Expanding your remote workforce may have a major effect on network architecture, security/compliance, and company culture. Progent has 20 years of background assisting SMBs to design, deploy, administer, tune, and troubleshoot IT networks that incorporate a remote workforce. Progent can assist your Santa Monica organization to pick the right tools and adhere to leading practices in building and maintaining a secure virtual solution for teleworkers that promotes collaboration and returns top value. Progent can provide services that go from as-needed guidance for getting you over challenging technical bottlenecks to full project management to help you successfully complete mission-critical initiatives.

Progent's consultants can help Santa Monica, California businesses to succeed with any aspect of building a high-performing remote work ecosystem by delivering infrastructure configuration services, IP voice expertise, video conferencing support, collaboration platform customization and training, cloud integration, Help Desk augmentation, data security, data protection solutions, and streamlined management.

Network Infrastructure for a Remote Workforce
Configuring the physical and software infrastructure needed for an at-home work environment can be particularly complex if you must manage a mix of personal hardware such as PCs and notebooks, routers, and Wi-Fi appliances from different manufacturers and with a variety of operating systems and firmware levels. Progent's background providing online support for both legacy as well as current IT products in remote office venues allows you to make efficient use of your existing infrastructure and provides you with ready access to expertise for making essential upgrades. Services offered by Progent to help you to implement a high-functioning work-at-home infrastructure include:

  • VPN technology makes it possible to establish a safe connection for authorized remote employees to use IT assets situated at your corporate datacenter or in the cloud. Progent's consultants can assist you to deploy and maintain VPN access between your at-home workforce and your key network resources by providing online VPN integration consulting. For organizations with Cisco's ASA firewalls, Progent's Cisco ASA consultants can help your remote workers to utilize Cisco's AnyConnect software for secure VPN connections for a wide range of endpoint devices including Microsoft Windows, Mac, Apple iOS, Linux, and Google Android.
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) products enable a teleworker to view and use a data center PC's desktop. This technology provides network managers significant control over the digital environment of at-home employees and offers them a familiar work experience. Progent's VDI services include Windows Remote Desktop integration and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI solutions.
  • Routers connect at-home computer networks to the Internet and typically support VPN connections, local wireless networks, and firewalls. Progent can provide top-tier remote support for integrating home routers from a variety of vendors. See router integration services from Cisco-certified consultants.
  • Home Wireless networks, typically supporting an entire household and guests, are frequently used by at-home employees to connect to their router for work. This can create performance as well as security issues. Progent can help businesses to mitigate these issues by delivering expertise like Cisco Aironet configuration expertise, Cisco-certified Meraki WiFi deployment consulting, and Ubiquiti wireless access point setup help.
  • Internet access methods impact the speed and availability of connections between telecommuters and the company data center. Vital processes might demand backup Internet connections in case the normal connection fails. Progent can provide guidance for picking Internet service providers, picking sensible bandwidth and data volume bundles, and integrating high-availability Internet access. Refer to Internet connectivity integration services.

VoIP Integration for Teleworkers
Expanding the company PBX system to accommodate remote users is critical to maintaining a productive work-at-home solution. A variety of cloud-centric VoIP products are used by SMBs to support telecommuters. Many enterprises depend on Cisco's current or legacy products for VoIP management. Progent can assist organizations of any size to plan or maintain a remote IP voice service that provides the versatility, transparency and security required for remote users. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE Voice consultants can provide advanced support to assist businesses optimize their existing Cisco IP voice environments to support a growing at-home workforce.

  • Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) delivers high-end IP telephony features to devices such as IP phones, media processing platforms, VoIP gateways, and multimedia apps used throughout the network. Unified Communications Manager manages additional mixed media services such as unified messaging, voice/video conferencing, and customer collaboration networks. For details about Progent's Unified Communications Manager expertise, visit CUCM consultants.
  • Cisco CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing software and has been replaced by CUCM. Progent's consultants can assist you to maintain your current CallManager environment or migrate smoothly to Cisco's modern IP telephony solutions. For details about Progent's support services for CallManager and Cisco's other early VoIP platforms, see CallManager expertise.
  • Cisco IP Gateways provide integration with public telephony networks and with clients working outside the corporate firewall like at-home workers. Progent can provide expert support for Cisco's legacy IP gateways including the UC520, UC540 and UC560 product lines as well as for modern Cisco SIP gateways. See Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateway configuration expertise.
  • Additional VoIP Products supported by Progent include Vonage, RingCentral and 8x8. Progent can assist you to enhance your WAN infrastructure to work with these solutions and provide on-demand integration and debugging expertise.

Voice/Video Conferencing for At-Home Workers
A wide selection of video conferencing products from leading vendors support virtual meetings, video and voice conferencing, chat, and screen sharing for both onsite workers and at-home workers. Many companies utilize multiple conferencing products to accommodate their different partners and clients. Progent can assist you to maintain your existing conferencing environment and enhance the experience of your remote workforce.

  • Skype for Business is Microsoft's popular unified communications platform that supports real-time presence, IM, audio and video conferencing plus the seamless integration of these functions within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 productivity software including PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. Progent offers the expertise of Microsoft-certified consultants who can help you to deploy and manage Skype for Business clients to accommodate your remote employees. To learn more about Progent's support services for Skype for Business, visit Skype for Business integration experts.
  • FaceTime is Apple's group video calling app for compatible iOS and macOS computers and smartphones. FaceTime runs on Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Newer versions of FaceTime support as many as 32 simultaneous users for video calls. For details about Progent's support services for Apple FaceTime, visit Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
  • Webex Meeting Center supports online conferencing for most desktop or mobile devices. Delivered through Cisco's Webex Cloud platform, Webex services include sharing discrete content or computer screens, presentations that incorporate rich media such as Microsoft PowerPoint, session recording, plus editing and playback for future reference. To learn more about Progent's support services for Cisco Webex as well as for additional IP video products 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 hub for conferencing, contacts, and content with capabilities that include IP voice and video conferencing, threaded chat, plus file sharing. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Teams as well as for additional Microsoft 365 products, refer to Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
  • Other Voice/Video Conferencing Platforms supported by Progent include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can deliver configuration and troubleshooting expertise for these products and assist your business to tune your WAN infrastructure to run them.

Microsoft Collaboration Platforms for an At-Home Workforce
Microsoft's collaboration platforms are tightly integrated with Microsoft's familiar Office suites, providing a rich environment of productivity apps that deliver a consistent user interface for sharing information throughout multiple sites and on a broad range of endpoint devices. Progent has provided online consulting support for SharePoint and Exchange Server since their original releases and can help your company to configure these flagship collaboration products 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 Solutions Experts for At-Home WorkersMicrosoft Teams works with Microsoft 365 and integrates with third-party cloud services to deliver real-time collaboration and communication. Developed as a substitute for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams can enable chat, video meetings that include screen sharing, calling, cloud voicemail, group email, as well as file and app sharing. Teams is tightly 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 complete range of features. For additional information about Progent's support services for Microsoft Teams, see solution design and deployment expertise for Microsoft Teams.

SharePoint Configuration Consultants for Remote WorkersSharePoint uses web entities to facilitate collaboration and knowledge delivery by providing policy-driven delivery of data, business processes, and utilities for looking through company-wide information silos. SharePoint enables you to build secure web portals that enables at-home workforce to view and edit consolidated business intelligence via Intranets (Wikis), Blogs, social networking web sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). For details about Progent's SharePoint expertise, visit SharePoint integration and application development expertise.

Exchange Deployment Experts for Remote 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. To learn about Progent's Exchange support services, visit planning and configuration consulting for Exchange.

Microsoft Onedrive Deployment Experts for Remote WorkersOneDrive is Microsoft�s shared cloud-based storage service, similar to GoogleDrive. Remote users can save files to the OneDrive service, and co-workers can retrieve them safely through a web browser. Included with Office 365, OneDrive enables at-home employees to jointly author documents. Revisions created offline are uploaded when you go back online. For information about Progent's expertise for OneDrive, refer to Onedrive integration experts.

