Calgary Work at Home Employees Integration Support

Expanding your remote workforce can have a significant impact on IT infrastructure, cybersecurity, and corporate culture. Progent has 20 years of experience helping SMBs to plan, deploy, administer, tune, and debug IT networks that incorporate a remote workforce. Progent can help your Calgary organization to select the appropriate technologies and adhere to leading practices in building and operating a secure virtual solution for telecommuters that promotes teamwork and returns maximum value. Progent offers support services ranging from as-needed guidance for helping you past challenging IT roadblocks to comprehensive project management or co-management to help you carry out business-critical tasks.

Progent can assist Calgary, Alberta businesses to with any aspect of creating a high-functioning telecommuting ecosystem by delivering infrastructure design and configuration services, IP voice expertise, video conferencing support, collaboration platform customization and training, cloud connectivity, Call Desk services, cybersecurity, data protection solutions, and streamlined management.

Network Infrastructure for Teleworkers
Setting up the network infrastructure required for an at-home workforce can be particularly complex if you have to manage a combination of worker-owned hardware like desktop computers and laptops, routers, and wireless appliances from different manufacturers and with a variety of operating systems and firmware levels. Progent's background providing remote help for both legacy and modern technologies in remote office solutions enables you to make efficient use of your available infrastructure and offers fast access to expertise for implement necessary upgrades. Services offered by Progent to help you to implement a high-functioning work-at-home ecosystem include:

• Virtual Private Network technology allows you to establish a secure tunnel for authorized remote workers to access IT assets located at your corporate data center or in a public cloud. Progent can assist your company to configure and manage VPN access between your teleworkers and your key network resources by providing online VPN configuration consulting. For organizations using Cisco's ASA firewalls, Progent's Cisco-certified ASA consultants can assist your telecommuters to set up Cisco's AnyConnect software for secure VPN tunneling for a broad selection of devices including Microsoft Windows, Mac, iOS, Linux, and Android.
• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure platforms allow 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 offers them a familiar work experience. Progent's virtual desktop consulting services include Windows Remote Desktop integration and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI expertise.
• Routers attach at-home computer networks to the Internet and support VPN tunnels, home wireless networks, and firewall services. Progent offers top-tier online consulting for setting up routers from a range of vendors. See router integration services from Cisco-certified consultants.
• Home Wireless networks, often supporting an entire household and guests, are frequently used by telecommuters to connect to their Internet router for work. This can create throughput and cybersecurity issues. Progent can help you to mitigate these issues by delivering expertise like Aironet configuration consulting, Cisco Meraki WiFi deployment expertise, and Ubiquiti Unifi WiFi access point integration help.
• Internet connectivity methods impact the speed and availability of connections between at-home workers and the corporate network. Mission-critical applications might require redundant Internet access in the event the normal connection fails. Progent offers expertise for picking ISPs, selecting appropriate service bundles, and setting up fault-tolerant Internet connections. See Internet connectivity integration services.

IP Voice Solutions for Remote Workers
Extending the corporate PBX system to include teleworkers is vital to supporting an effective at-home workforce. A broad range of cloud-centric VoIP platforms are popular with small and mid-size businesses to server teleworkers. Many enterprises rely on Cisco's modern or older platforms for IP voice management. Progent can assist organizations of all sizes to plan or maintain a remote IP voice service that delivers the flexibility, transparency and security required for telecommuters. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice experts can provide high-level support to help businesses tune their current Cisco IP voice systems to support an expanding at-home workforce.

• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) extends high-end telephony capabilities to devices like IP phones, media processing products, VoIP gateways, and mixed media software deployed across the network. CUCM supports additional combined media services such as unified messaging, voice/video conferencing, and team collaboration networks. For more information about Progent's Cisco Unified CM or CUCM expertise, see Cisco Unified Communications Manager consulting services.
• Cisco CallManager is Cisco's earlier call-processing software and has been superseded by Cisco Unified CM or CUCM. Progent's consultants can assist you to support your current CallManager deployment or upgrade smoothly to Cisco's modern IP telephony products. To find out about Progent's expertise for Cisco CallManager and Cisco's other early VoIP platforms, see Cisco CallManager consulting.
• Cisco IP Gateways provide integration with public telephony networks and with clients operating beyond the corporate perimeter like at-home workers. Progent offers expert support for Cisco's earlier generation IP gateways such as the UC520, UC540 and UC560 products and for modern Cisco 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 WAN architecture to work with these solutions and deliver online deployment and debugging expertise.

