Enlarging your remote workforce can have a significant effect on network infrastructure, security/compliance, and company culture. Progent has two decades of background helping SMBs to plan, configure, administer, tune, and troubleshoot IT environments that incorporate a remote workforce. Progent can assist your Curitiba company to pick the right technologies and follow best practices in building and operating a secure virtual office solution for teleworkers that promotes collaboration and delivers top business value. Progent offers support services ranging from on demand guidance for helping you over challenging IT bottlenecks to full project management or co-management to help you carry out mission-critical initiatives.

Progent can assist Curitiba, Paraná businesses to succeed with any facet of building a high-functioning work-at-home environment by delivering network infrastructure design and configuration services, IP voice expertise, voice/video conferencing integration, collaboration platform selection and deployment, public cloud integration, Call Desk augmentation, data security, backup/restore solutions, and unified management.

Infrastructure for Teleworkers
Setting up the network infrastructure needed for an at-home work environment can be particularly complex if you must accommodate a mix of worker-owned equipment like PCs and notebooks, Internet routers, and wireless appliances from various vendors and with a mix of OS software and firmware levels. Progent's background delivering online help for both legacy as well as modern technologies in remote office venues enables you to make efficient use of your existing infrastructure and offers fast access to top-tire consultants for making essential upgrades. Services available from Progent to help you to implement a productive telecommuting infrastructure include:

  • Virtual Private Network technology allows you to create a secure connection for authorized at-home workers to access IT resources located at your company data center or in a public cloud. Progent's consultants can help your company to deploy and maintain VPN access between your at-home workforce and your various IT resources by providing online VPN configuration support. For businesses using Cisco's ASA security appliances, Progent's Cisco ASA experts can help your at-home workers to utilize Cisco's popular AnyConnect client software for secure VPN connections for a wide selection of devices such as Microsoft Windows, macOS, iOS, Linux, and Google Android.
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure products enable an at-home worker to see and interact with a remote computer's desktop. This provides IT managers significant control over the computing environment of telecommuters and ensures them a familiar work experience. Progent's VDI services include Windows Remote Desktop support and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI solutions.
  • Routers connect at-home networks to the Internet and support VPN tunnels, local wireless connectivity, and firewall services. Progent can provide expert remote support for deploying home routers from a range of vendors. See router integration support from Cisco-certified consultants.
  • Home Wireless networks, typically shared by the whole family and visitors, are commonly used by telecommuters to connect to their router for work. This can cause throughput as well as cybersecurity issues. Progent can assist businesses to mitigate these issues by providing services like Cisco Aironet integration expertise, Cisco-certified Meraki WiFi deployment consulting, and Ubiquiti WiFi access point setup assistance.
  • Internet connectivity methods affect the speed and reliability of connections between telecommuters and the company network. Line-of-business processes may require backup Internet access in case the primary connection breaks. Progent offers guidance for selecting Internet service providers, choosing appropriate service offerings, and integrating fault-tolerant Internet connections. See Internet connectivity integration services.

VoIP Integration for Remote Workers
Expanding the corporate phone system to include remote users is vital to maintaining an effective at-home workforce. A broad range of cloud-based digital PBX platforms are popular with SMBs to support remote users. Many enterprises depend on Cisco's modern or legacy platforms for VoIP solutions. Progent can help organizations of all sizes to plan or tune a remote VoIP environment that provides the flexibility, transparency and protection needed for teleworkers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE Voice experts offer advanced support to assist organizations tune their current Cisco VoIP systems to support a growing remote workforce.

  • Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM or CUCM) delivers high-end telephony capabilities to devices like IP phones, media processing products, Voice over IP gateways, and mixed media apps used throughout the network. CUCM manages additional mixed media services such as messaging, voice/video conferencing, and team interaction networks. For more information about Progent's Unified Communications Manager support, refer to Cisco Unified CM expertise.
  • CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing agent and has been replaced by Cisco Unified CM or CUCM. Progent's consultants can help you to support your current CallManager deployment or migrate smoothly to Cisco's current IP telephony solutions. For details about Progent's expertise for CallManager and Cisco's other older VoIP products, visit Cisco CallManager consulting services.
  • Cisco IP Gateways provide connectivity with PSTN networks and with users working outside the corporate firewall like telecommuters. Progent can provide expert support for Cisco's legacy IP gateways such as the UC520, UC540 and UC560 products and for current Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco SIP gateway integration consulting.
  • Other VoIP Products supported by Progent's consultants include Vonage, RingCentral and 8x8. Progent can assist you to enhance your WAN infrastructure to support these solutions and provide on-demand integration and debugging expertise.