Public Cloud Integration Services for At-Home Workers
Progent offers advanced remote support for helping businesses to build, maintain and troubleshoot integrated network architectures that include physical data centers, remote workers, branch offices, plus public cloud services. Progent offers expertise for all types of cloud service delivery including Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service. Progent can help telecommuters resolve problems with public cloud connectivity, identity, and cybersecurity.

Microsoft Azure Integration Services for At-Home WorkersMicrosoft Azure is a popular platform for public cloud software and services that allows you to use infrastructure, virtual servers, and critical apps running on Microsoft's massive cloud. Azure offers more than one hundred services services including hosting for Windows and Linux-powered VMs, on-demand cloud storage, email and messaging, application development with Visual Studio, and backup/restore. Progent can help your organization to deploy virtual machines on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate storage on Azure Storage services, streamline identity management with Azure AD, and plan backup and recovery systems with Azure Backup. Progent can also show you how to create secure access to Azure services for teleworkers by setting up and debugging firewall appliances and VPN IPsec tunnels. For information about Progent's consulting expertise for Azure, go to Azure consulting services.

Microsoft 365 Integration Services for At-Home WorkersMicrosoft 365, previously called Office 365, is Microsoft's popular family of business productivity applications and cloud-based services available by subscription. Microsoft applications and cloud services are marketed in a selection of plans designed for users ranging from individuals and small offices to large enterprises. Progent offers quick and easy online access to consultants knowledgeable about Microsoft 365-compatible clients based on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android operating systems. Progent's experts can help your business to assess the various subscription bundles offered with Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 apps for your teleworkers to achieve top business value. For details about Progent's expertise for Microsoft 365, go to Microsoft 365 consulting services.

Exchange Online Integration Services for TeleworkersMicrosoft 365 Exchange Online is one of the most popular applications in the Microsoft 365 product suite. Exchange Online provides the advantages of lower spending for data center infrastructure, simplified management, on-demand scaling, high availability, and additional benefits inherent with cloud computing. Microsoft has engineered Microsoft 365 Exchange Online to operate smoothly with on-premises deployments of Exchange, enabling you to create hybrid cloud/onsite networks. Progent's Exchange consultants can provide as-needed assistance to get you past tough technical bottlenecks and can also provide comprehensive project management services to make sure your teleworkers have easy and safe access to your Exchange Online deployment. To find out Progent's consulting services for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, go to Microsoft 365 Exchange Online integration and troubleshooting expertise.

Amazon AWS Integration for TelecommutersAmazon AWS is a pioneer in the public cloud arena and is the industry's top source of cloud services. Progent offers quick and economical online contact with cloud integration consultants who can assist your business to plan, deploy, manage, and troubleshoot hybrid IT networks that integrate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with on-premises resources and with other popular cloud platforms like Azure. Progent also can provide the skills of Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to help you to create a high-availability network architecture to make sure your employees have a consistent computing experience whether they are working from your headquarters, a remote branch, at home, or on the road. To learn about Progent's expertise for Amazon AWS, visit Amazon AWS consulting expertise.

Google Cloud Platform Integration for TeleworkersGoogle Cloud (GCP) is a leading set of public cloud services that offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco experts can assist you to scale your existing IT resources with the Google Cloud, and Progent's database consultants can help you make your mission-critical apps cloud ready so your teleworkers can take full advantage of Google Cloud services. Progent can assist your organization to deploy VMs on GCP Compute Engine, plan a cost-effective storage system with Google Cloud Storage services, and simplify identity management for telecommuters with Google Cloud Identity. Progent's consultants can also assist you to use GCP's management tools to administer and track your GCP environment. To learn, visit Google Cloud Platform (GCP) consulting support.

Help Desk Call Center Services for Telecommuters
A sudden, organization-wide transition to a telecommuter business model, which could be the result of a pandemic or as a component of a business continuity process, can overwhelm even a well-staffed internal Call Center. Progent's Call Center services allow businesses of any size to outsource or augment their Help Desk by using Progent's remote Technical Response Center services.

