Network Support for Small Businesses

The options available to small businesses for Internet connectivity are changing faster than most IT managers can keep track. As a result, many companies are still using Internet connections and over-priced service plans even though faster, more reliable, and lower-cost options are readily available. Basically, they are paying too much for too little.

Besides the direct impact outdated ISP service plans have on your bottom line, other factors can make them even more costly. Slow bandwidth, high latency, poor Quality of Service, and sporadic availability equate to lost productivity, low customer satisfaction, and over-worked network managers. All this reduces the business value of your information network.

Progent can provide affordable online consulting expertise to help your organization to evaluate or upgrade your ISP services so your Internet connectivity solution matches your business needs. Services available from Progent include assessment of your current bandwidth utilization and requirements, vendor and plan comparison and selection, ordering, network provisioning, and managing a seamless switchover to a new ISP and/or service plan. Network provisioning can include optimizing existing routers and configuring new ones, setting up firewalls, and upgrading fault-tolerant BGP configurations.

Selecting the Right ISP Connection for Your Business
Your options for Internet access depend on your location. The Gold Standard is optical fiber, which offers the highest reliability and performance. If your office or data center is "on net" with a fiber provider (such as Cogent Communications or TW Telecom), you may be able to get an unlimited-use 100 mbps fiber connection for as little as $700 per month. If you're "off net" you still might be able to access a 100 mbps connection via AT&T custom installed fiber, although your monthly fee could be triple what you would pay if you were on net. If optical fiber is unavailable or too expensive, you may be able to get Business Class Cable Internet from Comcast, offering speeds up to 50mbps. Another alternative is to aggregate voice-grade copper-wire for a fast 10 mbps symmetrical Internet connection (Often this offering is called Metro Ethernet). Even the legacy ADSL standard has been upgraded with ADSL2+ offering up to 20 mbps speeds if you have close proximity to a central office. In some locations, line-of-site microwave or WiMax wireless connections can be your best option. In most cases, there are better choices available than sticking with DS3, bonded T1s, or other legacy connections.

An important key consideration is whether your ISP has good sharing arrangements with other carriers worldwide, known as "peering." Cogent is an excellent choice for small businesses, having attained the position as the top peered network globally with very aggressive pricing. By connecting to a well peered tier 1 provider, you can ensure low latency connections almost everywhere, which is a great advantage for real-time applications such as Voice-over-IP or video conferencing. Progent's Internet connection experts can help you evaluate alternatives and select an ISP and a service plan that makes the most sense for your business.

How Progent Can Help You Optimize Your Internet Connectivity Solution
Progent is a pioneer in configuring virtual business networks that rely on reliable, fast, and economical Internet connections. Progent has worked with all major carriers and has helped many smaller ISPs to optimize the performance, availability, and security of their commercial infrastructure. Progent's consultants can provide valuable insight into how to cut through the hype and jargon to build a budget-friendly Internet connectivity solution that addresses your business needs and allows you to adopt new IP technology quickly so you can stay competitive. Progent can work with your ISP to coordinate deployment and can help you provision your network infrastructure so you benefit fully from new services, manage the transition process to avoid business disruption, monitor the performance of your new connections, and troubleshoot Internet access issues.

If you are considering moving your data center to a colocation site, Progent offers a full range of colocation support services to make sure you take advantage of new Internet connectivity options and maximize the business benefit of your move. Progent's colocation support experts address key issues such as security and compliance, high availability, VPN configuration, traffic engineering, management automation, server virtualization, network monitoring, and disaster recovery planning. Progent can help you transition from your current environment to a colo site with minimal disruption of your network operations.

Save Even More with Progent's Online Consulting Services
Progent's certified network engineers are seasoned experts at providing online IT consulting and troubleshooting services and have successfully delivered remote network support to small businesses in every state in the U.S. (See Progent's customer testimonials). Remote support eliminates the delay and costs of travel so that problems can be solved faster and less expensively than with onsite service calls. When the situation requires, Progent can provide on-premises support in major metropolitan areas throughout the U.S.

Contact Progent for Internet Connectivity Consulting Services
For more information about Progent's consulting services for Internet connectivity, call Progent 800-993-9400 or visit Contact Progent.