Sherman Oaks Teleworkers Integration Consulting Company

Enlarging your at-home workforce can have a major effect on IT architecture, security, and corporate culture. Progent has two decades of background helping businesses of all sizes to plan, deploy, manage, tune, and troubleshoot IT environments that support work-from-home employees. Progent can help your Sherman Oaks company to select the appropriate tools and follow best practices in building and maintaining a safe virtual office ecosystem for teleworkers that promotes collaboration and returns maximum business value. Progent offers support services that go from on demand expertise for helping you over challenging IT roadblocks to full project management to help you successfully complete mission-critical initiatives.

Progent's consultants can help Sherman Oaks, California businesses to with any aspect of creating a high-functioning work-at-home environment by providing network infrastructure design and configuration services, VoIP PBX expertise, video conferencing support, collaboration platform selection and deployment, cloud connectivity, Call Desk outsourcing, security and compliance, backup/restore solutions, and streamlined management.

Network Infrastructure for Telecommuters
Setting up the network infrastructure required to support an at-home workforce can be particularly complicated if you must accommodate a combination of worker-owned hardware such as PCs and notebooks, routers, and Wi-Fi appliances from different vendors and with a mix of operating systems and firmware levels. Progent's background providing remote help for both legacy as well as current technologies in remote office venues allows you to make efficient use of your existing network infrastructure and offers fast access to expertise for implement necessary updates. Services offered by Progent to assist your company to implement a high-functioning work-at-home infrastructure include:

• Virtual Private Network technology allows you to create a safe tunnel for authenticated remote workers to use IT assets located at your company data center or in a public cloud. Progent's consultants can help your company to deploy and manage VPN connections between your at-home workforce and your various IT resources by providing remote VPN configuration consulting. For organizations with Cisco's ASA security appliances, Progent's Cisco ASA Firewall experts can assist your remote workers to utilize Cisco's popular AnyConnect client software for safe VPN tunneling for a broad selection of endpoint devices such as Microsoft Windows, macOS, iOS, Linux, and Android.
• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) platforms enable an at-home worker to see and use a data center computer's desktop. This technology gives IT managers substantial control over the computing ecosystem of at-home employees and ensures remote users a familiar work experience. Progent's virtual desktop consulting services include Windows Remote Desktop support and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI consulting.
• Routers attach home networks to the Internet and support VPN connections, home wireless connectivity, and firewall services. Progent offers top-tier online consulting for deploying routers from a range of vendors. See router configuration support from Cisco-certified experts.
• Home Wireless networks, often shared by the whole family and guests, are commonly utilized by at-home employees to connect to their Internet router for work. This can cause performance and cybersecurity problems. Progent can help businesses to resolve these issues by delivering expertise that include Aironet configuration consulting, Cisco-certified Meraki wireless installation expertise, and Ubiquiti wireless access point integration assistance.
• Internet access methods impact the speed and availability of connections between telecommuters and the corporate network. Business-critical processes may demand redundant Internet access in the event the primary connection breaks. Progent offers expertise for identifying ISPs, picking appropriate service bundles, and setting up fault-tolerant Internet access. Refer to Internet connectivity solutions.

VoIP Integration for an At-Home Workforce
Expanding the company PBX system to accommodate teleworkers is vital to maintaining a productive at-home workforce. A variety of cloud-centric digital PBX products are used by SMBs to support telecommuters. Many larger organizations rely on Cisco's current or legacy platforms for VoIP solutions. Progent can help organizations of any size to design or tune a telecommuter VoIP service that delivers the versatility, convenience and protection required for at-home workers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE Voice experts offer advanced support to help businesses tune their current Cisco IP voice environments to support a growing at-home workforce.

• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM) delivers advanced IP telephony features to devices like IP phones, media processing products, VoIP gateways, and mixed media apps used across the network. CUCM supports additional combined media services such as messaging, video conferencing, and team collaboration networks. For more information about Progent's Unified Communications Manager expertise, refer to CUCM consulting services.
• Cisco CallManager is Cisco's earlier call-processing agent and has been replaced by Cisco Unified CM or CUCM. Progent's consultants can help you to maintain your current CallManager deployment or migrate efficiently to Cisco's current IP telephony solutions. For details about Progent's support services for CallManager and Cisco's other legacy IP voice platforms, visit Cisco CallManager consulting.
• Cisco IP Gateways provide integration with PSTN networks and with clients working outside the corporate perimeter like at-home workers. Progent can provide consulting expertise for Cisco's legacy IP gateways like the UC520, UC540 and UC560 product lines as well as for current Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateway configuration consulting.
• Additional VoIP Platforms supported by Progent include Vonage, RingCentral and 8x8. Progent can help you to update your wide area network architecture to work with these VoIP solutions and deliver on-demand integration and debugging expertise.

Voice/Video Conferencing for Telecommuters
A wide selection of video conferencing platforms from major technology companies support online meetings, video and voice conferencing, chat sessions, and screen sharing for both onsite workers and telecommuters. Many organizations use multiple products to meet the needs of their different partners and clients. Progent's communications experts can assist you to manage your current conferencing environment and optimize the productivity of your remote employees.

• Skype for Business is Microsoft's leading unified communications platform that enables presence, instant messaging, audio and video calling and conferencing as well as 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 specialists who can help your company to configure and maintain Skype for Business client software to support your at-home employees. To learn more about Progent's support services for Skype for Business, see Skype for Business integration experts.
• FaceTime is Apple's multiuser video phone app for iOS, iPadOS, iPod and Mac computers and smartphones. FaceTime works on Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Newer editions of FaceTime support as many as 32 simultaneous users for video sessions. To learn more about Progent's support services for Apple FaceTime, refer to Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
• Webex Meeting Center supports remote conferencing for most desktop or mobile devices. Delivered via Cisco's Webex Cloud, Webex services include sharing specific content or screens, presentations that embed rich media including Microsoft PowerPoint, network-based capture, plus revision and playback for training. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Webex and for other video conferencing solutions from Cisco, see Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
• Teams is Microsoft's follow-up for Skype for Business. Teams acts as a hub for conferencing, contacts, and information with features such as video conferencing, persistent chat, plus data sharing. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Teams and for additional Microsoft 365 products, see 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 services for these conferencing platforms and help you to optimize your WAN architecture to host them.

Microsoft Collaboration Software for Remote Workers
Microsoft's collaboration platforms are tightly integrated with Microsoft's familiar Office and Microsoft 365 suites, offering a rich ecosystem of productivity apps that create a cohesive user experience for exchanging data and ideas across multiple sites and on a wide selection of endpoint devices. Progent has delivered remote consulting services for SharePoint and Exchange Server since their original releases and can assist your company to configure these flagship collaboration platforms to optimize the effectiveness 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 on top of Microsoft 365 and supports third-party cloud services to provide real-time collaboration and communication. Developed as a substitute for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium can enable chat, audio/video meetings that include screen sharing, phone calls, cloud voicemail, group email, as well as file and application sharing. Teams is tightly integrated with Microsoft 365 and relies on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Microsoft Entra (formerly called Azure Active Directory) for delivering its full range of capabilities. For details about Progent's support services for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium, visit planning and configuration expertise for Microsoft Teams.

SharePoint utilizes web entities to allow collaboration and information delivery by offering policy-driven delivery of content, business processes, and utilities for looking through enterprise-wide information silos. SharePoint allows you to create protected web portals that allows at-home workforce to see and edit consolidated business intelligence via Intranets (Wikis), Blogs, social sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). To find out about Progent's SharePoint consulting services, see SharePoint configuration and development consulting.

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 expertise, see integration consulting for Microsoft Exchange Server.

