Broomfield Work at Home Employees Configuration Consulting Experts

Expanding your remote workforce can have a significant effect on network architecture, cybersecurity, and company workflows. Progent has 20 years of background helping businesses of all sizes to design, deploy, manage, tune, and debug IT networks that support a remote workforce. Progent can assist your Broomfield company to select the right tools and adhere to best practices in creating and operating a safe virtual solution for telecommuters that facilitates collaboration and returns maximum business value. Progent can provide services ranging from as-needed guidance for getting you over occasional technical roadblocks to comprehensive project management to help you carry out business-critical initiatives.

Progent can assist Broomfield, Colorado organizations to succeed with any aspect of building a high-functioning telecommuting ecosystem by delivering network infrastructure design and configuration services, IP voice expertise, voice/video conferencing support, collaboration platform selection and deployment, public cloud connectivity, Call Desk services, cybersecurity, data protection solutions, and centralized management.

Network Infrastructure for an At-Home Workforce
Setting up the physical and software infrastructure required for an at-home workforce can be particularly complicated if you have to manage a mix of worker-owned hardware such as PCs and laptops, routers, and wireless APs from an assortment of vendors and with a variety of operating systems and firmware releases. Progent's experience providing remote support for both legacy as well as current technologies in remote office solutions enables you to make efficient use of your existing network infrastructure and offers ready access to top-tire consultants for making essential updates. Support services available from Progent to assist your company to create a high-functioning work-at-home ecosystem include:

• VPN technology makes it possible to establish a safe connection for authorized at-home workers to use IT assets located at your company datacenter or in the cloud. Progent's consultants can help you to configure and maintain VPN access between your teleworkers and your various network resources by providing remote VPN integration support. For businesses using Cisco's ASA security appliances, Progent's Cisco ASA Firewall consultants can assist your telecommuters to utilize Cisco's AnyConnect software to provide safe VPN connections for a wide selection of endpoint devices such as Microsoft Windows, macOS, iOS, Linux, and Google Android.
• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure platforms enable a telecommuter to view and use a data center PC's desktop. This provides network managers substantial control over the digital environment of at-home employees and offers remote users a consistent and more productive experience. Progent's VDI consulting services include Windows Remote Desktop support and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI expertise.
• Routers attach at-home networks to the Internet and support VPN connections, local Wi-Fi networks, and firewall services. Progent offers top-tier online consulting for deploying home routers from a variety of manufacturers. See router configuration services from Cisco-certified experts.
• Home Wi-Fi networks, typically shared by the whole family and visitors, are commonly used by telecommuters to connect to their router for work. This can create performance and security problems. Progent can assist you to resolve these problems by providing services that include Aironet configuration consulting, Cisco-certified Meraki wireless installation expertise, and Ubiquiti wireless AP integration help.
• Internet connectivity methods impact the speed and availability of connections between at-home workers and the corporate network. Mission-critical applications may require backup Internet connections in case the normal connection fails. Progent offers guidance for picking Internet service providers, selecting appropriate service packages, and integrating high-availability Internet connections. See Internet access integration services.

IP Voice Solutions for Telecommuters
Expanding the business phone system to include telecommuters is vital to maintaining an effective work-at-home solution. A broad range of cloud-based digital PBX platforms are used by small and mid-size businesses to server teleworkers. Many larger organizations depend on Cisco's current or legacy platforms for IP voice solutions. Progent can assist organizations of all sizes to plan or tune a telecommuter VoIP service that delivers the flexibility, convenience and protection needed for teleworkers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice experts can provide advanced support to assist organizations optimize their current Cisco IP voice environments to support an expanding at-home workforce.

• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) extends high-end telephony features to devices such as VoIP phones, media processing products, Voice over IP gateways, and mixed media applications deployed throughout the network. CUCM manages additional combined media services like unified messaging, voice/video conferencing, and customer interaction networks. For details about Progent's Unified Communications Manager expertise, refer to Cisco Unified Communications Manager expertise.
• Cisco CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing software and has been replaced by Cisco Unified CM or CUCM. Progent's consultants can assist you to maintain your existing CallManager environment or upgrade efficiently to Cisco's modern IP telephony solutions. To find out about Progent's support services for CallManager and Cisco's other older IP voice products, refer to Cisco CallManager consulting services.
• Cisco IP Gateways provide connectivity with public telephony networks and with users working beyond the corporate firewall such as at-home workers. Progent can provide consulting expertise for Cisco's legacy IP gateways such as the UC520, UC540 and UC560 series and for modern Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateway configuration consulting.
• Other VoIP Products supported by Progent include Vonage, RingCentral and 8x8. Progent can help you to enhance your wide area network infrastructure to work with these VoIP solutions and deliver as-needed configuration and debugging expertise.

Voice/Video Conferencing for At-Home Workers
A wide range of video conferencing products from major vendors support virtual meetings, video and voice conferencing, chat sessions, and screen/content sharing for both local users and teleworkers. Many organizations utilize multiple conferencing products to accommodate their various partners and customers. Progent can help your organization to manage your existing voice/video conferencing ecosystem and enhance the engagement of your at-home employees.

• Skype for Business is Microsoft's leading unified communications product that enables presence, instant messaging, audio and video conferencing as well as the seamless integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 applications such as PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. Progent can provide the skills of Microsoft-certified consultants who can assist your company to set up and manage Skype for Business client software to accommodate your remote employees. For details about Progent's consulting services for Skype for Business, refer to Skype for Business consulting experts.
• FaceTime is Apple's multiuser video calling app for iOS and macOS computers and smartphones. FaceTime runs over Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Current editions of FaceTime support up to 32 simultaneous users for video sessions. For details about Progent's support expertise for FaceTime, refer to Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
• Webex Meeting Center supports remote conferencing for virtually all desktop or mobile devices. Delivered through Cisco's Webex Cloud, Webex services include sharing specific content or screens, presentations that embed rich media such as Microsoft PowerPoint and Flash videos, session capture, plus editing and playback for future reference and training. For details about Progent's support services for Cisco Webex as well as for other video conferencing solutions from Cisco, visit Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
• Teams is Microsoft's follow-up for Skype for Business. Teams provides a portal for conversations, contacts, and information with features that include voice/video calling, persistent threaded chat, plus file sharing. For details about Progent's consulting services 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's conferencing experts include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can provide integration and debugging expertise for these conferencing platforms and help your business to optimize your network infrastructure to run them.

Microsoft Collaboration Software for Remote and Hybrid Workers
Microsoft's collaboration products are closely integrated with Microsoft's familiar Office and Microsoft 365 suites, providing a powerful ecosystem of productivity apps that create a cohesive user experience for exchanging data and ideas across a corporate network and on a broad selection of endpoint computers. Progent has provided online consulting support for Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange Server since their initial publication and can help your company to tune these flagship collaboration platforms 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 works on top of Microsoft 365 and supports third-party cloud services to provide real-time collaboration and communication. Designed as a replacement for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium can enable chat, video meetings that include screen sharing, calling, cloud voicemail, group email, plus file and app sharing. Teams is closely integrated with Microsoft 365 and depends on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Azure Entra (previously called Azure Active Directory) for delivering its full range of capabilities. For details about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium, see solution design and configuration expertise for Microsoft Teams.

SharePoint utilizes web sites to allow collaboration and knowledge delivery by providing policy-driven access to content, business processes, and utilities for looking through enterprise-wide business data. SharePoint allows you to create protected web portals that permits at-home workers to view and edit consolidated business intelligence via Wikis, Blogs, social web sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). To find out about Progent's SharePoint consulting expertise, refer to SharePoint configuration and development expertise.

