Progent has assisted organizations of all types and sizes to plan, deploy, and administer information networks based on a variety of hybrid models that mix Azure cloud infrastructure and services with local datacenters, private clouds, and other public clouds. Progent is unmatched in the ability to offer immediate and economical online access to IT experts to help you to assess the possible advantages of various Azure services for your particular organization. Progent's virtualization experts can help you to set up VMs on Azure Virtual Machines. Progent's certified data security experts can help you centralize identity management using Microsoft Entra ID (formerly called Azure Active Directory). Progent's data protection experts can assist you to design backup/recovery solutions based on Azure Backup. Also, Progent's VPN and security appliance experts can help you set up secure and dependable connections to Azure.
About Microsoft Azure
Microsoft Azure, formerly called Windows Azure, is a leading cloud platform that allows you to utilize network infrastructure, servers, and business-critical applications hosted on Microsoft's vast cloud. The Azure ecosystem includes dozens of cloud-based services including the ability to host Windows and Linux-powered virtual machines, on-demand storage, messaging, development, and backup/recovery. Azure services are delivered on a subscription basis and allocated dynamically, so you can instantly scale up or ratchet down processing and storage capacity. Because you pay only for the capacity you need, utilization is very high, which is the key of public clouds.
Key Azure Cloud Services
Azure provides dozens of IaaS and PaaS products and many hundreds of services. This growing family of cloud-based services covers practically all facets of information technology such as processing, data and storage, networking, administration, cybersecurity, web, mobile, applications, and software development. Other Microsoft offerings like Office 365 Exchange rely on Azure cloud infrastructure. (See Office 365 Exchange Online integration and troubleshooting expertise.)
Major Azure products and services for which Progent provides advanced expertise and troubleshooting include:
Microsoft Azure Virtual Machines makes it easy for you to configure, expand and manage virtual machines (VMs) on Azure. An Azure Storage subscription takes care of storage for the operating system disk and any data disks. Microsoft Azure Virtual Machines works with Windows Server, major distros of Linux, IBM, Oracle Database, and additional popular platforms. Various classes of virtual machines are offered and priced according to processor performance, memory and disk capacity, and I/O latency. You can connect with Microsoft Azure VMs via Remote Desktop Connection. The PaaS functionality of Azure Virtual Machines allows organizations to run Windows workloads like SQL Server, Exchange, and Microsoft Dynamics plus major Linux distributions like Red Hat, Debian, Ubuntu, and RancherOS.
The enhanced deployment model for Microsoft Azure Virtual Machines, referred to as Azure Resource Manager, replaces what is now known as Azure Classic and enables streamlined VM management by allowing VM groups with a common lifecycle. Previously, Microsoft Azure services for deploying, sizing, and administering VMs had to be performed individually. Resource Manager deployment features include Azure Portal, Azure Resource Manager template, Azure PowerShell, and Azure Tools for Visual Studio. Progent's consultants can help you build and maintain Microsoft Azure environments efficiently and economically by providing expertise with these technologies for managing Azure Virtual Machines.
Azure Storage delivers dynamic capacity and load balancing for primary storage hosted on Azure. An Azure General Purpose Storage account gives Azure subscribers access to storage services for Blobs, Tables, Files, Queues, and virtual machine disks. Each account includes a 500 terabyte capacity maximum. To get higher performance, you can subscribe to a Premium storage class and operate virtual machine workloads on solid state disks (SSDs).
Azure Blob storage for General Purpose Storage accounts is designed for large volumes of unstructured object data like documents, social media, archives, web content, log files and Big Data. Blobs are managed as containers, which makes it simpler to designate policies to groups of objects. To export blobs that are too massive to move over the Internet, you can ship physical media to Microsoft.
A separate category of Blob Storage is designed for applications that only require block or append blob storage. You can designate frequently used or infrequently used access patterns for block and append blobs (but not for page blobs). The ability to define data access patterns in Microsoft Azure Storage enables you to achieve an appropriate trade-off between cost and speed.
Table storage is economical cloud storage designed for developers creating schemaless metadata such as contact books, device information, or web apps. Azure Table Storage supports the OData protocol for advanced querying and supports JSON and XMLd AtomPub formats. Queue storage simplifies the creation of messaging applications by handling asynchronous communication between software components across cloud-based and physical systems. Microsoft Azure File storage accommodates SMB shares, which simplifies migrating older applications to the Azure cloud.