Voice/Video Conferencing for an At-Home Workforce
A wide selection of voice/video conferencing platforms from leading technology companies support virtual discussions, video and voice conferencing, chat, and screen sharing for both onsite users and telecommuters. Many organizations use a mix of conferencing products to accommodate their various partners and customers. Progent can help your organization to manage your current conferencing ecosystem and optimize the experience of your remote workforce.

• Skype for Business is Microsoft's leading communications product that supports presence, instant messaging, audio and video calling and conferencing as well as the transparent integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 productivity software including PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. Progent can provide the expertise of Microsoft-certified specialists who can assist you to deploy and maintain Skype for Business client software to accommodate your remote employees. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Skype for Business, refer to Skype for Business consulting experts.
• FaceTime is Apple's group video calling platform for compatible iOS, iPadOS, iPod and macOS devices. FaceTime works over Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Newer versions of FaceTime support as many as 32 concurrent users for voice/video sessions. To learn more about Progent's support services for Apple FaceTime, refer to Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
• Webex Meeting Center supports online conferencing for most desktop or mobile devices. Delivered via Cisco's Webex Cloud platform, Webex capabilities include sharing discrete content or screens, presentations that embed rich media such as Microsoft PowerPoint, session capture, plus editing and playback for future reference. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Cisco Webex as well as for additional IP video 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 conversations, contacts, and content with features that include IP voice and 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, see Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
• Other Conferencing Apps supported by Progent include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can deliver integration and debugging expertise for these conferencing platforms and assist your business to tune your WAN architecture to host them.

Microsoft Integrated Collaboration Platforms for Teleworkers
Microsoft's collaboration platforms are tightly integrated with Microsoft's familiar Office and Microsoft 365 suites, offering a powerful environment of applications that create a cohesive user interface for exchanging data and ideas across a corporate network and on a broad selection of endpoints. Progent has delivered remote consulting support for SharePoint and Exchange since their first publication and can help your company to tune these flagship collaboration platforms to maximize the productivity 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 with 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 support chat, audio/video meetings with screen sharing, phone calls, cloud voicemail, group email, plus file and application sharing. Teams is tightly integrated with Microsoft 365 and relies on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Azure Entra (previously called Azure Active Directory) for delivering its complete range of capabilities. For additional information about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium, visit solution design and configuration consulting for Microsoft Teams.

SharePoint utilizes web sites to enable collaboration and knowledge delivery by providing policy-driven delivery of data, workflow, and tools for searching through company-wide information silos. SharePoint allows you to build protected portals that allows at-home workforce to see and edit consolidated business intelligence by means of Wikis, Blogs, social sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). To find out about Progent's SharePoint support services, see SharePoint integration 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 expertise, refer to planning and configuration consulting services for Exchange Server.

OneDrive is Microsoft�s shared cloud-based storage service, comparable to GoogleDrive. At-home workers can store files to the OneDrive service, and co-workers can retrieve them safely via a browser. Included with Office 365, OneDrive allows home employees to co-author documents. Revisions created offline are automatically uploaded when you go back online. To find out about Progent's support services for Microsoft OneDrive, visit Microsoft Onedrive configuration consulting.

Public Cloud Integration for Telecommuters
Progent can provide advanced remote assistance for helping organizations to create, maintain and troubleshoot integrated network architectures that combine physical data centers, remote workers, branch offices, plus public cloud resources. Progent can provide expertise for all modes of cloud service including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help teleworkers fix problems with cloud access, authentication, and cybersecurity.

Azure is a popular family of public cloud services that enables you to utilize IT infrastructure, virtual servers, and key applications hosted on Microsoft's massive cloud. Microsoft Azure includes over one hundred services services including the ability to host Windows and Linux-based virtual machines, 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 cloud-based storage on Azure Storage services, streamline identity control with Azure AD, and plan data backup and recovery systems with Azure Backup. Progent's cloud experts can also show you how to create secure connections to Azure for at-home workers by configuring and debugging firewall appliances and VPN IPsec tunnels. To find out about Progent's consulting services for Azure, go to Microsoft Azure expertise.