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

OneDrive is Microsoft�s collaborative cloud file hosting and synchronization service, comparable to GoogleDrive. At-home users can store files to OneDrive, and colleagues can share them safely via a browser. Provided with Office 365, OneDrive allows at-home workers to co-edit files. Edits made offline are automatically synced when you go back online. To find out about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft OneDrive, see Microsoft Onedrive integration experts.

Cloud Integration Services for Telecommuters
Progent offers advanced online assistance for helping organizations to build, maintain and optimize cohesive hybrid network architectures that combine internal data centers, teleworkers, branch offices, plus cloud resources. Progent can provide 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 fix problems with public cloud connectivity, identity, and cybersecurity.

Microsoft Azure is a popular family of public cloud software and services that enables you to use IT infrastructure, virtual servers, and key applications running on Microsoft's extensive cloud. Microsoft Azure includes more than 100 cloud-based services such as the ability to host Windows and Linux-powered VMs, scalable cloud storage, messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and data backup. Progent can help you to deploy VMs on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate cloud-based storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity control with Azure AD, and plan backup and recovery systems with Azure Backup. Progent's cloud experts can also show you how to establish protected access to Azure for at-home workers by configuring and debugging firewall appliances and VPN IPsec tunnels. To learn about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft Azure, go to Azure expertise.

Microsoft 365, formerly branded Office 365, is Microsoft's growing family of business productivity applications and cloud services offered on a subscription basis. Microsoft applications and services are provided in a variety of plans designed for users ranging from students and households to large enterprises. Progent can provide quick and affordable online contact with consultants knowledgeable about Microsoft 365-compatible client devices running Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android technology. Progent's experts can assist you to assess the various subscription plans offered with Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 apps for your remote workers in a way that delivers maximum business value. For details about Progent's support services for Microsoft 365, see Microsoft 365 consulting expertise.

Exchange Online is one of the most widely used cloud-based applications in the Microsoft 365 product line. Exchange Online provides the advantages of reduced costs for data center infrastructure, easier management, on-demand scaling, high reliability, and other benefits inherent with public clouds. Microsoft has designed Microsoft 365 Exchange Online to operate smoothly with on-premises Exchange environments, allowing customers to build hybrid networks. Progent's Exchange consultants can provide occasional help to guide you past tough technical roadblocks and can also provide comprehensive project management outsourcing to make sure your teleworkers have convenient and secure access to your Microsoft 365 Exchange Online deployment. To learn Progent's support services for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, go to Exchange Online integration and support expertise.

Amazon AWS is a trailblazer in the public cloud computing market and is the world's top source of cloud-based services. Progent can provide rapid and affordable online contact with cloud connectivity consultants who can assist your business to design, deploy, manage, and debug hybrid IT networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud services with local data centers and with other public clouds like Azure. Progent also offers the skills of Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to help your company to build a high-uptime network model so your users have a productive computing environment regardless of whether they are working from your main office, a remote branch, at home, or on the road. To learn about Progent's consulting expertise for Amazon AWS, see Amazon AWS integration support.

Google Cloud (GCP) is a leading collection of public cloud services that provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service products. Progent's certified Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco experts can help your organization to expand your existing IT assets with the Google Cloud, and Progent's DBA experts can help you make your critical applications cloud friendly so your at-home workers can take full advantage of Google Cloud services. Progent's consultants can help your organization to deploy virtual machines on GCP Compute Engine, design an efficient storage system with GCP Storage services, and streamline identity control for teleworkers with GCP Cloud Identity services. Progent's consultants can also help you to use GCP's management tools to control and monitor your GCP ecosystem. For details, see Google Cloud Platform (GCP) consulting support.

Help Desk Support for Telecommuters
A rapid, organization-wide transition to a from-home workforce, which could be the result of an epidemic or as a component of a disaster recovery plan, can overwhelm even a high-performing internal Help Desk. Progent's Call Center services allow organizations of any size to outsource or supplement their Help Desk with Progent's remote Technical Response Center services.