Microsoft Entra, formerly branded Azure Active Directory, is a cloud directory and identity management service that enables password synchronization and single sign-on (SSO) across on-premises and cloud-hosted infrastructure. Microsoft Entra ID is incorporated in Microsoft 365, Salesforce.com, DropBox, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, and many other popular apps. Features include multi-factor identification, endpoint registration, password synchronization across cloud and local systems, privileged account management, granular role-based access control (RBAC), application usage monitoring, security monitoring and reporting, and alerts. Azure Entra integrates transparently with Windows Server Active Directory to make it simple to combine on-premises and cloud-based identities. Azure offers advanced reliability by storing your directories on a minimum of three separate facilities.
The Azure Entra Connect utility has replaced Windows Azure Active Directory Sync (DirSync), Azure AD Sync and Forefront Identity Manager as the preferred means to connect local directories and synchronize identity data with Active Directory, Office 365 and SaaS cloud-hosted applications.
Azure Backup is a managed cloud-based backup service for offsite backup of local, cloud, and hybrid cloud/local environments. Three copies of protected data are stored in one Azure facility, and three additional backups can be housed in a geographically separate Azure site. Microsoft offers Service Level Agreements for 99.9% reliability, and retention in the Azure cloud is available for as long as 99 years. You can schedule backups for daily, monthly, weekly, and yearly cycles, and restoration is quicker and less expensive than old-style tape-based technology. Backups are encrypted prior to being sent across a secure connection to Azure, and backups are retained encrypted. The encryption key is kept locally for better compliance. Other features include throttling to take advantage of low-traffic hours, data compression to improve throughput and lower storage requirements, and incremental backups to conserve bandwidth. Azure Import/Export allows you to perform your initial backup locally and deliver a physical drive to the nearest Azure facility.
Azure Backup can be integrated seamlessly with System Center Data Protection Manager to offer specialized support for Microsoft's mission-critical platforms including Exchange, SQL Server, SharePoint Server, and Windows Hyper-V. System Center Data Protection Manager works transparently with Windows Hyper-V Volume Shadow Copy Services to backup virtual machines without disrupting their operation. SCDPM also offers product-specific granular restore features such as mailbox restoration for Exchange, database-level restore for SQL Server, and Item Level Recovery for SharePoint Server. Azure Backup environments integrated with SCDPM can be tracked with System Center Operations Manager to watch over system health, performance, and utilization.
How Progent's Experts Can Assist You with Microsoft Azure Environments
If you want to move your network to the Microsoft Azure cloud or build a hybrid environment that combines on-premises and cloud-based resources, Progent's consultants can help you assess the advantages of the Azure line of products and services vs. competing public clouds or alternative networking models such as colocation. Progent can help you with any and every stage of Azure migration such as benefits analysis, solution design, proof of concept, configuration, centralized management, performance optimization, license management, disaster recovery planning, cybersecurity planning, and compliance validation.
Progent can assist you to determine which of your mission-critical applications are a good fit for Microsoft Azure and help ensure your older apps are cloud ready. Progent can provide cost-effective as-needed expertise to help you quickly get past occasional technical hurdles or Progent can deliver end-to-end project management outsourcing services to ensure your Microsoft Azure integration initiative is completed on schedule and within your budget.
For setting up centralized administration of a hybrid cloud network that includes Microsoft Azure services, Progent can provide Microsoft System Center support including System Center Data Protection Manager (SCDPM) consulting, System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) support services, System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) consulting, System Center Virtual Machine Manager hybrid cloud management consulting, and Microsoft Intune mobility management consulting.
Cloud-integrated solutions must provide a secure, easy-to-manage, user-friendly, and reliable way for user to access both local cloud applications and services. Progent has a wealth of experience configuring IPsec VPN connections and setting up or debugging firewalls to link to Microsoft Azure. Progent offers fast online access to Cisco-certified CCIE network integration consultants and to firewall experts certified by top vendors like Symantec, Barracuda, and WatchGuard to assist you to configure or debug firewalls for integrating your on-premises network with Microsoft Azure. Progent also supports mobile users by offering the skills of Apple iPhone and iPad technology experts as well as Google Android connectivity experts to assist you to set up and manage handheld devices connected to your Azure environment. If you come up against problems with your Microsoft Azure solution, Progent has experience working with Microsoft's support engineers to fix issues with Azure.
