Cloud Integration Consulting

Microsoft Exchange Online is one of Microsoft's cloud-based applications included in the Microsoft 365 product line supported by Azure. Exchange Online provides the benefits of reduced investment in hardware infrastructure, easier management, on-demand scale, data protection, plus other advantages inherent with public clouds vs. on-premises IT facilities. Microsoft has designed Exchange Online to operate transparently with local deployments of Exchange, allowing you to build hybrid information systems. Hybrid networks combine local resources with cloud-based services to produce a unified IT solution.

Common reasons for integrating on-premises Exchange deployments with Microsoft 365 Exchange Online include compliance with government or industry standards or corporate restrictions that prohibit certain mailboxes from being located off premises, performance requirements involving server virtualization or cloud connectivity, the desire for more management control, the ability to support various non-standard or legacy environments, company culture, or business continuity plans. In addition, hybrid systems are typically implemented for migrating smoothly from a local to a Microsoft 365 Exchange Online cloud-centric model.

Whether you need a transitional hybrid Microsoft 365 Exchange Online deployment on the way to a migration to Azure or you intend to create a robust hybrid environment, Progent's Microsoft-certified consulting team can assist you with any facet of designing, integrating, administering, and debugging your hybrid solution. Progent's Exchange consultants offer as-needed assistance to guide you through stubborn integration issues and also can provide end-to-end project management outsourcing to ensure your hybrid Microsoft 365 Exchange Online implementation is completed on schedule and on budget.

Progent's Exchange specialists have valuable experience teaming with the Microsoft 365 technical support staff to resolve complex technical issues and Progent offers on-going expertise to assist you to manage and tune your hybrid Exchange Online ecosystem as your requirements change over time. Progent has two decades of experience delivering companies of all sizes advanced consulting support remotely, and Progent also offers onsite expertise in major metropolitan regions throughout the U.S. (See Progent's client testimonials.)

Hybrid Solutions for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online
A hybrid implementation of Exchange Online and onsite Exchange allows you to have a combination local and cloud mailboxes and offers other key capabilities including:

• Secure mail transfer with a domain namespace and an Outlook Web address shared between on-premises and Microsoft 365 cloud organizations
• A shared global address list with full recipient details
• A shared availability calendar
• Control of bi-directional mail travel across Microsoft 365 cloud networks
• Easy movement of mailboxes between on-premises Exchange and Microsoft 365 including Exchange ActiveSync profile redirection
• Local Exchange Administration Center (EAC) for centralized mailbox management
• Multi-mailbox search across local and Microsoft 365 mailboxes
• Exchange Online Archiving for local and cloud-hosted mailboxes
• Seamless incorporation with on-premises and cloud-hosted deployments of Skype for Business and SharePoint
• Support for Microsoft Edge Transport server to protect against spam and apply mail flow transport policies
• Single sign-on (SSO) via Azure Active Directory Connect, password sync, or Active Directory FS
• Active Directory FS integration allows multi-factor authentication and complies with FIPS

Exchange Online can be deployed under several hybrid models. Thorough planning with Progent's network design experts can save you significant time and money, since re-architecting an inappropriate implementation can be difficult and disruptive. Building an optimal hybrid Microsoft 365 Exchange Online ecosystem can be challenging. The degree of difficulty depends on the design of your existing email system and the functionality you intend to achieve. Major steps are:

• Define your strategic goals for your hybrid Microsoft 365 Exchange Online solution
• Evaluate your existing infrastructure and modernize as necessary
• Design and test your new network infrastructure
• Design a deployment plan and identify migration tools
• Identify on-premises vs. cloud users
• Choose required Microsoft 365 services and acquire licenses
• Add and test the domain of the cloud portal
• Update DNS records
• Use IdFix to resolve local AD issues reported by AD Connect and configure on-premises Active Directory and optionally AD FS
• Configure SSO and Directory Sync
• Assign licenses and create Accounts/mailboxes in Microsoft 365
• Move mailboxes to PSTs and move them from PSTs to Microsoft 365 mailboxes
• Register smartphones and tablets
• Move public folders
• Activate and Test services
• Optimize performance
• Patch and verify firewalls and proxy servers
• Educate network management staff and users

Microsoft offers an assortment of utilities to help you to streamline many of the tasks needed to create a hybrid network for Microsoft 365. These utilities include the Microsoft 365 Hybrid Configuration Wizard (HCW), Windows PowerShell, the Exchange admin center (EAC), the Microsoft 365 Deployment Readiness Toolkit, and the IdFix Directory Synchronization tool. Realistically, many parts of configuring a hybrid Microsoft 365 deployment are subject to technical missteps. Progent's Microsoft-certified consultants have worked at length with problems related to designing and rolling out hybrid Microsoft 365 deployments and can show you how to you follow leading practices to avoid problems, resolve them efficiently, and shield your clients from downtime.

How Progent Can Assist You to Integrate Microsoft 365 with Your Local Environment
Progent can assist you in every stage of moving to Microsoft Microsoft 365 Exchange Online and combining your local Exchange implementation with cloud-hosted Exchange. Progent can help you to prioritize your operational objectives, evaluate the readiness of your existing infrastructure, plan the architecture for a hybrid environment, devise a deployment plan, configure and verify a pilot system, install your hybrid system, centralize management tasks, optimize performance, manage licenses, provide expertise for disaster recovery plans, validate regulatory compliance, and deliver training for your IT team and users. Progent offers affordable online consulting services to help you to resolve stubborn problems, or Progent can provide end-to-end project management outsourcing to ensure you complete your hybrid integration of Exchange Online on schedule and within budget.