• Progent's Standard Support Desk services utilize Progent's extensive network of remote IT support specialists combined with enterprise-class trouble ticketing and follow-up technology to provide an affordable, state-of-the-art Support Desk. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services offer an end-to-end solution that handles all aspects of remote Level 1 PC technical support from service requests to trouble ticket generation, screen sharing, problem resolution, and incident reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal enables teleworkers to monitor or edit their current tickets, add details, and upload screen captures and relevant files. Technical support services are delivered at a significant discount off Progent's normal Level 1 technical service charges, and Progent makes available the option of rapid hand-off to Level 2 and Level 3 IT experts to deal with complex problems. For more information, go to Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services outsourcing for small and mid-size companies.
• Progent's Help Desk Augmentation Service enables your company to expand your current Help Desk Call Center staff by sharing responsibilities for Support Desk services seamlessly between your in-house support staff and Progent's extensive team of PC support technicians and subject matter experts. Progent's co-managed Support Desk service is based on a collaborative support model utilizing the number one professional services automation (PSA) tool for managing service requests and trouble tickets, establishing responsibility, tracking progress, and generating reports. For information about how Progent's Call Desk Augmentation Services can enable your business to provide best-in-class technical support to your at-home workforce, refer to Progent's Help Desk Call Center supplementation Services.

Security for At-Home Workers
At-home workers commonly use their own computers and often work in a poorly secured physical space. This multiplies their susceptibility to malware threats and requires careful deployment of firewalls, AV tools, multi-factor authentication, remote endpoint monitoring, thorough end-user training, and the creation of policies based on best practices. Progent's veteran group of cybersecurity support consultants can assist you to plan, deploy and maintain a compliant cybersecurity solution that guards vital information assets in networks that incorporate at-home workers.

Firewalls allow you to create a network that can be securely accessed by on-premises users as well as by telecommuters, mobile workers, vendors, customers, and other stakeholders. Next-generation firewall appliances permit you to assign and manage appropriate permissions to different classes of users and to expand your IT network and modify your security as your business evolves and as network attacks grow increasingly sophisticated. Progent supports both current and older security devices from all leading manufacturers including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, WatchGuard, Juniper, SonicWall and Fortinet. For more information about Progent's firewall configuration services, visit firewall support expertise.

Online Endpoint Security Monitoring makes it easy to track the various devices used by telecommuters and either block or spot and respond to modern threats like ransomware. With Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) services, a small-footprint software agent is installed on every protected endpoint, monitoring all activity and utilizing advanced machine learning from SentinelOne to identify zero-day threats before they can spread. When a cyberattack is spotted, ProSight ASM instantly isolates the targeted device from the corporate network to quarantine the threat. Because the ProSight Active Security Monitoring software agent is autonomous, endpoints stay protected even when they are not connected to the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. For details about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, refer to remote endpoint security monitoring for at-home workers.

Progent's Duo MFA Services utilize Cisco's Duo cloud technology to defend against stolen passwords by using two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo enables single-tap identity confirmation on Apple iOS, Android, and other out-of-band devices. Using Duo 2FA, when you log into a protected online account and give your password you are asked to verify who you are on a unit that only you possess and that uses a different ("out-of-band") network channel. A wide selection of devices can be used for this second means of ID validation including an iPhone or Android or wearable, a hardware token, a landline telephone, etc. You can designate multiple verification devices. To learn more about Duo two-factor identity authentication services, visit Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for remote workers.

Security Audits can evaluate the vulnerability of your information system to all types of external and internal security threats for an environment that incorporates remote workers. Progent can run online, automated cybersecurity analysis scanning for quickly and economically detecting a broad range of security gaps that can be found via the Internet. Progent's endpoint security audit consulting services, which can be provided by network security professionals with top certifications such as CISA, ISSAP, and GIAC, can assist your company to audit your operations and governance policies and review your network infrastructure to enable you to implement top-level security for your an at-home workforce.

