Expanding your telecommuter workforce can have a major impact on IT architecture, security/compliance, and company processes. Progent has two decades of experience helping small and mid-size businesses to design, deploy, manage, tune, and troubleshoot IT environments that incorporate work-from-home employees. Progent can assist your Rancho Cordova organization to select the appropriate tools and adhere to best practices in building and operating a safe virtual office solution for telecommuters that promotes teamwork and returns top business value. Progent can provide support services ranging from as-needed guidance for helping you over occasional technical roadblocks to comprehensive project management to help you carry out mission-critical initiatives.

Progent can help Rancho Cordova, California companies to succeed with any aspect of building a high-functioning work-at-home ecosystem by delivering network infrastructure configuration services, IP voice expertise, video conferencing support, collaboration platform customization and training, public cloud integration, Help Desk augmentation, endpoint security, data protection solutions, and centralized management.

Network Infrastructure for a Remote Workforce
Integrating the network infrastructure needed for a remote work environment can be especially complex if you must manage a combination of personal hardware such as PCs and laptops, routers, and wireless APs from different vendors and with a mix of OS software and firmware releases. Progent's background providing remote support for both outdated as well as modern technologies in virtual office venues enables you to make efficient use of your existing network infrastructure and provides you with fast access to expertise for making necessary updates. Support services offered by Progent to help you to create a high-functioning work-at-home infrastructure include:

  • Virtual Private Network technology makes it possible to establish a safe connection for authenticated remote workers to use IT assets situated at your corporate data center or in a public cloud. Progent can help you to deploy and manage VPN access between your teleworkers and your various network resources by providing remote VPN integration support. For organizations with Cisco's ASA firewalls, Progent's Cisco-certified ASA Firewall consultants can assist your at-home workers to utilize Cisco's popular AnyConnect client software for safe VPN connections for a broad selection of devices such as Microsoft Windows, macOS, iOS, Linux, and Android.
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) products allow a teleworker to view and use a remote computer's desktop. This technology gives IT managers substantial control over the computing environment of telecommuters and offers remote users a familiar experience. Progent's virtual desktop consulting services include Windows Remote Desktop support and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops expertise.
  • Routers attach at-home networks to the Internet and support VPN connections, local Wi-Fi connectivity, and firewall services. Progent offers top-tier remote support for configuring home routers from a range of vendors. See router integration services from Cisco-certified consultants.
  • Home Wi-Fi networks, often supporting an entire household and visitors, are frequently utilized by at-home employees to connect to their Internet router for work. This can create performance and cybersecurity issues. Progent can help you to mitigate these problems by delivering services that include Cisco Aironet configuration expertise, Cisco Meraki WiFi installation expertise, and Ubiquiti Unifi wireless access point setup assistance.
  • Internet connectivity methods impact the performance and reliability of connections between telecommuters and the corporate network. Business-critical applications might require backup Internet access in case the normal connection fails. Progent can provide guidance for picking ISPs, choosing sensible service offerings, and configuring fault-tolerant Internet access. Refer to Internet connectivity solutions.

VoIP Solutions for Teleworkers
Expanding the company phone environment to accommodate telecommuters is vital to maintaining an effective at-home workforce. A variety of cloud-centric IP voice products are used by SMBs to support telecommuters. Many enterprises rely on Cisco's modern or older products for IP voice solutions. Progent can help businesses of all sizes to plan or maintain a remote VoIP environment that delivers the flexibility, transparency and protection required for teleworkers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice consultants offer high-level support to help organizations optimize their current Cisco VoIP environments to handle a growing at-home workforce.

  • Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) extends enterprise telephony features to devices such as IP phones, media processing products, Voice over IP gateways, and multimedia apps used throughout the network. CUCM supports additional combined media services such as unified messaging, video conferencing, and team interaction networks. For details about Progent's Unified Communications Manager expertise, see Cisco Unified Communications Manager expertise.
  • Cisco CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing software and has been superseded by Cisco Unified CM or CUCM. Progent's consultants can help your company to support your existing CallManager deployment or upgrade smoothly to Cisco's modern IP telephony solutions. To find out about Progent's support services for Cisco CallManager and Cisco's other legacy VoIP products, refer to CallManager expertise.
  • Cisco IP Gateways enable integration with public telephony networks and with clients working outside the corporate firewall such as telecommuters. Progent can provide expert support for Cisco's earlier generation IP gateways like the UC520, UC540 and UC560 products as well as for current Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateway integration expertise.
  • Other VoIP Products supported by Progent's consultants include Vonage, RingCentral and 8x8. Progent can help you to update your WAN architecture to support these solutions and deliver online integration and troubleshooting services.

Video Conferencing for Telecommuters
A wide selection of voice/video conferencing platforms from major vendors support virtual discussions, video and voice conferencing, chat sessions, and screen/content sharing for both onsite users and at-home workers. Many organizations use a mix of conferencing products to meet the needs of their various partners and clients. Progent's communications experts can assist you to maintain your existing conferencing ecosystem and optimize the engagement of your remote workforce.

  • Skype for Business is Microsoft's leading unified communications platform that enables real-time presence, instant messaging, audio and video conferencing plus the transparent integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 productivity software including PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. Progent can provide the expertise of Microsoft-certified consultants who can help you to configure and maintain Skype for Business clients to accommodate your at-home workforce. To learn more about Progent's support expertise for Skype for Business, visit Skype for Business consulting services.
  • FaceTime is Apple's multiuser video phone app for compatible iOS and macOS computers and smartphones. FaceTime works on Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Newer editions of FaceTime support as many as 32 simultaneous users for voice/video calls. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Apple FaceTime, see Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
  • Webex Meeting Center supports remote conferencing for most computing devices. Delivered through Cisco's Webex Cloud, Webex capabilities include sharing specific content or computer screens, presentations that incorporate rich media such as Microsoft PowerPoint and Flash videos, network-based capture, 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, refer to Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
  • Teams is Microsoft's next-generation replacement for Skype for Business. Teams provides a portal for conversations, contacts, and content with capabilities such as voice/video calling, persistent threaded chat, plus file sharing. For details about Progent's support services for Teams as well as for other Microsoft 365 products, refer to Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
  • Additional Conferencing Apps supported by Progent's conferencing experts include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can deliver integration and troubleshooting expertise for these products and assist you to tune your WAN infrastructure to run them.

Microsoft Collaboration Software for Teleworkers
Microsoft's collaboration products are closely integrated with Microsoft's familiar Office and Microsoft 365 families, offering a powerful ecosystem of productivity apps that create a consistent user interface for sharing information throughout a corporate network and on a broad selection of endpoints. Progent has provided remote consulting services for Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange Server since their original releases and can assist your company to deploy these critical collaboration platforms to maximize the effectiveness of your remote workers.

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 and Teams Premium Solutions Experts for TelecommutersMicrosoft Teams works on top of Microsoft 365 and integrates with third-party cloud services to deliver real-time collaboration and communication. Designed as a replacement for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium can support chat, audio/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 relies on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Azure Entra (formerly branded Azure Active Directory) for supporting its full range of features. For additional information about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium, see planning and deployment consulting for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium.

SharePoint Deployment Experts for Remote WorkersSharePoint uses web entities to allow collaboration and knowledge sharing by offering policy-based access to content, workflow, and tools for searching through company-wide information silos. SharePoint permits you to create protected web portals that enables at-home workforce to see and update consolidated corporate intelligence via Intranets (Wikis), Blogs, social networking web sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). To learn about Progent's SharePoint support services, see SharePoint configuration and development consulting.

Exchange Integration Consultants for At-Home WorkersExchange 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 support services, see integration consulting for Exchange.

Microsoft Onedrive Configuration Experts for Remote WorkersOneDrive is Microsoft�s shared cloud-based file hosting and synchronization service, comparable to GoogleDrive. Remote workers can save files to the OneDrive service, and colleagues anywhere can share them safely through a web browser. Included with Office 365, OneDrive enables remote workers to jointly author documents. Edits made offline are synced when you go back online. To find out about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft OneDrive, go to Onedrive configuration experts.