  • Progent's Standard Call Center support services leverage Progent's nationwide team of remote technical support experts combined with enterprise-class ticketing and follow-up technology to provide an economical, advanced Help Desk. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services provide a comprehensive solution that handles all facets of online Level 1 PC support from initial help requests through trouble ticket generation, screen sharing, issue resolution, and reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal enables at-home employees to check or revise their active tickets, add details, and upload screenshots and relevant files. Technical support services are provided at a significant discount off Progent's normal Level 1 desktop support charges, and Progent offers optional rapid hand-off to Level 2 and Level 3 IT specialists to deal with complex problems. For more information, visit Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services outsourcing for small companies.
  • Progent's Help Desk Supplemental Service allows your company to augment your existing Call Desk organization by splitting responsibilities for Support Desk support services transparently between your in-house IT support staff and Progent's nationwide team of PC support engineers and subject matter specialists. Progent's co-managed Call Center service is based on a collaborative support solution based on the leading PSA platform for handling help requests and ticketing, establishing responsibility, tracking progress, and generating management reports. To find out how Progent's Help Desk Supplementation Services can enable your company to deliver world-class IT support to your at-home workforce, visit Progent's Call Desk augmentation Services.

Security and Compliance for Telecommuters
At-home staff members typically use their own computers and usually operate in a poorly secured physical area. This increases their susceptibility to cyber attacks and requires judicious configuration of firewalls, anti-malware tools, multi-factor authentication, remote endpoint monitoring, thorough user training, and the development of policies built on best practices. Progent's veteran group of cybersecurity support consultants can help your business to design, configure and maintain a compliant cybersecurity solution that protects critical information resources in environments that include telecommuters.

Firewall Integration Services for At-Home WorkersFirewalls enable you to build a network that can be safely utilized by local users as well as by at-home workers, mobile employees, vendors, customers, and the public. Modern firewall devices allow you to assign and control appropriate permissions to different classes of users and to expand your IT network and adjust your security profile as your business evolves and as cyber threats become increasingly complex. Progent works with both current and older security appliances from all leading manufacturers like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, WatchGuard, Juniper, SonicWall and Fortinet. To find out more about Progent's firewall support expertise, refer to firewall support services.

Remote Endpoint Monitoring for TelecommutersOnline Endpoint Security Monitoring makes it possible to watch over the disparate computers used by telecommuters and either block or identify and mitigate the latest cyber attacks like ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring services, a lightweight agent is put on each protected endpoint, monitoring all activity and utilizing advanced AI technology from SentinelOne to identify zero-day attacks before they can spread. When an attack is discovered, ProSight ASM immediately disconnects the infected endpoint device from the corporate network to contain the malware. Since the ProSight Active Security Monitoring agent is self-contained, endpoints remain protected even if 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 TeleworkersProgent's Duo MFA Managed Services incorporate Cisco's Duo cloud technology to protect against password theft through the use of two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo supports single-tap identity confirmation with Apple iOS, Android, and other personal devices. Using 2FA, when you log into a secured online account and enter your password you are asked to verify your identity on a device that only you possess and that uses a separate network channel. A broad selection of devices can be utilized as this added form of authentication including a smartphone or watch, a hardware token, a landline telephone, etc. You may designate multiple verification devices. For details about Duo identity authentication services, refer to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for telecommuters.

Security Audit Services for At-Home WorkersSecurity Audits can assess the exposure of your network to all types of outside and local security attacks for a network that incorporates at-home workers. Progent can deploy remote, automated cybersecurity analysis scanning for quickly and affordably uncovering a broad range of security weaknesses that can be found over the Internet. Progent's endpoint security assessment experts, which can be provided by data security experts with top certifications including CISM, ISSAP, and GIAC, can help your company to audit your operations and governance policies and review your WAN architecture to allow you to implement the highest level of protection for your at-home workers.