Video Conferencing for At-Home Workers
A wide selection of video conferencing platforms from major technology companies support virtual meetings, video and voice conferencing, chat sessions, and screen/content sharing for both onsite users and telecommuters. Many companies utilize a mix of products to meet the needs of their various partners and clients. Progent's communications experts can assist you to manage your current conferencing ecosystem and enhance the productivity of your at-home employees.

  • Skype for Business is Microsoft's leading unified communications platform that enables real-time presence, instant messaging, audio and video calling and conferencing plus the seamless integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 productivity software including PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. Progent offers the expertise of Microsoft-certified specialists who can help you to set up and maintain Skype for Business client software to support your at-home workforce. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Skype for Business, refer to Skype for Business integration services.
  • FaceTime is Apple's multiuser video calling app for iOS, iPadOS, iPod and Mac devices. FaceTime works on Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Later editions of FaceTime allow as many as 32 simultaneous users for voice/video sessions. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Apple FaceTime, see Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
  • Webex Meeting Center provides online conferencing for virtually all desktop or mobile devices. Delivered through Cisco's Webex Cloud, Webex capabilities include sharing granular content or computer screens, presentations that incorporate rich media such as Microsoft PowerPoint, network-based recording, plus editing and playback for future reference and training. To learn more about Progent's consulting expertise for Cisco Webex as well as for additional IP video products from Cisco, visit Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
  • Teams is Microsoft's next-generation replacement for Skype for Business. Teams acts as a portal for conversations, contacts, and content with features that include IP voice and video calling, threaded chat, plus data sharing. To learn more about Progent's consulting expertise for Teams and for additional Microsoft 365 apps, 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 deliver integration and debugging services for these products and assist your business to optimize your network architecture to run them.

Microsoft Integrated Collaboration Software for Remote and Hybrid Workers
Microsoft's collaboration products are tightly integrated with Microsoft's familiar Office suites, providing a rich ecosystem of productivity apps that create a cohesive user experience for exchanging data and ideas throughout multiple sites and on a broad range of endpoint computers. Progent has provided remote consulting support for SharePoint and Exchange Server since their original publication and can assist businesses to tune these critical collaboration products to optimize the effectiveness of your at-home 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 Integration Experts for TelecommutersMicrosoft Teams works on top of Microsoft 365 and supports third-party cloud services to deliver real-time collaboration and communication. Designed as a substitute for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams can enable chat, audio/video meetings that include screen sharing, phone calls, cloud voicemail, group email, plus file and app sharing. Teams is tightly integrated with Microsoft 365 and depends on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Microsoft Entra (formerly called Azure Active Directory) for delivering its complete range of features. For additional information about Progent's support services for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium, visit planning and deployment expertise for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium.

SharePoint Server Deployment Experts for At-Home WorkersSharePoint utilizes web entities to enable collaboration and information delivery by providing policy-based access to content, workflow, and utilities for searching through enterprise-wide business data. SharePoint allows you to create secure web portals that allows at-home workforce to view and edit aggregated business intelligence by means of Intranets (Wikis), Blogs, social web sites, and Web Parts. To find out about Progent's SharePoint consulting expertise, go to SharePoint configuration and application development consulting.

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. For details about Progent's Exchange expertise, see integration consulting for Microsoft Exchange.

Onedrive Deployment Consultants for Remote WorkersOneDrive is Microsoft�s shared cloud storage service, similar to GoogleDrive. At-home workers can save files to the OneDrive service, and colleagues anywhere can share them safely via a browser. Included with Office 365, OneDrive allows at-home workers to co-author files. Edits created offline are uploaded when you reconnect to the Internet. For details about Progent's expertise for OneDrive, refer to Microsoft Onedrive configuration experts.