OneDrive is Microsoft�s shared cloud storage service, similar to GoogleDrive. Remote users can save files to OneDrive, and co-workers can retrieve them securely via a web browser. Provided with Office 365, OneDrive enables at-home workers to jointly author files. Revisions created offline are uploaded when you go back online. To learn about Progent's consulting expertise for OneDrive, see Onedrive integration experts.

Public Cloud Integration Services for Remote Workers
Progent can provide fast and affordable online support for helping businesses to create, manage and repair cohesive hybrid network architectures that include internal data centers, telecommuters, branch offices, plus cloud services. Progent offers top-tier consultant for all modes of public cloud service such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service. Progent can help at-home workers fix issues with cloud access, authentication, and security.

Microsoft Azure is a popular family of cloud services that enables you to utilize infrastructure, virtual servers, and key applications running on Microsoft's massive cloud. Azure features more than one hundred cloud-based services such as the ability to host Windows and Linux-based virtual machines, on-demand cloud storage, email and messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and data backup. Progent can help your organization to deploy virtual machines on Azure Virtual Machines, configure storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity control with Azure AD, and plan backup and recovery solutions with Azure Backup. Progent can also help you establish secure access to Azure for at-home workers by setting up and debugging firewalls and VPN IPsec tunnels. For details about Progent's support services for Microsoft Azure, go to Azure expertise.

Microsoft 365, previously called Office 365, is Microsoft's growing suite of business productivity software and cloud-based services available on a subscription basis. Microsoft apps and services are provided in a selection of bundles intended for users ranging from students and households to large corporations. Progent offers fast and easy remote access to experts familiar with Microsoft 365-compatible endpoint devices running Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android operating systems. Progent's experts can assist your business to assess the various subscription bundles available for Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 apps for your telecommuters to achieve maximum business value. To find out about Progent's support services for Microsoft 365, see Microsoft 365 integration services.

Microsoft 365 Exchange Online is one of the most popular applications in the Microsoft 365 product line. Exchange Online offers the benefits of reduced spending for data center infrastructure, easier management, on-demand scaling, high availability, and additional benefits associated with cloud computing. Microsoft has designed Microsoft 365 Exchange Online to run smoothly with on-premises Exchange environments, allowing you to create hybrid information systems. Progent's certified Exchange experts can provide occasional assistance to get you past tough technical bottlenecks and can also provide comprehensive project management services to make sure your at-home workers have convenient and secure access to your Microsoft 365 Exchange Online deployment. To find out Progent's consulting expertise for Exchange Online, visit Microsoft 365 Exchange Online configuration and troubleshooting consulting.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a trailblazer in the public cloud arena and is the industry's top provider of cloud services. Progent offers quick and affordable online contact with cloud connectivity consultants who can help your business to design, implement, manage, and debug hybrid IT networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud services with local data centers and with other popular cloud platforms such as Azure. Progent also can provide access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to help your company to create a high-uptime network architecture so your users have a consistent computing environment whether they are working from your main office, a remote branch, at home, or on the move. To learn about Progent's expertise for Amazon AWS, refer to Amazon AWS integration expertise.

Google Cloud (GCP) is a leading set of cloud services that provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service products. Progent's certified Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco experts can assist you to extend your current IT assets with the Google Cloud, and Progent's DBA experts can help you make your mission-critical apps cloud ready so your telecommuters can take full advantage of Google Cloud services. Progent's consultants can assist you to deploy VMs on Google Cloud Compute Engine, design an efficient storage solution with GCP Storage, and streamline access control for telecommuters with GCP Cloud Identity services. Progent can also help you to utilize GCP's management technology to control and monitor your GCP environment. To find out, visit Google Cloud Platform (GCP) integration support.

Help Desk Services for Telecommuters
A fast, company-wide transition to a telecommuter workforce, which could be motivated by an epidemic or as an element of a disaster recovery process, can overstretch even the most efficient internal Call Desk. Progent's Help Desk Call Center services allow organizations of any size to outsource or expand their Help Desk by using Progent's remote Technical Response Center team.

