Computer Outsourcing for Mid-size Companies

Enlarging your remote workforce can have a major effect on IT infrastructure, security, and company workflows. Progent has 20 years of experience assisting SMBs to plan, deploy, manage, optimize, and troubleshoot IT networks that incorporate a remote workforce. Progent can help your organization to select the right tools and adhere to best practices in creating and maintaining a secure virtual solution for teleworkers that promotes collaboration and returns maximum business value. Progent can provide services that go from as-needed guidance for helping you over challenging technical bottlenecks to comprehensive project management or co-management to help you carry out business-critical tasks.

Progent's consultants can assist you to succeed with any facet of building a high-performing work-at-home environment by providing network infrastructure design and configuration services, IP voice troubleshooting, video conferencing integration, collaboration platform selection and deployment, cloud integration, helpdesk outsourcing, cybersecurity, backup/restore solutions, and unified management.

Infrastructure for Telecommuters
Configuring the physical and software infrastructure required to support an at-home work environment can be especially complicated if you must manage a combination of worker-owned hardware such as desktop computers and notebooks, Internet routers, and Wi-Fi appliances from an assortment of manufacturers and with a mix of OS software and firmware levels. Progent's background providing remote help for both outdated as well as current technologies in remote office venues allows you to make cost-effective use of your existing infrastructure and provides you with ready access to top-tire consultants for implement necessary updates. Services available from Progent to help you to create a high-functioning work-at-home ecosystem include:

• VPN connectivity makes it possible to establish a secure connection for authenticated at-home employees to access IT assets situated at your company data center or in a public cloud. Progent's consultants can assist your company to deploy and maintain VPN access between your teleworkers and your various network resources by providing remote VPN integration consulting. For organizations with Cisco's ASA security appliances, Progent's Cisco-certified ASA Firewall consultants can help your remote workers to set up Cisco's popular AnyConnect software for safe VPN tunneling for a wide selection of endpoint devices such as Microsoft Windows, Mac, iOS, Linux, and Android.
• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) platforms allow an at-home worker to see and use a remote computer's desktop. This technology provides IT managers substantial control over the computing environment of at-home employees and ensures remote users a consistent and more productive experience. Progent's VDI services include Windows Remote Desktop support and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI consulting.
• Routers attach at-home computer networks to the Internet and typically support VPN connections, home wireless networks, and firewalls. Progent can provide top-tier remote support for deploying home routers from a range of manufacturers. See router integration services from Cisco-certified consultants.
• Home Wireless networks, often shared by an entire household and guests, are frequently utilized by at-home employees to connect to their router for work. This can create throughput as well as cybersecurity problems. Progent can assist you to mitigate these problems by providing expertise that include Cisco Aironet integration expertise, Cisco-certified Meraki WiFi installation consulting, and Ubiquiti Unifi wireless access point integration assistance.
• Internet access solutions impact the performance and availability of connections between at-home workers and the corporate network. Mission-critical applications might require backup Internet connections in case the normal connection fails. Progent can provide expertise for identifying Internet service providers, picking appropriate bandwidth and data volume bundles, and integrating fault-tolerant Internet connections. See Internet access solutions.

IP Voice Integration for Teleworkers
Expanding the corporate phone environment to include teleworkers is critical to supporting a productive at-home workforce. A broad range of cloud-centric IP voice platforms are popular with SMBs to server remote users. Many enterprises rely on Cisco's current or legacy products for VoIP management. Progent can assist organizations of any size to design or tune a telecommuter IP voice environment that delivers the flexibility, transparency and protection required for remote users. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice consultants offer high-level support to help businesses optimize their existing Cisco VoIP systems to handle a growing at-home workforce.

• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM or CUCM) extends enterprise telephony capabilities to devices like IP phones, media processing products, VoIP gateways, and mixed media applications used across the network. Unified Communications Manager manages additional mixed media services such as messaging, voice/video conferencing, and customer interaction networks. For details about Progent's Cisco Unified CM or CUCM support, visit Cisco Unified CM consulting services.
• CallManager is Cisco's earlier call-processing software and has been superseded by CUCM. Progent's consultants can assist your company to maintain your existing CallManager environment or migrate smoothly to Cisco's modern IP telephony products. To find out about Progent's support services for CallManager and Cisco's other early VoIP products, refer to CallManager consulting services.
• Cisco IP Gateways enable connectivity with public telephony networks and with users operating beyond the corporate firewall like at-home workers. Progent offers expert support for Cisco's legacy IP gateways including the UC520, UC540 and UC560 product lines and for modern Cisco SIP gateways. See Cisco SIP gateway integration consulting.
• Other VoIP Platforms supported by Progent's consultants include Vonage, RingCentral and 8x8. Progent can help you to expand your wide area network architecture to support these VoIP solutions and provide as-needed configuration and troubleshooting expertise.

Video Conferencing for Remote Workers
A wide range of video conferencing platforms from major technology companies enable virtual meetings, video and voice conferencing, chat, and screen sharing for both onsite workers and at-home workers. Many organizations use multiple products to meet the needs of their various partners and customers. Progent's communications experts can help you to manage your current voice/video conferencing ecosystem and optimize the experience of your remote workforce.

• Skype for Business is Microsoft's popular communications platform that enables real-time presence, IM, audio and video conferencing plus the seamless integration of these functions within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 applications including PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook. Progent can provide the expertise of Microsoft-certified consultants who can assist you to configure and maintain Skype for Business client software to support your at-home employees. To learn more about Progent's consulting expertise for Skype for Business, refer to Skype for Business consulting experts.
• FaceTime is Apple's multiuser video phone app for compatible iOS and macOS devices. FaceTime works on Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Later versions of FaceTime support as many as 32 simultaneous users for video calls. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for FaceTime, see Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
• Webex Meeting Center provides online conferencing for virtually all desktop or mobile devices. Delivered via Cisco's Webex Cloud, Webex services include sharing discrete content or computer screens, presentations that incorporate rich media such as Microsoft PowerPoint and Flash videos, session recording, plus editing and playback for future reference. To learn more about Progent's support expertise for Cisco Webex as well as for additional IP video solutions from Cisco, see Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
• Teams is Microsoft's next-generation replacement for Skype for Business. Teams provides a portal for conferencing, contacts, and information with features that include IP voice and video calling, threaded chat, plus data sharing. For details about Progent's consulting services for Teams as well as for other Microsoft 365 products, visit Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
• Other Conferencing Apps supported by Progent's conferencing experts include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can provide integration and troubleshooting expertise for these conferencing platforms and assist your business to optimize your WAN infrastructure to host them.

Microsoft Integrated Collaboration Platforms for Telecommuters
Microsoft's collaboration platforms are tightly integrated with Microsoft's familiar Office families, providing a rich environment of productivity apps that create a cohesive user experience for sharing data and ideas throughout multiple sites and on a broad selection of endpoint computers. Progent has provided online consulting services for SharePoint and Exchange since their first publication and can help your company to tune these critical collaboration platforms to maximize the productivity of your remote workforce.

Microsoft's collaboration platforms are tightly integrated with Microsoft's popular Office suite, providing a rich ecosystem of applications that deliver a consistent user experience for sharing information across multiple sites and on a wide variety of endpoint devices. Progent has provided remote consulting services for SharePoint and Exchange since their initial releases and can help at-home workers set up and use these flagship collaboration platforms to maximize productivity.

Microsoft Teams works with Microsoft 365 and integrates with third-party cloud services to deliver real-time collaboration. Designed as a substitute for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium can support chat, video meetings with screen sharing, calling, cloud voicemail, group email, as well as file and application sharing. Teams is closely integrated with Microsoft 365 and depends on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Microsoft Entra (previously branded Azure Active Directory) for delivering its full range of capabilities. For additional information about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium, see planning and configuration expertise for Microsoft Teams.

SharePoint uses web entities to facilitate collaboration and knowledge delivery by providing policy-driven delivery of content, workflow, and tools for looking through company-wide business data. SharePoint permits you to build secure portals that enables remote workforce to see and edit consolidated business intelligence via Intranets (Wikis), Blogs, social networking web sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). For information about Progent's SharePoint consulting expertise, go to SharePoint configuration and application development expertise.