Common samples of online expertise Progent has delivered to organizations to help them create and maintain their Azure-connected information systems include:
Other Cloud Platforms Supported by Progent's Cloud Integration Experts
Services offered on public clouds like Azure are growing rapidly in volume and sophistication. Choosing the right options is increasingly difficult. Most enterprises have hybrid IT networks that utilize multiple public cloud and at the same time manage on-premises datacenters. Office 365 line of apps, such as Exchange Online and Skype for Business Online, depend on Azure infrastructure and provide alternative paths to Azure's IaaS products. Progent can assist your organization to assess the business benefits of the service portfolios of the major cloud vendors and can show you how to plan, integrate, and manage network ecosystems that include a mix of public and private clouds along with on-premises facilities.
Other public clouds supported by Progent include:
Microsoft supports seamless hybrid environments that integrate Microsoft 365 and local Exchange. This allows you to have certain Exchange mailboxes hosted on your physical datacenter and other mailboxes hosted by Microsoft 365. Progent's Microsoft-certified consultants can help you with any phase of designing, implementing and debugging your hybrid Exchange network. Progent's Exchange consultants can deliver as-needed support to help you through challenging technical problems and also can provide comprehensive project management outsourcing or co-sourcing to make sure your hybrid Microsoft 365/Exchange initiative is completed on schedule and on budget. For more information about Progent's consulting services for integrating Microsoft 365 Exchange and on-premises Exchange environments, go to Exchange Online integration solutions with on-prem Exchange.
Progent's certified Office and Microsoft 365 consultants can help businesses of any size to incorporate Microsoft Office desktop and Microsoft 365 applications such as Excel, Office Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Microsoft Access, Project and OneNote into a cohesive solution that offers fast return on investment and promotes improved business results. Progent can assist you to interface Microsoft Office or Microsoft 365 applications with each other and with other core Microsoft technologies such as SharePoint, Exchange Server and SQL Server running locally or hosted in the cloud. Progent's consultants can also help you to fix compatibility issues with various versions of Office and offers customized online Office and Microsoft 365 training to individuals or teams.
Progent's Amazon AWS cloud planning and integration consultants offer affordable online support to help companies to access Amazon AWS cloud services such as Amazon EC2 for virtual server hosting, Amazon S3 for expandable low-latency storage, and Glacier for low-cost long-term archiving. Progent can help your IT team with every aspect of Amazon AWS integration including requirements analysis, preparedness assessment, architectural design and review, testing, configuration, administration, performance tuning, software license management, backup/restore mechanisms, and security and compliance. Progent offers advanced expertise with firewall configuration and VPN access and can show you how to create cloud-based or hybrid networking models that seamlessly incorporate Amazon AWS resources. Progent offers as-needed support or Progent can provide project management outsourcing services to help you migrate smoothly to the Amazon AWS cloud platform.
Amazon Marketplace Web Service (Amazon MWS) is an integrated library of APIs that enables Amazon sellers to improve the efficiency of their operations by automating key sales activities including listings, orders, payments, inbound and outbound fulfillment, and reports. By leveraging Amazon's vast online selling environment and automating their sales, merchants can broaden their market, reduce their cost of sales, improve reaction time to customers, and add to their profits. Progent's Amazon Marketplace Web Service (Amazon MWS) developers can work with your development staff and provide application programming, workflow integration, project management support, and training to help you shorten development time and costs and expedite your ROI.
Progent's Google Cloud Platform (GCP) planning and integration experts offer cost-effective online and on-premises consulting to help companies to move all or part of their core IT infrastructure to Google Cloud Platform services. This can save management hassle and equipment costs and enable access to Google's cutting edge AI and machine learning technology. Progent can assist your IT team with every phase of Google Cloud Platform migration and troubleshooting including needs analysis, preparedness evaluation, architectural design and review, testing, configuration, centralized administration, performance tuning, licensing management, backup/restore mechanisms, and security strategies.