Horizon3.ai's NodeZero PEN Testing Platform is a leading-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that can deliver automated threat assessment of your at-home environment and your internal and perimeter networks to help you find, rank, fix, and confirm security weaknesses before malicious hackers can take advantage of them. Progent can assist you to deploy NodeZero to perform comprehensive pentests of your perimeter and your internal network in order to determine your current security profile. Progent's NodeZero experts can also assist you to strengthen your network security and can assist you to design and implement a cohesive cybersecurity strategy that simplifies management and delivers optimum cyber defense for on-prem, cloud-based, remote, and perimeter IT resources. To find out additional details about Progent's threat assessment solutions powered by on NodeZero's PEN test platform, see Consulting Support for NodeZero's Pentest Products.

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

Data Protection Solutions for Teleworkers
The field of Data Protection involves backing up and restoring critical data so as to avoid data loss and reduce restoration time and effort in the event of storage failures due to equipment issues, programming glitches, user error, cyber attack, or any other reason. Reliable data protection strategies can be especially difficult to architect and maintain in hybrid networks that incorporate local data centers, cloud resources, and an at-home workforce.

• Backup/Restore strategies for teleworkers must address multiple kinds of personally owned endpoint devices. Progent offers fast remote access to consultants knowledgeable about a broad range of platforms for backing up Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac and Linux/UNIX servers and desktop computers as well as laptops, iOS and Android tablets and handhelds. Popular backup/recovery solutions maintained by Progent's backup/recovery consultants include Barracuda Backup, Azure Backup, Symantec Backup Exec, Acronis Backup and Recovery, Retrospect, and Time Machine. To back up data distributed throughout a hybrid network, Progent can provide ProSight Data Protection Services, a backup/recovery subscription service that utilizes cloud storage and features fine-grained restore and centralized management capabilities.
• Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity plans commonly envision circumstances that require a quick switch to an at-home workforce. Progent's senior disaster recovery preparedness consultants and business continuity specialists can assist your company to develop, document and test a DR/BC plan that addresses the logistics of moving to an at-home workforce.

Unified Management for an At-Home Workforce
Microsoft has rebranded and reshuffled its endpoint management products under the title Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which includes Intune for cloud management of mobile and remote devices and Configuration Manager for managing on-premises endpoints. Endpoint Manager features a unified environment for protecting critical information by managing onsite, mobile, and at-home endpoints.

Microsoft 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 remote computers and applications. Remote endpoint devices can be personally owned or business owned. IT administrators managing the endpoint computers of teleworkers can use Intune to provision and authenticate applications on devices, push patches and certificates, set up rules for accessing data and resources, set passwords, establish VPN connections, control how home-based workers share data, establish threat protection, verify security compliance, and wipe sensitive information from missing, stolen or deactivated endpoint devices. Microsoft Intune runs with iOS/iPadOS, Google Android, Windows, and macOS devices. For information about Microsoft Intune and how Progent can help your company to use this platform to manage the endpoint computers of your at-home workforce, go to Intune mobile endpoint management expertise.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich centralized MDM product that allows network administrators to keep offsite endpoints up to date and protected. Workspace ONE uses VMware AirWatch for unified endpoint administration combined with VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery technology for identity control, application management, and setup management of endpoints. Workspace ONE operates with devices powered by Windows 10, macOS, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, or leading distros of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is available by subscription as a cloud-based service or as an on-site product via a one-time purchase. Key features of Workspace ONE include fast over-the-air provisioning of out-of-the-box laptops, immediate onboarding of new users, policy setting and enforcement for all categories of endpoints, unifies reporting and analytics, email encryption, and integration with Microsoft apps and cloud-based products. For information about Progent's support for VMware Workspace ONE, visit VMware Workspace ONE mobile endpoint management expertise.

Contact Progent for Telecommuter Expertise
To contact Progent about creating and managing an efficient telecommuter environment for your Broomfield, Colorado organization, phone 1-800-993-9400 or refer to Contact Progent.