Exchange and Exchange Online offer secure collaboration features including public folders, shared mailboxes, and shared calendars and contacts. Progent's Microsoft certified Exchange experts can show you how to activate and utilize these features for your at-home workers. For information about Progent's Exchange consulting services, see integration consulting for Exchange.

OneDrive is Microsoft�s collaborative cloud storage service, comparable to GoogleDrive. At-home users can store files to OneDrive, and co-workers can retrieve them securely via a web browser. Included with Microsoft 365, OneDrive enables at-home employees to jointly author files. Revisions created offline are synced when you go back online. To find out about Progent's support services for OneDrive, refer to Onedrive configuration experts.

Cloud Integration Services for At-Home Workers
Progent can provide fast and affordable remote assistance for enabling organizations to create, maintain and troubleshoot integrated network architectures that include physical data centers, teleworkers, branch offices, plus public cloud resources. Progent offers expertise for all modes of cloud service delivery including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help at-home workers resolve issues with public cloud connectivity, identity, and security.

Azure is a popular platform for cloud software and services that enables you to use IT infrastructure, virtual servers, and critical applications hosted on Microsoft's extensive cloud. Azure offers more than 100 services services including the ability to host Windows and Linux-powered virtual machines, scalable cloud storage, email and messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and backup/restore. Progent can help your organization to set up virtual machines on Azure Virtual Machines, configure cloud-based storage on Azure Storage services, streamline identity management with Azure Active Directory, and design backup and restore solutions with Azure Backup. Progent can also show you how to create secure connections to Azure services for telecommuters by configuring and troubleshooting firewalls and VPN tunnels. To find out about Progent's consulting expertise for Azure, see Azure consulting.

Microsoft 365, previously called Office 365, is Microsoft's popular suite of business productivity software and cloud-based services offered by subscription. Microsoft applications and services are marketed in a selection of bundles intended for customers ranging from individuals and households to major enterprises. Progent offers quick and affordable remote access to experts knowledgeable about Microsoft 365-compatible devices running Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android technology. Progent's experts can assist you to evaluate the numerous subscription bundles offered with Microsoft 365 and configure 365 apps for your telecommuters in a way that delivers top business value. For details about Progent's support services for Microsoft 365, go to Microsoft 365 integration support.

Exchange Online is among the most popular cloud-based applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product suite. Exchange Online provides the benefits of lower costs for data center infrastructure, simplified management, on-demand scaling, high reliability, and additional benefits associated with cloud computing. Microsoft has engineered Exchange Online to operate seamlessly with local deployments of Exchange, allowing you to create hybrid information systems. Progent's certified Exchange consultants are available for as-needed help to guide you through challenging technical roadblocks and also offer comprehensive project management outsourcing to make sure your remote workers have easy and secure access to your Microsoft 365 Exchange Online deployment. For information Progent's support services for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, see Microsoft 365 Exchange Online configuration and support expertise.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a trailblazer in the public cloud market and is the world's biggest provider of cloud services. Progent offers rapid and affordable online access to cloud integration consultants who can assist your organization to plan, deploy, manage, and troubleshoot hybrid IT networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud services with local data centers and with other public clouds like Azure. Progent also offers the skills of Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to help you to create a high-availability network model so your users have a consistent computing experience regardless of whether they are working from your main office, a remote branch, at home, or on the road. To learn about Progent's consulting services for Amazon AWS, refer to Amazon AWS consulting services.

Google Cloud (GCP) is a popular set of cloud computing services that offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco consulting experts can help your organization to extend your current IT assets with the Google Cloud, and Progent's database consultants can help you make your critical apps cloud friendly so your remote workers can take full advantage of Google Cloud services. Progent can help you to deploy virtual machines on Google Cloud Compute Engine, plan an efficient storage solution with GCP Storage, and simplify access management for telecommuters with Google Cloud Identity. Progent's experts can also assist you to use GCP's management technology to administer and track your Google Cloud ecosystem. For information, see Google Cloud Platform (GCP) consulting expertise.