Besides Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, Microsoft offers other software packages within the Microsoft 365 product family. Included among these are Microsoft Teams, Skype for Business Online, SharePoint Online, and Microsoft Project Online. These packages can be integrated with one another in cloud-based or hybrid models. Progent's Microsoft-certified Microsoft 365 configuration experts can assist you to build hybrid solutions that combine Microsoft 365 packages and local infrastructure by providing services such as Windows Server consulting, Exchange integration, Microsoft Teams migration support, Skype for Business maintenance and troubleshooting, SQL Server integration and development, SharePoint planning and integration, Microsoft 365 integration and user training, Microsoft Project expertise, and Dynamics GP support.

To assist you to administer your hybrid network, Progent can provide System Center 2016 deployment help, System Center Data Protection Manager consulting, SCOM support, Configuration Manager support, Virtual Machine Manager hybrid cloud management consulting,

Typical examples of online and onsite consulting support provided by Progent's experts to help organizations to integrate Microsoft 365 with on-premises Exchange deployments include:

• Tidy up folders before exporting them into Exchange Online
• Configure authentication with Microsoft 365 and local Domain Users
• Configure Microsoft 365 Exchange Online and allocate purchased licenses
• Reconstruct profiles of Windows users
• Move Gmail accounts
• Perform manual mailbox migrations when required
• Register email accounts to iOS and Android smartphones and tablets
• Define and configure Exchange Online Archiving
• Set up local or hybrid spam filter gateways from other vendors
• Correct Exchange Online sync problems with Active Directory clients and Active Directory Global Security Groups
• Troubleshoot Outlook autodiscover problems
• Fix issues related to .PST and .OST files
• Specify, implement, verify, and rectify mail flow
• Troubleshoot Active Directory Federation Services and AD Connect identity management issues
• Utilize PowerShell for administration, diagnostics, and migration
• Work together with Microsoft support technicians to isolate and repair issues at Microsoft's end (for example, a misconfigured Connector)
• Troubleshoot message encryption issues
• Update on-premises Exchange Servers to current versions of Exchange and upgrade equipment
• Train Human Resources on procedure to delete email accounts for terminated workers

Other Public Cloud Integration Services from Progent
The options offered for public cloud services are increasing rapidly, making it a serious challenge for IT managers to determine the right cloud solution for their business. Progent has worked extensively helping companies of all sizes to plan, implement, and manage hybrid networks that integrate multiple cloud products and services from leading public clouds. Progent's cloud integration consultants can assist you to understand the comparative benefits and shortcomings of competing public cloud options and can help you build a cloud-centric or hybrid ecosystem that delivers maximum business value.

Public cloud products and services supported by Progent include:

Progent's Azure integration experts can assist you with every phase of Microsoft Azure integration including needs analysis, prerequisites evaluation, system architecture, pilot testing, implementation, centralized administration, performance tuning, license management, disaster recovery preparedness, security planning, and compliance assessment. Progent can assist you to set up and debug firewalls and VPN tunnels so your clients can securely access to Azure resources, and Progent's Microsoft-certified consultants can assist you integrate critical Microsoft platforms to work in Azure including Microsoft Windows Server, Exchange, SQL and SharePoint. Progent can also assist your organization to set up a hybrid environment that transparently integrates physical datacenters with Azure-based services.

Progent's Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365 consultants can assist businesses to integrate Microsoft Office desktop and Microsoft 365 apps such as Office Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access, Visio and Publisher into a cohesive productivity solution that provides quick ROI and promotes better business results. Progent can assist your company to integrate Microsoft Office or Microsoft 365 applications with one another and with other key Microsoft technologies such as SharePoint Server, Microsoft Exchange Server and Microsoft SQL Server running locally or hosted in the cloud. Progent's consultants can also help you to resolve compatibility problems between various releases of Office and can provide customized online Office and Microsoft 365 instruction to individuals or teams.

Progent's Amazon Web Services (AWS) planning and integration experts offer cost-effective online support to help companies to integrate Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud services including Amazon EC2 for virtual server hosting, Amazon S3 for expandable cloud storage, and Amazon Glacier for low-cost long-term archiving. Progent can assist you with every aspect of Amazon AWS migration and troubleshooting including needs analysis, readiness assessment, system design and review, pilot testing, configuration, centralized administration, performance tuning, licensing management, disaster recovery mechanisms, and security. Progent can provide advanced expertise with firewalls and VPN access and can help you deploy cloud-based or hybrid ecosystems that efficiently incorporate Amazon AWS cloud services. Progent can provide occasional expertise or Progent can deliver comprehensive project management outsourcing or co-sourcing services to help you move efficiently to the Amazon AWS cloud.

Amazon Marketplace Web Service (Amazon MWS) is an integrated collection of APIs that enables Amazon sellers to improve the efficiency of their business processes by automating crucial sales functions such as listings, orders, payments, fulfillment, and reports. By tapping into Amazon's extensive online ecosystem and automating their sales, merchants can broaden their market, lower their operating costs, accelerate response time to customers, and increase their profits. Progent's Amazon Marketplace Web Service (Amazon MWS) consultants can collaborate with your development team and provide programming, workflow integration, project management support, and training to help you shorten development time and expedite your ROI.

Progent's Google Cloud Platform integration experts offer cost-effective online and onsite support to help organizations of any size to move any part of their core IT infrastructure to Google Cloud Platform services. This can save time and equipment costs and enable the use of Google's cutting edge machine learning tools. Progent can assist your IT team with every phase of Google Cloud Platform migration and troubleshooting including needs analysis, preparedness assessment, architectural design, pilot testing, configuration, centralized administration, performance tuning, licensing management, backup/restore mechanisms, and security.