Public Cloud Integration for Telecommuters
Progent can provide fast and affordable online support for helping businesses to build, manage and optimize integrated network models that include internal data centers, at-home workers, branches, plus public cloud services. Progent offers top-tier consultant for all modes of public cloud service including Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service. Progent can help teleworkers resolve issues with cloud access, identity, and security.

Microsoft Azure Integration Services for TeleworkersMicrosoft Azure is a popular family of public cloud services that allows you to utilize infrastructure, virtual servers, and key applications running on Microsoft's extensive cloud. Microsoft Azure features more than 100 services services including hosting for Windows and Linux-powered virtual machines, scalable cloud storage, messaging, application development with Visual Studio, and backup/restore. Progent can help you to deploy virtual machines on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate cloud-based storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity control with Azure AD, and plan data backup and restore solutions with Azure Backup. Progent's cloud experts can also show you how to establish secure connections to Azure services for teleworkers by configuring and debugging firewall appliances and VPN tunnels. To find out about Progent's support services for Azure, visit Azure consulting services.

Microsoft 365 Integration for At-Home WorkersMicrosoft 365, previously branded Office 365, is Microsoft's growing suite of client productivity applications and cloud-based services offered by subscription. Office apps and services are provided in a variety of bundles designed for customers ranging from individuals and households to major enterprises. Progent offers fast and affordable online access to consultants familiar with Microsoft 365-compatible endpoints running Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android technology. Progent can help your business to evaluate the numerous subscription plans offered with Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 applications for your at-home workers to achieve maximum business value. For information about Progent's support services for Microsoft 365, see Microsoft 365 consulting support.

Exchange Online Integration for TelecommutersMicrosoft 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 data center infrastructure, simplified management, on-demand scaling, high reliability, and additional advantages associated with cloud computing. Microsoft has designed Microsoft 365 Exchange Online to run smoothly with on-premises deployments of Exchange, enabling customers to create hybrid information systems. Progent's certified Exchange consultants are available for as-needed assistance to guide you through challenging technical roadblocks and can also provide comprehensive project management services to make sure your at-home workers have convenient and safe access to your Exchange Online deployment. For information Progent's consulting services for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, see Exchange Online integration and troubleshooting consulting.

Amazon AWS Integration Services for At-Home WorkersAmazon Web Services (AWS) is a trailblazer in the public cloud market and is the industry's leading provider of cloud-based services. Progent offers fast and economical online contact with cloud integration consultants who can help your organization to plan, deploy, maintain, and troubleshoot hybrid information networks that integrate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with on-premises resources and with other popular cloud platforms such as Azure. Progent also offers the skills of Cisco-certified CCIE networking consultants to help your company to create a high-availability network model so your users have a productive computing environment regardless of whether they are working from your main office, a remote branch, from home, or on the road. For details about Progent's expertise for Amazon AWS, go to Amazon AWS consulting support.

Google Cloud Integration Services for At-Home WorkersGoogle Cloud Platform is a popular set of cloud computing services that provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service products. Progent's certified Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco consulting experts can assist your business to extend your existing IT assets with the Google Cloud Platform, and Progent's DBA experts can show you how to make your mission-critical applications cloud friendly so your remote workers can take full advantage of Google Cloud Platform services. Progent can assist you to deploy VMs on Google Cloud Compute Engine, plan a cost-effective storage system with GCP Storage services, and simplify access control for teleworkers with GCP Cloud Identity. Progent's consultants can also assist your organization to use GCP's management technology to control and track your Google Cloud ecosystem. To learn, go to Google Cloud Platform (GCP) consulting services.

Help Desk Support for Teleworkers
A fast, organization-wide transition to a from-home workforce, which could be the result of a pandemic or as an element of a business continuity preparedness plan, can overstretch even the most efficient internal Call Desk. Progent's Help Desk services allow businesses of any size to outsource or expand their Support Desk by using Progent's remote Technical Response Center (TRC) team.