Cloud Integration for Telecommuters
Progent offers fast and affordable online assistance for enabling businesses to build, manage and troubleshoot integrated hybrid network models that include internal data centers, telecommuters, branch offices, and public cloud services. Progent can provide top-tier consultant for all types of public cloud service delivery including Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help at-home workers fix problems with public cloud access, authentication, and security.

Microsoft Azure Integration for TeleworkersAzure is a popular platform for public cloud software and services that allows you to utilize IT infrastructure, virtual servers, and critical apps hosted on Microsoft's extensive cloud. Azure features over 100 cloud-based services including hosting for Windows and Linux-based VMs, on-demand cloud storage, messaging, application development with Visual Studio, and data protection. Progent can help you to deploy virtual machines on Azure Virtual Machines, configure storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity management with Azure Active Directory, and plan data backup and recovery solutions with Azure Backup. Progent's cloud experts can also show you how to establish protected connections to Azure for telecommuters by configuring and troubleshooting firewall appliances and VPN tunnels. For information about Progent's expertise for Microsoft Azure, refer to Azure expertise.

Microsoft 365 Integration Services for Remote WorkersMicrosoft 365, previously branded Office 365, is Microsoft's growing suite of business productivity applications and cloud services offered on a subscription basis. Microsoft applications and services are marketed in a variety of plans designed for customers ranging from individuals and small offices to large enterprises. Progent offers fast and affordable online contact with experts familiar with Microsoft 365-compatible endpoints running Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android operating systems. Progent can assist you to evaluate the various subscription bundles offered with Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 applications for your remote workers to achieve maximum business value. To find out about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft 365, go to Microsoft 365 integration support.

Microsoft 365 Exchange Online Integration for TeleworkersMicrosoft 365 Exchange Online is one of the most widely used cloud-based applications in the Microsoft 365 product suite. Exchange Online provides the advantages of reduced spending for physical infrastructure, easier management, on-demand scaling, high reliability, and other benefits inherent with public clouds. Microsoft has engineered Exchange Online to run smoothly with on-premises Exchange environments, enabling you to build hybrid information systems. Progent's certified Exchange consultants can provide as-needed help to guide you through tough technical roadblocks and also offer end-to-end project management outsourcing to ensure your at-home workers have convenient and secure access to your Microsoft 365 Exchange Online deployment. To find out Progent's expertise for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, go to Microsoft 365 Exchange Online configuration and support consulting.

Amazon AWS Integration Services for At-Home WorkersAmazon Web Services (AWS) is a pioneer in the public cloud computing arena and is the industry's top provider of cloud-based services. Progent can provide quick and economical online access to cloud integration consultants who can assist your business to design, implement, maintain, and debug hybrid information networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with local resources and with other public clouds like Microsoft Azure. Progent also offers the skills of Cisco-certified CCIE networking consultants to help you to build a high-uptime network architecture so your users have a consistent computing environment whether they are working from your headquarters, a branch office, from home, or on the move. For information about Progent's expertise for Amazon AWS, go to Amazon AWS integration services.

Google Cloud Integration for TeleworkersGoogle Cloud Platform (GCP) is a leading collection of cloud computing services that offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco consulting experts can help you to extend your current IT assets with the Google Cloud, and Progent's database consultants can show you how to make your key apps cloud friendly so your remote workers can take full advantage of Google Cloud Platform services. Progent can help your organization to deploy VMs on GCP Compute Engine, plan an efficient storage system with GCP Storage, and streamline access control for telecommuters with GCP Cloud Identity services. Progent's consultants can also assist your organization to use GCP's unified management technology to control and monitor your Google Cloud ecosystem. For information, go to Google Cloud Platform (GCP) consulting services.

Help Desk Services for At-Home Workers
A rapid, company-wide transition to a telecommuter business model, which might be driven by an epidemic or as a component of a disaster recovery preparedness plan, can overstretch even the most efficient in-house Support Desk. Progent's Help Desk Call Center services allow businesses of any size to outsource or augment their Call Center with Progent's online Technical Response Center (TRC) services.

