Cloud Integration Consulting

Microsoft 365 (previously branded Office 365) is Microsoft's growing family of productivity software and cloud services available on a subscription basis. Microsoft 365 apps and cloud services are available in a selection of bundles, known as subscription plans, intended for markets ranging from individual and households to major enterprises.

The most popular Microsoft 365 titles can be installed on a variety of computers such as Windows PCs, Apple Macs, iPads, and iPhones and Android smartphones. Multi-device apps include versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Outlook. PC-only apps include Access for database management and Microsoft Publisher. To address individuals with multiple computing devices, many Microsoft 365 bundles allow you to install Microsoft 365 applications on more than one device. As an example, Microsoft 365 Business and ProPlus bundles permit each included app to be installed on up to five customer devices.

Progent offers quick and easy online access to a support consultant with expert knowledge of Microsoft, Mac, iOS, and Google Android technology. Progent can help you to understand the many subscription plans offered with Microsoft 365 and integrate your IT network with Microsoft 365 so it delivers the highest possible business advantage. Progent has experience supporting multi-vendor networks that include Microsoft Windows, Apple macOS or OS X, and Linux based products. Progent can also assist you to build and manage hybrid environments that seamlessly combine on-premises and cloud resources.

Microsoft 365 Apps and Cloud Services
Microsoft 365 plans are available to serve a wide range of markets including businesses of all sizes, schools, state and local government, home and nonprofits. Some subscription plans, such as Microsoft 365 Business Essentials, includes no applications but only Azure-based services. Other plans, such as Microsoft 365 Business, offers apps but only the OneDrive cloud service. The high-end Microsoft 365 Enterprise E5 plan includes seven applications and seven cloud-based services. Progent can assist your organization to select an Microsoft 365 package that's right for your business, assist you to migrate from outdated versions of Microsoft Office apps, and help you streamline the management of Microsoft 365 and other system resources to create a cost-effective, secure and productive IT ecosystem.

Major Microsoft 365 Apps
The most obvious difference between Microsoft 365 apps and their corresponding Office releases is that Microsoft 365 applications are subscription based instead of perpetually licensed. In addition, traditionally licensed Office applications are supposed to be installed on just one device at a time and are not updated automatically or replaced at no extra cost when a major new version comes out. For example, moving from Office Word 2013 to Word 2019 requires you to purchase a whole new license for Word. Incremental releases of Office applications are provided Microsoft 365 users faster than to users of permanently licensed editions. Also, Office suites bought with a perpetual license do not come with any of the Azure-based services bundled with Microsoft 365.

Client applications available with various Microsoft 365 plans include:

Microsoft 365 Word includes the ability to create and view Office documents across Microsoft Windows, Android, Mac, and iOS computers while presenting a common look and feel. You can also share documents, find out which colleagues are editing shared documents, and observe updates made by team members as they happen. As with Microsoft 365 Excel and Microsoft 365 PowerPoint, you can instantly share without leaving your documents. In addition, you can check who has rights to access a specific document and who is currently working on it. For documents you own, you can easily change authoring rights. Learn about Progent's Microsoft 365 Word consulting and training expertise.

Microsoft 365 Excel now allows subscribers to use the powerful Exponential Smoothing algorithm to create forecasts for projecting trends using past data. New data types that are tied to online sources in real time include Stock and Geography. Stock retrieves the latest stock price, price change, and other equities data. The Geography data type enables you to select a region and retrieve specified demographic or economic data like population or gas costs. As with Microsoft 365 Word and Microsoft 365 PowerPoint, Microsoft 365 Excel also supports Scalable Vector Graphics files. These can be turned, colored, and resized instantaneously without any loss in image quality. Find out about Progent's Microsoft 365 Excel consulting and training services.

Microsoft 365 PowerPoint lets you work with 3D objects and includes an enhanced selection of animation functions such as swinging and rotating. As with Office Excel and Word, Microsoft 365 PowerPoint allows you to transform sketches into standard shapes for flow charts, diagrams, and other objects. Microsoft 365 PowerPoint for Mac adds the ability to embed and edit movies from inside PowerPoint. The Media Browser utility provides easy access to a wide selection of media sources like iPhoto galleries, iTunes playlists, and iMovie collections as well as standard shapes, Clip Art, and other graphics.

