IT Connection Newsletter: Number 6
Progent's Certified Experts Offer
Microsoft Windows 8 Migration and Consulting Services
Windows 8 includes headline features such touch-screen support and a new tile-based Start interface, but Microsoft's latest client operating system also introduces less conspicuous yet significant improvements such as more built-in security, faster startup, enhanced cloud support, better synchronization, and client virtualization. Progent's Microsoft-certified consultants can help you evaluate the business benefits related to upgrading existing PCs to Windows 8 or adding new Windows 8 clients to your network.
Windows 8 includes headline features such touch-screen support and a new tile-based Start interface, but Microsoft's latest client operating system also introduces less conspicuous yet significant improvements such as more built-in security, faster booting, expanded connectivity, enhanced cloud support, fault-tolerant storage, better synchronization, advanced backup/recovery, more powerful search, lower power consumption, and client virtualization.
Predictably, some of these enhancements come with a cost. Incorporating Windows 8 into a business network may require that you reconfigure your remote access environment, modify your security scheme, update or replace applications and utilities, and retrain users.
Progent's Microsoft-certified consultants can help you evaluate the business benefits and engineering challenges related to upgrading existing PCs to Windows 8 or adding new Windows 8 clients to your network. Progent can help you to resolve problems encountered during the process of upgrading to Windows 8, adjust your remote connectivity environment and your network infrastructure as needed, redesign your IT security strategy to take full advantage of the security enhancements built into Windows 8, recommend new desktop management procedures in order to simplify administration of all your Windows 8 clients, and provide customized webinar training sessions to bring your IT management staff and your end users up to speed quickly on Windows 8.
For larger organizations, Progent's project managers can help set up test labs to evaluate Windows 8 and design and execute Windows 8 desktop migration plans based on leading practices.
New Features of Windows 8
Windows 8 includes many new features that address a variety of customers ranging from gamers to workstation power users. Many of these features are designed to improve the usefulness and manageability of Windows-based smartphones, tablets, and laptops. Professional and Enterprise versions of Windows 8 have important features that enhance the productivity of users working with mainstream business applications.
These new capabilities, when combined with the latest computer hardware, offer big advantages over previous releases of Windows and should be factored into any ROI calculation. High-value innovations incorporated in Windows 7 include:
- UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface)
- Client Hyper-V Virtualization
- Storage Spaces
- Windows To Go
- Native Support for USB 3.0
- Improved Multiple Monitor Support
- High Performance File Explorer (to replace Windows Explorer)
- File History
- Support for Near Field Communications (NFC)
Progent's Microsoft-certified consultants can help you follow leading practices in deploying Windows 8 in a production system. For large-scale Windows 8 desktop rollouts, Progent's methodology is one that has proven effective in Windows 7 migrations. This is process is centered on automating the capture and replication of standardized images of operating systems, drivers, and core applications to be deployed in various business groups and a wide range of work environments.
By using Microsoft's advanced deployment tools for Windows 8, Progent can help you achieve a high degree of automation during the rollout process, thereby avoiding the delays and mistakes that often accompany a manual deployment. Progent can help companies with any phase of a Windows 8 rollout and also offers project management services to help you complete your migration on time and within budget.
To control costs, save time, and minimize engineering risk for large-scale migrations, Progent uses Microsoft's deployment automation tools provided with the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK). These tools include Windows System Image Manager (Windows SIM) to create custom baseline images, Deployment Imaging Servicing and Management Tool (DISM) for editing existing images, Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) for uncovering compatibility issues, User State Migration Tool (USMT) for migrating the personal data of individual users, and Volume Activation Management Toolkit (VAMT) for centralized activation management.
For additional information about Progent's consulting services for Windows 8, see Progent's Windows 8 Integration Services for Windows 8.
Contact Progent About Windows 8 Support
To find out more about Progent's Windows 8 integration and support services, call Progent at
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An index of content::
Top Aironet 2700 Access Point Technical Support Services
24x7x365 CCIE Expert Certified Aironet Wi-Fi Access Point On-site Support
Progent's Cisco-certified wireless networking consultants can help organizations of any size to plan, implement, administer and troubleshoot Cisco Aironet Wi-Fi access point environments to provide the performance, range, density, expandability, security compliance and manageability needed for transparent connectivity between Wi-Fi and wired networks. Progent can provide efficient online and on-premises consulting services for end-of-life and current 802.11ac Aironet wireless access points and Progent can help you design and manage wireless solutions that include indoor and outdoor/industrial Aironet APs.
Microsoft GIAC Security and Compliance Check Specialists
GIAC Security Audit Consulting
Global Information Assurance Certification was founded in 1999 to validate the knowledge of information technology security experts. GIAC certifications are acknowledged by businesses and government organizations all over the world including and the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA). Progent's GIAC-certified information assurance consultants can provide expertise with all of the network security disciplines addressed within GIAC certification such as evaluating network vulnerability, security incident handling, intrusion detection, web services security and security information and event management (SIEM) solutions.
LockBit ransomware protection and recovery Specialist
DopplePaymer ransomware protection and recovery Professional
Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring is an endpoint protection (EPP) service that incorporates next generation behavior-based machine learning tools by SentinelOne to guard endpoints and servers and VMs against modern malware attacks such as ransomware and file-less exploits, which routinely get by traditional signature-based anti-virus products. ProSight Active Security Monitoring safeguards local and cloud resources and offers a single platform to automate the entire threat progression including blocking, identification, mitigation, cleanup, and forensics. Key capabilities include one-click rollback with Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) and real-time system-wide immunization against new attacks.