  • Progent's Standard Help Desk Call Center support services utilize Progent's extensive team of remote IT support specialists along with enterprise-class trouble ticketing and tracking software to offer an economical, state-of-the-art Support Desk. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services offer an end-to-end solution that addresses all aspects of online Level 1 PC support from service requests to ticket creation, screen sharing, issue resolution, and incident reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal allows teleworkers to track or update their current trouble tickets, enter details, and upload screenshots or attachments. Desktop support services are provided at a significant price reduction off Progent's ordinary Level 1 desktop support charges, and Progent makes available the option of fast hand-off to Level 2 and Level 3 support experts to resolve complex problems. For more information, see Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services for small companies.
  • Progent's Help Desk Call Center Augmentation Service enables you to expand your current Call Desk team by sharing responsibilities for Help Desk services seamlessly between your in-house IT support personnel and Progent's extensive pool of PC support technicians and subject matter experts. Progent's co-managed Call Center service is based on a collaborative support solution utilizing the leading professional services automation (PSA) tool for managing help requests and ticketing, establishing responsibility, monitoring progress, and generating management reports. To learn how Progent's Call Desk Augmentation Services can enable your business to provide best-in-class technical support to your from-home workers, visit Progent's Call Desk augmentation Services.

Security for At-Home Workers
At-home workers commonly utilize their own computing devices and usually operate in an unsecured physical environment. This situation increases their susceptibility to cyber threats and requires judicious configuration of firewalls, anti-malware tools, multi-factor authentication, remote endpoint monitoring, extensive user education, and the creation of policies based on best practices. Progent's veteran roster of cybersecurity support experts can help your business to design, configure and manage a compliant cybersecurity solution that protects vital IT resources in environments that incorporate an at-home workforce.

Firewall Integration Services for At-Home WorkersFirewalls enable companies to create a network that can be safely accessed by local users as well as by teleworkers, mobile workers, vendors, customers, and the public. Next-generation firewall devices permit you to configure and manage different permissions to different classes of users and to scale your network and adjust your security profile as your business evolves and as cyber threats become more sophisticated. Progent works with both current and older firewall devices from all leading manufacturers like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Juniper, and Fortinet. For more information about Progent's firewall support services, visit firewall support expertise.

Remote Endpoint Monitoring Services for At-Home WorkersOnline Endpoint Monitoring makes it possible to track the disparate computers used by remote workers and either reject or identify and respond to the latest cyber attacks like ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring services, a small-footprint agent is installed on every secured endpoint, watching all activity and utilizing advanced machine learning and full execution context from SentinelOne to identify zero-day threats at inception. When an attack is spotted, ProSight Active Security Monitoring immediately disconnects the targeted endpoint from the corporate network to contain the threat. Since the ProSight ASM agent is autonomous, endpoints stay secure even when they are offline. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. To find out more about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, refer to remote endpoint monitoring for remote workers.

Two-factor Authentication (2FA) Services for At-Home WorkersProgent's Duo MFA Service Plans incorporate Cisco's Duo technology to protect against password theft by using two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo supports single-tap identity verification with Apple iOS, Google Android, and other personal devices. With Duo 2FA, when you log into a protected application and enter your password you are asked to verify your identity on a device that only you have and that uses a different network channel. A broad selection of out-of-band devices can be utilized as this added form of authentication such as a smartphone or wearable, a hardware token, a landline telephone, etc. You may designate several validation devices. To learn more about ProSight Duo identity validation services, go to Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for remote workers.

Security Audit Services for At-Home WorkersSecurity Audits can evaluate the vulnerability of your network to all types of external and local security threats for a network that includes remote workers. Progent can run remote, automated cybersecurity analysis software for quickly and affordably uncovering a broad range of security gaps that can be surfaced over the Internet. Progent's endpoint security audit experts, which can be provided by network security experts with top credentials including CISM, ISSAP, and GIAC, can help you to evaluate your processes and governance policies and assess your IT infrastructure to allow you to design the highest level of protection for your remote workers.