NodeZero Pentetration Testing for At-Home WorkersHorizon3.ai's NodeZero Pentest Platform is a cutting-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that supports autonomous testing of your work-from-home connectivity solution and your internal and perimeter networks so you can uncover, prioritize, fix, and verify security vulnerabilities before malicious hackers can exploit them. Progent can assist you to use NodeZero to perform thorough pentests of your network perimeter and your internal IT infrastructure so you can determine your present security posture. Progent can also help you to harden your network security and can assist you to plan and deploy a cohesive cybersecurity strategy that simplifies management and provides maximum cyber defense for on-prem, cloud-based, remote, and perimeter IT assets. To find out additional information about Progent's vulnerability analysis solutions powered by on NodeZero's pentest products, refer to Consulting Services for NodeZero's PEN Test Products.

Download White Paper: Securing a Work-From-Home Environment
To view or download a white paper about key things to concentrate on for protecting an IT environment that incorporates telecommuters, click:
Securing a Work-From-Home (WFH) Environment White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection for Remote Workers
Data Protection involves saving and recovering critical data so as to avoid data loss and minimize restoration time and effort in the event of storage failures due to hardware issues, software hiccups, user error, malware, or any other reason. Reliable data protection strategies can be particularly challenging to architect and manage in hybrid environments that incorporate in-house data centers, cloud resources, and an at-home workforce.

  • Backup/Recovery solutions for an at-home workforce must address multiple kinds of user-owned endpoints. Progent can provide fast online access to consultants knowledgeable about a broad array of products for backing up Microsoft 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 data protection experts include Barracuda Backup, Azure Backup, Symantec Backup Exec, CrashPlan, Mozy, and Time Machine. To back up data spread throughout a wide area network, Progent offers ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a managed backup/recovery subscription service that uses cloud-based storage and features fine-grained recovery and centralized management.
  • Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity plans typically anticipate circumstances that require a quick changeover to an at-home workforce. Progent's expert disaster recovery planning experts and business continuity consultants can assist you to develop, document and test a DR/BC plan that addresses the process of switching to an at-home workforce.

Unified Management for Teleworkers
Microsoft has renamed and rebundled its endpoint management products under the name Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which encompasses Intune for cloud management of remote endpoints and Configuration Manager for managing onsite computers. Endpoint Manager offers a centralized environment for safeguarding critical information by managing local, mobile, and at-home endpoints.

Intune
Intune is part of Microsoft's Endpoint Management suite that also includes Microsoft Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud service for managing and securing off-premises computers and software. Remote endpoint computers can be personally owned or company owned. Network administrators managing the endpoint computers of telecommuters can use Intune to deploy and validate apps on managed devices, push updates and certificates, configure policies for permission to access data and networks, set passwords, establish VPN tunnels, control how telecommuters share information, set up threat protection, verify security compliance, and wipe corporate information from missing, stolen or deactivated endpoint devices. Intune works with iOS/iPadOS, Android, Windows, and macOS computers. For details about Intune and to find out how Progent can help your company to use Microsoft's Endpoint Management to administer the devices of your at-home workforce, go to Intune mobile endpoint management experts.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich unified MDM platform that allows network managers to keep off-premises endpoint devices up to date and protected. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch for centralized endpoint management along with VMware's Horizon virtual application delivery platform for access control, application management, and setup management of endpoint devices. Workspace ONE operates with devices powered by Windows 10, macOS, Apple iOS, Google Android, Chrome OS, or leading distributions of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is available by subscription as a cloud service or as an on-premises deployment via a perpetual license. Key capabilities of VMware Workspace ONE include rapid over-the-air deployment of new notebooks, immediate onboarding of new users, policy setting and enforcement for all categories of devices, aggregated management reporting and analytics, an email encryption gateway, and tight integration with Microsoft apps and cloud products. For information about Progent's support for VMware Workspace ONE, refer to VMware Workspace ONE remote endpoint management consultants.

Contact Progent for Remote Workforce Support Services
To contact Progent about building and maintaining a productive work-from-home solution for your Santa Monica, California organization, phone 1-800-993-9400 or go to Contact Progent.