Help Desk Call Center Services for Telecommuters
A rapid, enterprise-wide changeover to a teleworker business model, which could be driven by a pandemic or as a component of a disaster recovery preparedness plan, can overstretch even a well-staffed internal Call Desk. Progent's Call Center services make it possible for businesses to outsource or supplement their Support Desk by using Progent's remote Technical Response Center services.

• Progent's Standard Call Desk support services leverage Progent's extensive network of remote IT support specialists combined with world-class ticketing and follow-up technology to provide an economical, advanced Call Desk. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services offer an end-to-end solution that addresses all aspects of online Level 1 PC technical support from initial service requests to trouble ticket generation, screen sharing, problem resolution, and incident reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal allows teleworkers to track or edit their active tickets, add information, and append screen captures or relevant files. Technical support services are delivered at a substantial price reduction off Progent's ordinary Level 1 technical service charges, and Progent offers optional rapid hand-off to Level 2 and Level 3 IT experts to deal with advanced issues. To find out more, visit Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services for small and mid-size businesses.
• Progent's Help Desk Call Center Supplemental Service allows your business to expand your current Call Center organization by splitting delivery of Help Desk support services transparently between your in-house IT support staff and Progent's extensive pool of desktop support engineers and subject matter specialists. Progent's co-managed Help Desk Call Center service uses a collective support solution based on the number one PSA platform for managing service requests and ticketing, establishing ownership, tracking progress, and generating management reports. For details about how Progent's Help Desk Call Center Augmentation Services can help your business to deliver best-in-class IT support to your at-home employees, go to Progent's Call Desk augmentation Services.

Security and Compliance for Remote Workers
Work-from-Home workers commonly use their own devices and usually work in a poorly secured physical area. This situation multiplies their susceptibility to malware threats and calls for careful deployment of corporate firewalls, anti-malware tools, multi-factor authentication, remote endpoint monitoring, thorough user education, and the creation of security policies based on best practices. Progent's veteran roster of data security support experts can help you to plan, deploy and manage an effective cybersecurity solution that guards vital information resources in environments that incorporate telecommuters.

Firewalls enable you to create a network environment that can be securely accessed by on-premises users as well as by teleworkers, mobile employees, vendors, customers, and the public. Next-generation firewall devices permit you to assign and manage appropriate permissions to different groups of users and to expand your network and modify your security profile as your company evolves and as cyber threats grow increasingly sophisticated. Progent supports both current and legacy security devices from all major manufacturers including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Juniper, SonicWall and Fortinet. For details about Progent's firewall support services, visit firewall integration and support services.

Remote Endpoint Monitoring makes it easy to watch over the disparate devices used by remote workers and either block or identify and mitigate the latest cyber attacks like ransomware. With Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring services, a lightweight agent is installed on every secured endpoint device, monitoring all activity and utilizing advanced machine learning from SentinelOne to detect new threats before they can spread. When an attack is spotted, ProSight Active Security Monitoring immediately isolates the infected endpoint device from the network to quarantine the threat. Because the ProSight Active Security Monitoring software agent is autonomous, endpoints stay protected even when they are offline. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. To learn more about ProSight ASM, go to remote endpoint security monitoring for teleworkers.

Progent's Duo authentication Services incorporate Cisco's Duo cloud technology to protect against password theft through the use of two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo supports one-tap identity confirmation with Apple iOS, Google Android, and other personal devices. Using 2FA, when you sign into a secured online account and give your password you are asked to confirm your identity on a device that only you possess and that uses a different ("out-of-band") network channel. A broad range of devices can be utilized for this added form of authentication including a smartphone or wearable, a hardware/software token, a landline phone, etc. You can register several validation devices. For details about Duo two-factor identity authentication services, visit Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for at-home workers.

Security Audits can evaluate the exposure of your information system to all types of external and internal security threats for an environment that includes at-home workers. Progent can run remote, automated security analysis scanning for quickly and economically detecting a broad range of security gaps that can be surfaced over the Internet. Progent's endpoint security audit experts, which can be managed by security experts with top certifications including CISA, CISSP, and GIAC, can help your company to evaluate your operations and policies and review your network infrastructure to enable you to design the highest level of protection for your at-home workers.