• Progent's Standard Support Desk services leverage Progent's nationwide network of online IT support experts combined with enterprise-class trouble ticketing and tracking software to offer an economical, modern Call Center. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services offer a comprehensive solution that handles all facets of online Level 1 desktop support from initial service requests through trouble ticket generation, desktop sharing, issue resolution, and reporting. A browser-based User's Service Portal allows from-home workers to track or revise their active tickets, add details, and append screen captures or relevant files. Desktop support services are provided at a substantial price reduction off Progent's ordinary Level 1 technical support rates, and Progent offers optional fast hand-off to Level 2 and Level 3 support experts to resolve advanced issues. To learn more, visit Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services for small and mid-size businesses.
• Progent's Call Center Supplemental Service enables your business to expand your current Support Desk team by sharing responsibilities for Help Desk Call Center support services transparently between your regular support staff and Progent's extensive pool of PC support engineers and subject matter specialists. Progent's co-managed Support Desk service is based on a collaborative support solution utilizing the number one PSA platform for managing service requests and trouble tickets, assigning responsibility, monitoring progress, and generating reports. For details about how Progent's Call Desk Augmentation Services can enable your business to deliver world-class technical support to your teleworkers, visit Progent's Call Center augmentation Services.

Security for At-Home Workers
At-home workers commonly use their own computing devices and usually work in a poorly secured physical space. This situation multiplies their vulnerability to malware threats and requires careful configuration of firewalls, AV tools, multi-factor authentication, remote monitoring, extensive user training, and the creation of policies built on leading practices. Progent's veteran group of data security support experts can assist you to design, deploy and manage a compliant security solution that guards vital IT resources in networks that include at-home workers.

Firewalls allow companies to create a network that can be securely accessed by on-premises users as well as by an at-home workforce, mobile employees, suppliers, clients, and other stakeholders. Next-generation firewall devices permit you to assign and manage appropriate permissions to different classes of users and to expand your IT network and adjust your security profile as your company evolves and as cyber threats become more sophisticated. Progent works with both new and legacy firewall devices from all leading manufacturers like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Juniper, and Fortinet. To learn more about Progent's firewall configuration expertise, refer to firewall configuration and support services.

Online Endpoint Monitoring makes it easy to watch over the disparate computers used by remote workers and either reject or identify and mitigate the latest threats like ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) services, a small-footprint software agent is installed on every secured endpoint, watching all activity and using advanced machine learning and full execution context from SentinelOne to detect zero-day threats at inception. When an attack is spotted, ProSight ASM instantly disconnects the targeted device from the network to contain the malware. Because the ProSight Active Security Monitoring agent is self-contained, endpoints remain secure even when they are not connected to the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. To find out more about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, visit remote endpoint monitoring for an at-home workforce.

Progent's Duo MFA Managed Services incorporate Cisco's Duo technology to protect against compromised passwords through the use of two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo enables one-tap identity verification on Apple iOS, Google Android, and other out-of-band devices. Using 2FA, whenever you log into a secured online account and give your password you are asked to verify who you are on a device that only you have and that is accessed using a different ("out-of-band") network channel. A wide selection of out-of-band devices can be used for this added means of ID validation such as a smartphone or wearable, a hardware token, a landline telephone, etc. You may register multiple verification devices. For details about Duo identity authentication services, refer to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for teleworkers.

Security Audits can evaluate the vulnerability of your network to all classes of external and local security attacks for a network that includes an at-home workforce. Progent can deploy remote, automated security analysis software for rapidly and economically uncovering a broad range of security gaps that can be surfaced over the Internet. Progent's security assessment consulting services, which can be provided by security professionals with top certifications such as CISA, CISSP, and GIAC, can help you to audit your workflows and governance policies and review your WAN infrastructure to enable you to implement the highest level of protection for your at-home workers.