NodeZero Pen Testing for Work-from-Home EnpointsHorizon3.ai's NodeZero Penetration Testing Platform is a leading-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that can deliver automated testing of your at-home environment as well as your internal and perimeter networks so you can uncover, rank, fix, and verify security weaknesses before malicious hackers can take advantage of them. Progent can help you to deploy NodeZero to carry out thorough penetration tests of your perimeter and your internal network in order to determine your current security profile. Progent can also help you to strengthen your existing network security and can assist you to plan and implement a unified cybersecurity strategy that simplifies management and provides optimum cyber defense for on-prem, cloud-based, at-home, and perimeter IT assets. To learn more information about Progent's threat analysis services based on on NodeZero's penetration test products, refer to Consulting Services for NodeZero's PEN Test Platform.

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

Data Protection for At-Home Workers
Data Protection covers backing up and recovering critical information so as to avoid data loss and reduce restoration time in case of storage failures due to equipment breakdowns, software hiccups, human mistakes, malware, or any other reason. Reliable data protection solutions can be particularly challenging to design and manage in hybrid networks that combine local data centers, cloud resources, and at-home workers.

  • Backup/Recovery strategies for an at-home workforce must cover diverse types of user-owned endpoint devices. Progent offers quick online help from experts familiar with a broad range of products for protection Windows, Apple and Linux/UNIX powered servers and desktop computers as well as notebooks, iOS and Android tablets and handhelds. Leading backup/restore solutions supported by Progent's data protection consultants include Barracuda Backup, Microsoft Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, CrashPlan, Retrospect, and Time Machine. To back up data spread across a wide area network, Progent can provide ProSight Data Protection Services, a managed backup/recovery service that uses cloud-based storage and features fine-grained recovery and unified management.
  • Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity plans typically anticipate circumstances that call for a temporary changeover to an at-home workforce. Progent's expert disaster recovery preparedness experts and business continuity consultants can assist you to create, document and validate a DR/BC strategy that includes the process of switching to telecommuting.

Unified Management for Teleworkers
Microsoft has renamed and reshuffled its endpoint management products under the title Endpoint Manager, which encompasses Intune for cloud management of mobile and remote endpoints and Configuration Manager for managing local computers. Microsoft Endpoint Manager features a unified environment for safeguarding corporate information by managing onsite, mobile, and at-home endpoint devices.

Microsoft Intune
Intune is a component of Microsoft's Endpoint Management suite that also includes Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and securing off-premises computers and software. Remote endpoint devices can be user owned or company owned. IT administrators managing the enrolled endpoint computers of teleworkers can utilize Intune to deploy and validate apps on devices, push patches and certificates, set up policies for accessing information and resources, manage passwords, establish VPN tunnels, control how telecommuters share data, set up threat defense, ensure compliance, and delete sensitive information from missing, stolen or decommissioned endpoint devices. Intune can be used with Apple iOS, Google Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X devices. To learn about Microsoft Intune and how Progent can help you to use this platform to administer the endpoint devices of your teleworkers, see Intune telecommuter device management consultants.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is an advanced unified Mobile Device Management (MDM) platform that helps network administrators to keep offsite endpoint devices current and secure. Workspace ONE uses VMware AirWatch technology for centralized endpoint management along with VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery technology for authorization control, application management, and configuration management of endpoint computers. Workspace ONE operates with endpoints powered by Windows 10, macOS, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, or leading distros of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is offered by subscription as a cloud service or as an on-premises deployment through a one-time purchase. Top features of Workspace ONE include fast remote deployment of new laptops, quick onboarding of new employees, policy set up and enforcement for all classes of devices, unifies management reporting and analytics, email encryption, and seamless integration with Microsoft apps and cloud-based services. To learn about Progent's expertise for VMware Workspace ONE, visit VMware Workspace ONE mobile device management expertise.

Contact Progent for Remote Workforce Support Services
To get in touch with Progent about creating and managing an efficient telecommuter environment for your Rancho Cordova, California organization, phone 1-800-993-9400 or refer to Contact Progent.