Dynamics GP/Great Plains Features Online Support Services
Great Plains Accounting Software Integration Support
Microsoft Dynamics GP/Great Plains 2010 financial software is a comprehensive business management and analytics solution that unifies information and operations throughout your business, communicates seamlessly with other solutions, and connects workers, clients and suppliers regardless of time or location. Created for small to mid-size businesses, Dynamics GP 2010 and MS Dynamics GP Version 10.0 provide capability for financials, analytics and reporting, project management, inventory and order processing, e-commerce, human resource management, CRM, field force automation, manufacturing, retail, and web-based business services. Progent can show you how to install and maintain a robust, protected server and communications environment to support Microsoft Dynamics Great Plains, and can give you access to experienced Great Plains consultants to help your company benefit from the full potential of Dynamics GP 2010.
Microsoft Expert Outsourced Programming .NET MAUI
.NET Visual Basic Programming Company
Progent's application developers have worked for 20 years with .NET tools and the Visual Studio development system and can build or update .NET apps rapidly and at low cost.
Microsoft Experts Hybrid Configuration Wizard Professionals
Microsoft 365 migration PowerShell Setup and Support
Microsoft 365 Exchange Online lets you utilize cloud-resident servers, mailboxes and associated Exchange infrastructure to lower capital costs and management overhead. You can configure Exchange Online to run all your mailboxes, or you can integrate a hybrid architecture that incorporates on-premises and cloud-resident mailboxes. Progent's Microsoft-certified consulting experts can provide affordable remote support to help your organizations to assess the potential advantages of Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, plan a network topology that fits your business needs and budget, implement an efficient move from your current Exchange organization to one that incorporates Exchange Online, train your management team and users, and deliver ongoing consulting and technical support.
SCVMM 2016 Disaster Recovery Technology Consulting
SCVMM 2016 Load Balancing Consultants
Microsoft System Center 2016 Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM 2016) is part of Microsoft's System Center 2016 family of network management tools and is intended to provide a centralized solution for configuring and administering virtualized datacenters across hybrid environments that can include on-premises and hosted datacenters and Microsoft Azure services. Progent's SCVMM 2016 consulting experts can help organizations of any size with any aspect of building, deploying, and managing a SCVMM 2016 ecosystem. Progent can review your virtualization architecture, help you upgrade smoothly from older releases of Virtual Machine Manager, develop processes for building and installing VMs and VM hosts, design fault-tolerant scale-out clusters, integrate your datacenter resources with public clouds, set up virtual switches and load balancers, write and refine PowerShell scripts, and help you evaluate the potential business benefits of new capabilities like Storage Replica and Host Guardian Service. Progent's hypervisor experts offer advanced Hyper-V consulting and VMware ESXi support.
Immediate Troubleshooting Managed Detection and Response
Online Consulting Cloud Backup
Progent recommends five critical network security practices for organizations with a tight IT budget.
64-bit Migration Consultancy
64-bit Processing Services
Progent's Microsoft-certified engineers can assist your organization to update your application servers or desktops from 32 bits to 64 bits. Progent can assist your company to calculate the risks and benefits of upgrading to 64-bit processing, plan an efficient upgrade strategy that minimizes business disruptions, and offer inexpensive, expert remote support to assist your organization to install 64-bit operating systems and application programs on your existing computers.
Onsite Technical Support Shared Help Desk Ticketing
Shared Help Desk Professionals
Progent's Shared Call Center service makes it possible for your business to share the load for Help Desk support transparently between your in-house IT team and Progent's nationwide pool of certified technical support engineers and subject matter experts (SMEs). Progent's Co-managed Help Desk service is a collaborative support solution built around ConnectWise Manage, the top shared professional services automation platform for managing end-user service requests, ticket lifecycle, responsibility, status tracking, and reporting.
Microsoft Lync Presence Engineer
Lync Server 2013 and SQL Server Engineers
Progent's Microsoft-certified consultants can assist you to evaluate the value of Lync Server 2010 for your environment and can assist you to design and carry out a deployment of Microsoft Lync Server that consolidates the management of Instant Messaging and Presence and increases the productivity of your office employees, at-home workers, and smartphone users. Progent can also assist your company to perform a smooth migration to Microsoft Lync Server 2010 from Microsoft Office Communications Server or from Live Communications Server, integrate Microsoft Lync Server 2010 with Exchange, SharePoint Server, and Microsoft SQL Server, show you how you can use Lync Server 2010 to enhance the team-computing functions of Microsoft Office programs, and provide webinar training and continuing technical support for Microsoft Lync and other Microsoft technologies.
Remote Support Services SQL Server 2008
SQL 2008 Integration Services
Progent's Microsoft-Certified SQL Server consultants offer a range of services to help small and midsize companies to plan, implement, administer, and troubleshoot SQL 2008 systems in order to realize the optimum competitive advantage from Microsoft's advanced information management technology. Also, Progent can provide assistance with network infrastructure, company-wide protection, and custom software development to increase the strategic benefit of your information investment.
Cisco Firepower Consulting
ASA Firewall with Firepower Support Services
Cisco's Firepower Next Generation Firewalls provide a significant performance improvement compared to Cisco's popular ASA 5500-X security appliances and include unified control of modern cybersecurity features such as application visibility, next-generation intrusion protection (NGIPS) with intelligent prioritization of risks, advanced malware protection, URL filtering, and sandboxing. Progent's Cisco CCIE-certified firewall consultants can help your organization to plan and carry out an efficient migration to Firepower Series firewalls from Cisco's legacy ASA 5500-X, ASA 5500, or PIX firewalls and show you how to integrate Firepower firewalls with Cisco's subscription-based security services to create and centrally control IT ecosystems that span local offices, data centers, and cloud resources.
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