Horizon3.ai's NodeZero Penetration Testing Platform is a leading-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that can deliver autonomous testing of your work-from-home environment as well as your internal and perimeter networks to help you uncover, prioritize, remediate, and confirm security vulnerabilities before threat actors can exploit them. Progent can help you to use NodeZero to carry out thorough pentests of your network perimeter and your internal IT infrastructure so you can evaluate your current security posture. Progent's NodeZero experts can also help you to harden your network security and can assist you to plan and implement a unified cybersecurity ecosystem that simplifies management and delivers optimum cyber defense for on-prem, multi-cloud, remote, and perimeter IT resources. To learn more details about Progent's threat analysis services based on on NodeZero's PEN test platform, refer to Consulting Support for NodeZero's Penetration Test Products.

Download White Paper: Securing a Work-From-Home Network
To read or download a white paper describing key areas to focus on for securing a network that supports work-from-home staff, click:
Securing a Work-From-Home Network White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection Solutions for Teleworkers
Data Protection involves saving and restoring vital information in order to avoid data loss and reduce recovery time and effort in the event of storage system problems resulting from equipment breakdowns, software glitches, human error, cyber attack, or any other reason. Dependable data protection solutions can be especially challenging to design and manage in hybrid networks that combine private data centers, public clouds, and at-home workers.

• Backup/Recovery strategies for at-home workers must address multiple kinds of user-owned endpoint devices. Progent offers quick remote access to experts knowledgeable about a broad array of products for protection Windows, Apple Mac and Linux/UNIX servers and desktop computers as well as notebooks, iOS and Android tablets and handhelds. Leading backup/restore products maintained by Progent's backup/recovery experts include Barracuda Backup, Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, CrashPlan, Mozy, and Time Machine. To back up resources spread across a wide area network, Progent offers ProSight Data Protection Services, a managed backup/recovery service that uses cloud storage and includes fine-grained restore and unified management capabilities.
• Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity (DR/BC) plans commonly envision scenarios that require a quick switch to telecommuting. Progent's expert disaster recovery preparedness experts and business continuity planning consultants can help you to produce, document and validate a DR/BC plan that addresses the process of moving to telecommuting.

Unified Management for At-Home Workers
Microsoft has renamed and reshuffled its endpoint management platforms under the title Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which encompasses Intune for cloud-based management of mobile and remote devices and Configuration Manager for managing on-premises computers. Endpoint Manager offers a centralized environment for safeguarding critical data by managing local, 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 protecting mobile devices and applications. Managed endpoint computers can be personally owned or company owned. IT admins managing the endpoint devices of at-home workers can use Intune to deploy and validate applications on managed devices, push patches and certificates, set up policies for permission to access data and resources, set passwords, create VPN tunnels, control how home-based workers share data, set up threat defense, ensure compliance, and delete corporate data from missing, stolen or deactivated devices. Intune can be used with iOS/iPadOS, Google Android, Windows, and macOS devices. To learn about Intune and to find out how Progent can help you to use this platform to administer the endpoint computers of your teleworkers, visit Intune mobile device management consultants.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is an advanced unified MDM platform that allows network managers to keep off-premises endpoint devices up to date and protected. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch technology for centralized endpoint administration combined with VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery technology for access control, app management, and configuration management of endpoints. Workspace ONE runs with endpoints powered by Windows 10, macOS, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, or popular distros of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is offered by subscription as a cloud service or as an on-site deployment via a one-time purchase. Top features of VMware Workspace ONE include fast over-the-air deployment of out-of-the-box notebooks, quick onboarding of new users, policy setting and enforcement for all classes of devices, aggregated reporting and analytics, an email encryption gateway, and integration with Microsoft apps and cloud services. For details about Progent's expertise for VMware Workspace ONE, see VMware Workspace ONE remote endpoint management consultants.

Contact Progent for Remote Workforce Support Services
To get in touch with Progent about building and maintaining an efficient work-from-home solution for your Sherman Oaks, California organization, phone 1-800-993-9400 or visit Contact Progent.