avoid data loss resulting from hardware breakdown, natural disasters, fire, cyber attacks like ransomware, user error, ill-intentioned insiders, or application glitches. Managed backup services in the ProSight DPS portfolio include ProSight DPS Altaro VM Backup, ProSight 365 Total Backup (formerly Altaro Office 365 Backup, ProSight ECHO Backup using Barracuda dedicated storage, and ProSight MSP360 Hybrid Backup. Your Progent service representative can assist you to determine which of these managed services are best suited for your network.

• ProSight Email Guard: Inbound and Outbound Spam Filtering and Data Leakage Protection
  ProSight Email Guard is Progent's spam and virus filtering and email encryption service that uses the infrastructure of top information security companies to deliver centralized control and comprehensive protection for your email traffic. The powerful architecture of Progent's Email Guard combines a Cloud Protection Layer with an on-premises gateway appliance to offer advanced protection against spam, viruses, Denial of Service Attacks, Directory Harvest Attacks, and other email-based threats. Email Guard's Cloud Protection Layer acts as a first line of defense and keeps most unwanted email from reaching your security perimeter. This decreases your vulnerability to inbound threats and saves system bandwidth and storage. Email Guard's on-premises gateway device provides a deeper level of analysis for incoming email. For outgoing email, the onsite gateway provides anti-virus and anti-spam filtering, DLP, and email encryption. The local security gateway can also assist Microsoft Exchange Server to monitor and safeguard internal email that originates and ends inside your security perimeter. For more details, see Email Guard spam filtering and data leakage protection.

• ProSight MFA with Duo: Identity Validation, Endpoint Remediation, and Secure Single Sign-on (SSO)
  Progent's Duo MFA services incorporate Cisco's Duo technology to protect against compromised passwords through the use of two-factor authentication. Duo supports one-tap identity confirmation with iOS, Google Android, and other personal devices. With 2FA, when you sign into a protected online account and give your password you are requested to verify who you are via a unit that only you possess and that uses a different ("out-of-band") network channel. A broad range of out-of-band devices can be used for this second form of authentication including a smartphone or wearable, a hardware/software token, a landline telephone, etc. You can designate several verification devices. For more information about ProSight Duo identity authentication services, go to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for access security.

• ProSight Shared Support: Outsourced and Co-managed IT Support Center Services
  Progent's Co-managed Help Desk Service provides a seamless supplement to your corporate network support resources. End user interaction with the Service Desk, delivery of technical assistance, problem escalation, ticket creation and tracking, performance measurement, and maintenance of the support database are consistent regardless of whether issues are resolved by your internal IT support staff, by Progent, or both. Your business has unrestricted versatility to extend or reduce your share of technical support work as circumstances demand. Progent takes care of startup deployment and onboarding of the professional services automation software plus workflow documentation, validation and training. To find out more about ProSight Co-Managed Help Desk, go to ProSight Co-Managed Help Desk.

• ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM): Behavior-based Threat Scanning and Ransomware Protection:
  ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) is an endpoint protection solution that incorporates next generation behavior analysis tools from SentinelOne to defend physical and virtual endpoints against modern malware attacks like ransomware and file-less exploits, which routinely get by legacy signature-matching AV tools. ProSight Active Security Monitoring protects on-premises and cloud-based resources and offers a single platform to address the entire malware attack progression including blocking, detection, containment, remediation, and forensics. Top features include single-click rollback using Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service and real-time system-wide immunization against new attacks. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. Find out more about Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) endpoint protection and ransomware defense with SentinelOne technology.

• Progent's Patch Management: Patch Management Services:
  Progent's managed services for software and firmware patch management offer businesses of all sizes a flexible and affordable alternative for assessing, validating, scheduling, applying, and tracking updates to your dynamic IT network. Besides maximizing the security and reliability of your computer environment, Progent's patch management services free up time for your IT team to concentrate on more strategic projects and activities that derive maximum business value from your network. Read more about Progent's patch management support services.