Microsoft 365 Outlook offers important enhancements to prior versions of the Outlook email client application by introducing features such as the focused Inbox, automatic downloading of OneDrive attachments, visibility of replies to a conference invitation for people who are not conference organizers, simplified email organizing, plus more intuitive group creation and shared calendars. Also, Microsoft 365 Outlook subscribers can hear their messages read aloud as the sections being read are highlighted. Office intelligent services, when enabled, also allows Microsoft 365 Outlook subscribers to dictate messages. Microsoft 365 Outlook for Mac now supports push email, online archiving, the ability to suggest an alternative meeting time in response to a meeting invitation, and multiple calendar visibility. Full Screen Mode allows multiple open messages and permits subscribers to run two Outlook sessions in split-screen view. Learn about Progent's Microsoft 365 Outlook and Outlook on the web consulting and training services.

Microsoft 365 OneNote for Windows 10 is included in most Microsoft 365 bundles, pre-installed in Windows 10, and offered for download as a no-cost mobile app. The earlier OneNote 2016 version, which has some functions not initially provided in OneNote for Windows 10 such as Record Video, continues to be available for free but is no longer being updated. OneNote for Windows 10 sports a fresh customizable GUI consistent for Windows 10, Apple Mac, iOS, Google Android, and Web. Other functionality available exclusively on OneNote for Windows 10 include enhanced ink-to-text capability, a notification center that indicates changes in your open and recently used notebooks, automatic conversion of freehand drawings into standardized shapes, and a virtual ruler to create straight lines and measure distance.

Microsoft 365 Access, offered only on Windows PCs, enables you to use Visual Basic for Applications and an extensive set of templates to streamline business operations and build modern-looking forms and management reports. Microsoft 365 Access comes with the connector library to integrate data from a broad selection of leading business apps and data sources for creating aggregated reports from within the time-tested Access environment. The ability to store Access data in both SQL Server as well as Azure SQL gives you an enterprise-class database and SQL syntax for Access apps hosted either locally or in the Azure cloud. Microsoft Access 365 now includes an updated Linked Table Manager, allows you to add new charts and reports, and enables you to link or import data from Salesforce and Dynamics 365. Find out about Progent's Microsoft 365 Access consulting expertise.

Microsoft 365 Publisher, available exclusively for PCs, is a popular entry-level desktop publishing system that leverages the familiar Office interface to deliver an easy-to-use program for creating and sharing professional-looking documents such as fliers and newsletters that call for precise image placement. Because documents can be saved to the cloud, you can deliver a document as easily as sending a link. Publisher's wide use and simplicity make it possible to meet deadlines on time-sensitive projects without having to rely on the availability of a desktop publishing expert for implementing eleventh-hour changes.

Microsoft 365 Cloud Services
Microsoft 365 cloud services enable organizations to leverage Microsoft's extensive cloud infrastructure to host business-critical servers such as Microsoft Exchange, Teams and Skype for Business. These services provide enterprise-class levels of availability and protection while reducing the significant investment expense and management hassle associated with deploying and maintaining self-sufficient on-premises datacenters. For cases that require some systems to be located onsite for regulatory compliance, performance, or other issues, the majority of Microsoft 365 virtual server platforms can be deployed with hybrid network models that transparently combine local and cloud-hosted resources.

Microsoft 365 Exchange Online offers email hosting and allows mailbox capacity from 50 Gbytes to whatever you can afford. Important features include custom domain addresses, shareable calendars and address books, a web version of Outlook, single-click archiving, and easy creation of collaboration groups. The web-accessible Exchange admin center allows you to control email settings for your company and provides complete control over critical areas such as permissions, security and compliance, mail flow, making mailboxes and imposing limits, team work, address books, Unified Messaging, monitoring, and backup. Find out about Progent's Microsoft 365 Exchange Online integration and administration consulting.

Microsoft 365 OneDrive is Microsoft's popular file synchronization and sharing service. Microsoft 365 subscription plans usually come with 1 TB of OneDrive cloud storage, enabling you to store, access, and share files across Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac, or iOS and Android smartphones and tablets. By automatically synchronizing your files to your workstation, OneDrive allows you to revise documents even when you are not connected to the Internet. OneDrive facilitates sharing and collaboration, keeping track all changes to avoid versioning problems. You can initiate a team project on any device and move smoothly to another device at your convenience. For advanced collaboration, an array of tools allow you to notate and highlight shared documents. Advanced search features allow you to find files fast, and analysis tools offer useful information like the number of people who accessed or shared a file.