  • Progent's Standard Call Center support services leverage Progent's nationwide network of online technical support specialists along with world-class trouble ticketing and follow-up software to provide an affordable, advanced Help Desk Call Center. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services provide an end-to-end solution that handles all facets of remote Level 1 desktop technical support from initial service requests through trouble ticket generation, screen sharing, issue resolution, and reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal enables at-home employees to monitor or edit the status of their current trouble tickets, add information, and upload screen captures and attachments. Desktop support services are provided at a substantial discount off Progent's normal Level 1 technical support charges, and Progent makes available optional rapid hand-off to Level 2 and Level 3 IT specialists to resolve complex issues. For details, see Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services outsourcing for small and mid-size companies.
  • Progent's Help Desk Call Center Augmentation Service allows you to expand your existing Support Desk organization by splitting responsibilities for Help Desk support seamlessly between your in-house IT support personnel and Progent's nationwide pool of PC support engineers and subject matter specialists. Progent's shared Support Desk service is based on a collaborative support solution utilizing the leading professional services automation (PSA) platform for managing service requests and ticketing, assigning responsibility, tracking progress, and producing management reports. For details about how Progent's Call Center Supplementation Services can help your business to provide best-in-class technical support to your teleworkers, see Progent's Help Desk Call Center supplementation Services.

Security and Compliance for Teleworkers
Work-from-Home (WFH) staff members commonly use their own computers and usually work in a poorly secured physical environment. This situation multiplies their susceptibility to cyber attacks and requires judicious deployment of corporate firewalls, anti-malware tools, multi-factor authentication, remote monitoring, thorough user training, and the development of security policies based on leading practices. Progent's seasoned team of data security solutions experts can assist your business to design, deploy and manage a compliant cybersecurity solution that guards critical information resources in environments that include an at-home workforce.

Firewall Integration Services for At-Home WorkersFirewalls allow companies to build a network environment that can be securely accessed by local users and by teleworkers, mobile workers, suppliers, customers, and other stakeholders. Next-generation firewall appliances permit you to assign and control appropriate access rights to various groups of users and to scale your IT network and modify your security as your business evolves and as cyber threats become increasingly sophisticated. Progent supports both current and legacy security devices from all leading manufacturers including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Juniper, SonicWall and Fortinet. To learn more about Progent's firewall integration expertise, visit firewall support services.

Remote Endpoint Monitoring and Management Services for TelecommutersOnline Endpoint Security Monitoring makes it possible to track the various computers utilized by an at-home workforce and either block or spot and mitigate the latest threats such as ransomware. With Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) services, a lightweight software agent is put on each protected endpoint device, watching all activity and utilizing state-of-the-art machine learning and full execution context from SentinelOne to identify zero-day attacks on arrival. When an attack is spotted, ProSight ASM immediately disconnects the targeted endpoint device from the network to contain the malware. Since the ProSight Active Security Monitoring agent is autonomous, endpoint devices remain protected even when they are not connected to the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. To find out more about ProSight ASM, refer to remote endpoint security monitoring for at-home workers.

Two-factor Authentication (2FA) Services for Remote WorkersProgent's Duo MFA Service Plans incorporate Cisco's Duo cloud technology to defend against compromised passwords by using two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo supports one-tap identity confirmation with iOS, Google Android, and other personal devices. Using 2FA, when you log into a secured online account and give your password you are asked to verify your identity via a device that only you have and that uses a separate network channel. A broad range of out-of-band devices can be utilized for this added means of ID validation such as an iPhone or Android or wearable, a hardware/software token, a landline phone, etc. You can register multiple verification devices. For more information about ProSight Duo identity validation services, see Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for remote workers.

Security Audit Services for At-Home WorkersSecurity Audits can evaluate the exposure of your information system to all classes of external and internal security threats for an environment that incorporates telecommuters. Progent can deploy online, automated security inventory scanning for quickly and affordably detecting a broad range of security weaknesses that can be surfaced over the Internet. Progent's endpoint security audit experts, which can be managed by network security experts with top certifications such as CISM, ISSAP, and GIAC, can assist you to evaluate your workflows and governance policies and review your WAN architecture to allow you to implement top-level protection for your at-home workers.