Microsoft 365, formerly branded Office 365, is Microsoft's popular suite of client productivity software and cloud-based services offered on a subscription basis. Office apps and cloud services are marketed in a selection of plans intended for customers ranging from students and small offices to major corporations. Progent can provide quick and affordable online access to consultants familiar with Microsoft 365-compatible client devices running Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android operating systems. Progent's experts can help you to evaluate the numerous subscription bundles available for Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 applications for your teleworkers to achieve maximum business value. For information about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft 365, refer to Microsoft 365 integration expertise.

Microsoft 365 Exchange Online is one of the most widely used applications in the Microsoft 365 product line. Exchange Online provides the benefits of lower spending for data center infrastructure, simplified management, dynamic scaling, high availability, and other advantages inherent with public clouds. Microsoft has engineered Exchange Online to run smoothly with on-premises deployments of Exchange, allowing customers to create hybrid cloud/onsite networks. Progent's Exchange consultants are available for occasional assistance to get you through challenging IT roadblocks and can also provide end-to-end project management outsourcing to make sure your teleworkers have convenient and safe access to your Microsoft 365 Exchange Online deployment. For information Progent's consulting services for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, refer to Exchange Online configuration and support consulting.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a pioneer in the public cloud arena and is the world's leading source of cloud services. Progent offers rapid and economical online contact with cloud integration consultants who can help your organization to plan, implement, manage, and debug hybrid IT networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with on-premises resources and with other popular cloud platforms such as Microsoft Azure. Progent also offers access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to help your company to build a high-uptime network model to make sure your employees have a consistent computing experience whether they are working from your headquarters, a branch office, at home, or on the move. For details about Progent's consulting services for Amazon AWS, refer to Amazon AWS integration expertise.

Google Cloud Platform is a popular set of cloud services that offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco experts can help your business to scale your current IT assets with the Google Cloud Platform, and Progent's DBA consultants can help you make your critical apps cloud ready so your at-home workers can benefit fully from Google Cloud Platform services. Progent's consultants can help your organization to deploy VMs on Google Cloud Compute Engine, plan a cost-effective storage solution with Google Cloud Storage, and simplify identity control for telecommuters with GCP Cloud Identity. Progent's consultants can also assist your business to utilize GCP's management tools to administer and track your GCP ecosystem. To learn, see Google Cloud Platform integration services.

Help Desk Call Center Support for Teleworkers
A rapid, company-wide switchover to a telecommuter business model, which could be driven by an epidemic or as part of a disaster recovery process, can overstretch even the most efficient internal Call Desk. Progent's Call Center services allow organizations of any size to outsource or augment their Help Desk by using Progent's online Technical Response Center (TRC) team.

• Progent's Standard Support Desk support services leverage Progent's extensive network of online technical support experts combined with enterprise-class trouble ticketing and follow-up technology to offer an economical, advanced Support Desk. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services offer a comprehensive solution that handles all facets of remote Level 1 PC support from initial service requests to ticket generation, screen sharing, problem resolution, and incident reporting. A browser-based User's Service Portal allows telecommuters to check or update their current trouble tickets, enter information, and append screen captures or attachments. Support services are provided at a substantial price reduction off Progent's ordinary Level 1 desktop service charges, and Progent makes available the option of fast escalation to Level 2 and Level 3 support experts to deal with complex issues. For details, see Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services outsourcing for small and mid-size businesses.
• Progent's Call Center Supplemental Service allows your company to augment your current Support Desk organization by sharing responsibilities for Call Desk support transparently between your regular IT support organization and Progent's nationwide roster of desktop support engineers and subject matter experts. Progent's shared Call Center service uses a collaborative support solution based on the leading professional services automation tool for managing help requests and ticketing, establishing ownership, tracking progress, and generating reports. To learn how Progent's Call Center Supplementation Services can enable your company to deliver world-class IT support to your from-home workers, visit Progent's Support Desk supplementation Services.

Cybersecurity for Telecommuters
Work-from-Home (WFH) workers commonly use their personal computers and often work in a poorly secured physical space. This situation increases their vulnerability to cyber attacks and requires judicious deployment of corporate firewalls, AV tools, multi-factor authentication, remote monitoring, extensive end-user education, and the creation of policies based on leading practices. Progent's seasoned roster of IT security solutions experts can assist you to design, implement and maintain an effective cybersecurity solution that protects vital IT assets in environments that incorporate remote workers.