Horizon3.ai's NodeZero Pentest Platform is a leading-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that can deliver automated threat assessment of your at-home connectivity solution as well as your internal and perimeter networks so you can uncover, prioritize, fix, and verify security vulnerabilities before malicious hackers can exploit them. Progent's pentest experts can assist you to deploy NodeZero to perform comprehensive penetration tests of your network perimeter and your internal network so you can evaluate your present security posture. Progent's NodeZero experts can also assist you to harden your existing network security and can assist you to plan and implement a cohesive cybersecurity strategy that simplifies management and delivers optimum cyber defense for on-premises, cloud-based, at-home, and perimeter IT assets. To learn additional details about Progent's vulnerability assessment solutions based on on NodeZero's pentest products, see Consulting Services for NodeZero's PEN Test Platform.

Download White Paper: Protecting a Work-From-Home (WFH) Environment
To read or download a white paper about key areas to concentrate on for securing an IT environment that includes telecommuters, click:
Protecting a Work-From-Home (WFH) Network White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection Solutions for At-Home Workers
Data Protection involves saving and recovering vital data so as to avoid data loss and minimize recovery time in the event of storage problems due to equipment issues, programming glitches, user error, malware, or any other reason. Dependable data protection strategies can be especially challenging to architect and manage in hybrid networks that combine local data centers, public clouds, and an at-home workforce.

• Backup/Restore strategies for remote workers must cover multiple kinds of personally owned endpoint devices. Progent offers fast remote help from consultants familiar with a wide array of platforms for protection Windows, Apple and Linux/UNIX powered servers and desktop computers as well as laptops, iOS and Android tablets and smartphones. Popular backup/restore solutions maintained by Progent's backup/recovery experts include Barracuda Backup, Azure Backup, Symantec Backup Exec, CrashPlan, Mozy, and Time Machine. To protect data distributed across a hybrid network, Progent offers ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a managed backup/recovery service that uses cloud-based storage and features granular restore and unified management.
• Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity plans commonly anticipate scenarios that require a temporary switch to telecommuting. Progent's senior disaster recovery preparedness experts and business continuity specialists can help your company to create, document and test a DR/BC strategy that addresses the process of switching to an at-home workforce.

Unified Management for At-Home Workers
Microsoft has renamed and rebundled its endpoint management platforms under the title Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which includes Intune for cloud management of mobile and remote devices and Configuration Manager for managing onsite endpoints. Microsoft Endpoint Manager provides a unified solution for protecting critical data by controlling on-premises, mobile, and at-home endpoint devices.

Intune
Intune is a component of Microsoft's Endpoint Management suite that also includes Microsoft Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and protecting off-premises computers and software. Managed endpoint devices can be personally owned or business owned. Network admins managing the enrolled endpoint devices of telecommuters can utilize Intune to deploy and authenticate apps on devices, push updates and certificates, set up policies for permission to access information and resources, manage passwords, establish VPN tunnels, control how telecommuters share information, set up threat defense, verify security compliance, and delete corporate data from missing, stolen or deactivated endpoint devices. Intune runs with iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X devices. To learn about Intune and how Progent can help you to use Microsoft's Endpoint Management to manage the endpoint computers of your telecommuters, see Intune mobile device management expertise.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is an advanced centralized Mobile Device Management (MDM) product that helps network administrators to keep offsite endpoint devices current and protected. Workspace ONE uses VMware AirWatch for centralized endpoint administration combined with VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery platform for authorization control, app management, and configuration management of endpoint devices. Workspace ONE operates with endpoints powered by Windows 10, macOS, iOS, Google Android, Chrome OS, or leading distributions of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is available by subscription as a cloud-based service or as an on-site product via a one-time purchase. Key capabilities of Workspace ONE include rapid over-the-air provisioning of out-of-the-box laptops, quick onboarding of new employees, policy set up and enforcement for all categories of endpoints, aggregated reporting and analytics, an email encryption gateway, and integration with Microsoft applications and cloud services. To find out about Progent's expertise for VMware Workspace ONE, refer to VMware Workspace ONE mobile endpoint management expertise.

Contact Progent for Telecommuter Support Services
To contact Progent about building and maintaining an efficient telecommuter environment, phone 1-800-993-9400 or go to Contact Progent.