Microsoft 365 Skype for Business provides cloud-based voice, video, and conferencing. Skype's Online Plan 1 includes IM, real-time presence, VoIP, and video calling, plus Skype Connectivity. Online Plan 2 includes pre-scheduled and on-demand conferencing with A/V calling as well as screen and application sharing on Apple iOS and Google Android devices, Windows PCs, and Apple Mac computers. For hybrid networks that integrate an on-premises Skype for Business Server with Skype for Business Online services, you can create a seamless environment via a Split Domain implementation. Find out about Progent's Microsoft 365 Skype for Business Online solution design and integration expertise.

Microsoft 365 SharePoint Online integrates information management with internal web publishing to allow organizations to broadcast and share information and to facilitate teamwork. The SharePoint admin center now includes usage reports, Message Center posts, and a Service Health dashboard designed to streamline management. In addition, you are able to now connect current SharePoint team sites to Microsoft 365 Groups, expanding SharePoint sites with group conversations, calendar, and Planner. Features to support cloud coexistence now include hybrid taxonomy and auditing plus an updated development model for building SharePoint environments on-premises, in hybrid deployments, and in Microsoft 365. Learn about Progent's Microsoft 365 SharePoint Online configuration and development services.

Microsoft Teams is the successor of Skype for Business, offering a single hub for discussions, contacts, and information with persistent threaded chat, file sharing, and built-in IP voice and video conferencing. Microsoft has built the cloud environment that hosts Teams so it can deliver faster conference join speeds than Skype and to allow integration with Microsoft Cognitive Services like text-to-voice, language translation, speech recognition, and machine learning. Progent's consultants can assist you to test Microsoft 365 Teams to assess the benefits of adopting this innovative communication technology. Find out more about Progent's Microsoft Teams migration expertise.

Microsoft 365 Yammer is a social network product intended to be used within an enterprise and limited to clients who have an authorized corporate email address. Postings can be files, web links, media, PowerPoint shows, and SharePoint pages. The Discovery connection makes it easy to find information relevant to your job or interests as indicated by the groups you have joined, conversations you participate in, and people you correspond with. You can find conversations, files, groups, followers, and other information related to a specific co-worker. Group Insights inform you how events such as publishing, reading, and liking are trending historically. Notifications inform you about pertinent events such as updates in your groups, input to your conversations, and new participants.

Microsoft 365 Power BI is a stack of cloud services compatible with Microsoft 365 that enables you to build and share dashboards and on-demand management reports that offer up-to-date consolidated views into vital aspects of your business. Microsoft 365 Power BI dashboards can consolidate data from multiple internal and outside repositories like Microsoft Excel, on-premises SQL Server Analysis Service, the Azure cloud, or popular databases like QuickBooks, Google Analytics and Salesforce. Dashboards and reports developed on Power BI can be refreshed in real time via data streaming. You can store and distribute your dashboards in the cloud using Microsoft 365 OneDrive. Power BI Online mobile applications are offered for Windows computers as well as iOS and Android smartphones. Learn about Progent's Microsoft 365 Power BI Online design and development consulting and training.

Planning Activities for Microsoft 365 Migration
Progent can provide the services of a Cloud Solutions Architect to help your company to plan an efficient move to Microsoft 365 customized for your IT environment. Before proposing this migration project, Progent's cloud expert will conduct a series of information gathering exercises that include running tools such as IdFix, the Exchange Best Practices Analyzer (ExBPA), and custom scripts for reviewing your Active Directory, messaging, and Mobile Device Management arrangement. Key information that cannot be found using these methods will be found via interviews with your IT team.

Activities performed by Progent in developing an optimal Microsoft 365 migration plan can include:

• Hold a Project Kickoff meeting with your IT team to define project objectives, services to be utilized, customer and contractor roles, timelines, etc.
• Develop a Risk and Issue Tracking document.
• Create an Exchange Hybrid migration strategy explaining how new services and necessary changes to the environment will be made.
• Examine the existing Azure AD Connect Identity Management configurations and identify any gaps.
• Identify and develop a plan for mail-enabled applications such as multifunction printers, monitoring systems, and other systems that currently submit SMTP messages.
• Create end-user communication to be published by your Service Desk.
• Determine current Exchange mailbox volume and item counts to inform strategy for email migrations.
• Review your network bandwidth reports to verify there is adequate throughput and nominal latency to accommodate Microsoft 365.
• Examine your current Mobile Device Management system to ensure it will align with the Microsoft 365 service offering and capabilities.
• Run the IdFix utility to identify potential AD problems and uncover duplicate email addresses and user principal names (UPNs), invalid formatting for object attributes, and UPNs that have non-routable domains.
• Conduct an Architecture Review discussion with your IT staff to determine issues that might block a successful migration.
• Create a way to permit email to be directed to Dynamic Distribution Groups.
• Provide a list of ports and IP ranges for creating firewall rules.
• Help you to identify mailboxes that have been granted elevated rights to another mailbox.
• Develop an implementation plan that details the tasks associated with migrating to Microsoft 365.