NodeZero Pen Testing for Work-from-Home EnpointsHorizon3.ai's NodeZero PEN Testing Platform is a breakthrough penetration test (pentest) product family that supports automated threat assessment of your at-home environment as well as your internal and perimeter networks so you can uncover, rank, remediate, and confirm security weaknesses before threat actors can exploit them. Progent's pentest experts can assist you to deploy NodeZero to perform comprehensive pentests of your perimeter and your internal network so you can determine your present security posture. Progent's NodeZero experts can also help you to strengthen your network security and can assist you to plan and deploy a cohesive cybersecurity ecosystem that simplifies management and provides optimum protection for on-premises, multi-cloud, at-home, and perimeter IT resources. To learn additional details about Progent's vulnerability analysis services based on on NodeZero's penetration test platform, visit Consulting Support for NodeZero's PEN Test Products.

Download White Paper: Protecting a Work-From-Home Network
To read or download a white paper describing critical things to focus on for protecting an IT environment that supports telecommuters, click:
Securing a Work-From-Home Environment White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection for Telecommuters
Data Protection covers backing up and restoring critical data so as to prevent data loss and minimize restoration time in the event of storage problems resulting from hardware issues, programming hiccups, human error, cyber attack, or other causes. Dependable data protection solutions can be particularly difficult to architect and manage in hybrid networks that combine local data centers, cloud resources, and at-home workers.

  • Backup/Recovery solutions for at-home workers must cover diverse kinds of user-owned endpoint devices. Progent can provide fast online help from experts knowledgeable about a wide array of platforms for protection Microsoft Windows, Apple and Linux/UNIX servers and desktop computers as well as notebooks, iPads and smartphones. Leading backup/recovery solutions supported by Progent's backup/recovery experts include Barracuda Backup, Microsoft Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, Acronis Backup and Recovery, Mozy, and Time Machine. To back up data spread across a wide area network, Progent offers ProSight Data Protection Services, a backup/recovery service that utilizes cloud-based storage and includes fine-grained recovery and unified management capabilities.
  • Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity (DR/BC) plans commonly anticipate circumstances that call for a temporary changeover to an at-home workforce. Progent's senior disaster recovery planning experts and business continuity planning specialists can assist your business to produce, document and test a DR/BC plan that addresses the logistics of switching to an at-home workforce.

Unified Management for Telecommuters
Microsoft has renamed and rebundled its endpoint management products under the name Endpoint Manager, which encompasses Intune for cloud-based management of mobile and remote endpoints and Configuration Manager for managing local computers. Microsoft Endpoint Manager provides a unified solution for safeguarding corporate data by controlling on-premises, mobile, and home-based endpoints.

Intune
Intune is part of Microsoft's Endpoint Management suite that also features Microsoft Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud service for managing and protecting off-premises computers and software. Remote endpoint computers can be personally owned or business owned. IT administrators managing the endpoint devices of at-home workers can utilize Intune to deploy and authenticate apps on devices, push updates and certificates, configure rules for accessing data and networks, set passwords, create VPN connections, determine how home-based workers share data, set up threat defense, verify security compliance, and wipe sensitive information from lost, stolen or decommissioned endpoint devices. Microsoft Intune can be used with iOS, Google Android, Windows, and macOS endpoints. To find out about Microsoft Intune and how Progent can help you to use this platform to administer the endpoint computers of your teleworkers, refer to Intune telecommuter device management consultants.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich unified Mobile Device Management (MDM) product that helps network administrators to keep offsite endpoints current and protected. Workspace ONE uses VMware AirWatch technology for centralized endpoint management along with VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery technology for authorization control, app management, and setup management of endpoint devices. Workspace ONE runs with endpoints powered by Windows 10, macOS, Apple iOS, Android, Chrome OS, or popular distros of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is offered by subscription as a cloud-based service or as an on-site deployment through a perpetual license. Key features of Workspace ONE include rapid over-the-air provisioning of out-of-the-box notebooks, immediate onboarding of new employees, policy set up and enforcement for all classes of endpoints, aggregated management reporting and analytics, email encryption, and tight integration with Microsoft apps and cloud-based services. To learn about Progent's expertise for VMware Workspace ONE, refer to VMware Workspace ONE mobile endpoint management consultants.

Contact Progent for Telecommuter Support Services
To contact Progent about creating and maintaining an efficient work-from-home environment for your Curitiba, Paraná company, phone 1-800-993-9400 or visit Contact Progent.