ProSight Remote Management and Monitoring Services
Progent provides a selection of budget-friendly, fixed-price managed services intended to enable small and mid-size organizations to benefit from the same cutting-edge IT solutions deployed by many of the industry's leading enterprises. Progent's ProSight series of outsourced network management services covers all critical areas of information technology such as email protection, security and compliance, cloud-based backup/recovery, infrastructure health monitoring, virtual server cloud hosting, and IT asset documentation management. Find out more about Progent's remote management and monitoring (RMM) services.

Contact Progent for Microsoft 365 Expertise
If you are trying to find a Microsoft 365 consultant, call Progent at 800-993-9400 or visit Contact Progent.

Cloud Integration Solutions from Progent
The choices offered for public cloud services are increasing rapidly, making it difficult for IT managers to determine the right cloud strategy for their business. Progent has in-depth experience assisting companies ranging from startups to large enterprises to plan, implement, and maintain hybrid environments that combine multiple cloud products and services from leading public clouds. Progent's cloud integration consultants can help you to understand the relative benefits and pitfalls of different public cloud options and can show you how to build a cloud-based or hybrid ecosystem that delivers maximum competitive value.

Public cloud products and services supported by Progent's consultants include:

Progent's Azure integration consultants can help you with every aspect of Microsoft Azure migration including requirements analysis, readiness evaluation, solution design, pre-production testing, implementation, centralized management, performance optimization, license controls, disaster recovery strategies, security policy enforcement, and regulatory compliance assessment. Progent can assist you to set up and debug firewalls and VPN connections so your users can securely connect to Azure resources, and Progent's Microsoft-certified consulting experts can assist you integrate key Microsoft platforms to work in the cloud including Microsoft Windows Server, Exchange, SQL and Skype for Business. Progent can also help you to set up a hybrid environment that transparently integrates physical datacenters with Azure services.

Microsoft supports seamless hybrid environments that integrate Microsoft 365 and local Exchange. This permits you to have certain mailboxes hosted at your on-premises datacenter or private cloud and other mailboxes resident on Microsoft 365. Progent's certified Exchange consultants can assist you with any phase of planning, integrating and debugging your hybrid Microsoft 365/Exchange network. Progent's Exchange consultants can provide as-needed support to help you through challenging technical bottlenecks and also can provide extensive project management outsourcing or co-sourcing to make sure your hybrid Exchange initiative is carried out on time and on budget. For more information about Progent's online consulting expertise for integrating Microsoft 365 Exchange and on-premises Exchange environments, see Exchange Online integration solutions with on-prem Exchange.

Progent's Amazon Web Services (AWS) planning and integration consultants can provide cost-effective online support to help businesses of any size to integrate Amazon AWS cloud services such as Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) for virtual machine hosting, Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) for scalable cloud storage, and Amazon Glacier for low-cost long-term archiving. Progent can assist you with every phase of Amazon AWS integration including requirements analysis, readiness evaluation, system design, testing, deployment, centralized administration, performance tuning, software license management, backup/restore mechanisms, and security strategies. Progent can provide advanced expertise with firewalls and VPN technology and can show you how to deploy cloud-centric or hybrid networking models that efficiently incorporate Amazon AWS services. Progent can provide occasional expertise or Progent can provide project management outsourcing to help you migrate efficiently to the Amazon AWS cloud platform.

Amazon Marketplace Web Service is a library of APIs that allows Amazon sellers to streamline their operations by automating key sales functions including listings, orders, shipments, fulfillment, and reports. By leveraging Amazon's extensive online selling environment and automating their sales processes, merchants can broaden their market, lower their operating costs, accelerate response time to customers, and increase their bottom line. Progent's Amazon Marketplace Web Service developers can work with your development team and provide programming, workflow integration, project management support, and training so you can cut development time and costs and expedite your ROI.

Progent's Google Cloud Platform integration consultants offer cost-effective remote and on-premises consulting to assist companies of any size to migrate any portion of their core network resources to Google Cloud Platform (GCP). This can save management hassle and hardware expense and enable access to Google's state-of-the-art 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, pilot testing, deployment, centralized administration, performance tuning, licensing management, backup/restore mechanisms, and security strategies.