Firewalls enable companies to build a network that can be safely accessed by on-premises users and by teleworkers, mobile employees, vendors, clients, and the public. Modern firewall appliances allow you to assign and control different permissions to different groups of users and to expand your IT network and adjust your cybersecurity posture as your business evolves and as cyber threats become more complex. Progent works with both new and older security appliances from all leading manufacturers like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, WatchGuard, Juniper, SonicWall and Fortinet. For details about Progent's firewall support expertise, go to firewall configuration and support services.

Remote Endpoint Monitoring makes it possible to watch over the disparate computers utilized by telecommuters and either block or identify and mitigate the latest cyber attacks like ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) services, a lightweight agent is installed on each protected endpoint device, watching all activity and utilizing state-of-the-art AI technology from SentinelOne to identify zero-day threats before they can spread. When a cyberattack is discovered, ProSight ASM instantly isolates the targeted device from the network to quarantine the malware. Since the ProSight Active Security Monitoring agent is self-contained, endpoint devices remain secure even if they are not connected to the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. For more information about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, go to remote endpoint monitoring for teleworkers.

Progent's Duo authentication Managed Services utilize Cisco's Duo cloud technology to protect against stolen passwords by using two-factor authentication. Duo enables one-tap identity verification with iOS, Google Android, and other out-of-band devices. With 2FA, whenever you log into a protected application and enter your password you are requested to verify your identity via a unit that only you possess and that is accessed using a separate network channel. A wide selection of out-of-band devices can be utilized for this added means of authentication including a smartphone or wearable, a hardware/software token, a landline phone, etc. You can register multiple verification devices. To find out more about Duo two-factor identity authentication services, visit Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for an at-home workforce.

Security Audits can assess the vulnerability of your information system to all classes of outside and internal security threats for an environment that incorporates an at-home workforce. Progent can run online, automated cybersecurity inventory scanning for quickly and affordably uncovering a broad range of security weaknesses that can be found over the Internet. Progent's security audit experts, which can be provided by data security professionals with advanced credentials including CISA, ISSAP, and GIAC, can help your company to audit your processes and policies and assess your WAN architecture to enable you to implement the highest level of security for your at-home workers.

Horizon3.ai's NodeZero PEN Testing Platform is a leading-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that supports automated threat assessment of your at-home connectivity solution and your internal and perimeter networks so you can find, prioritize, remediate, and verify cybersecurity weaknesses before malicious hackers can exploit them. Progent's pentest experts can assist you to deploy NodeZero to perform thorough pentests of your network perimeter and your internal network so you can determine your present security profile. Progent can also assist you to harden your network security and can assist you to design and deploy a unified cybersecurity ecosystem that simplifies management and provides optimum protection for on-premises, multi-cloud, remote, and perimeter IT assets. To find out more information about Progent's vulnerability assessment solutions powered by on NodeZero's penetration test platform, see Consulting Support for NodeZero's Penetration Test Products.

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

Data Protection for Telecommuters
The field of Data Protection involves backing up and restoring critical information so as to prevent data loss and minimize recovery time in case of storage system problems due to hardware breakdowns, software glitches, human mistakes, malware, or other causes. Dependable data protection solutions can be especially difficult to design and manage in hybrid networks that combine private data centers, public clouds, and at-home workers.

• Backup/Recovery solutions for teleworkers must address multiple types of personally owned endpoint devices. Progent offers fast remote help from experts familiar with a wide array of platforms for backing up Windows, Apple and Linux/UNIX servers and desktop computers as well as notebooks, iOS and Android tablets and smartphones. Leading backup/recovery products maintained by Progent's backup/recovery consultants include Barracuda Backup, Microsoft Azure Backup, Symantec Backup Exec, Acronis Backup and Recovery, Mozy, and Time Machine. To protect resources distributed throughout a hybrid network, Progent offers ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a backup/recovery subscription service that utilizes cloud storage and features fine-grained recovery and unified management.
• Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity (DR/BC) strategies typically envision scenarios that require a quick switch to a work-at-home environment. Progent's senior disaster recovery preparedness experts and business continuity specialists can help you to create, document and validate a DR/BC plan that includes the process 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 devices and Configuration Manager for managing onsite computers. Microsoft Endpoint Manager features a centralized environment for safeguarding corporate information by managing onsite, mobile, and at-home endpoint devices.

Intune
Intune is part of Microsoft's Endpoint Management suite that also features Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and securing remote computers and applications. Remote endpoint computers can be user owned or business owned. IT administrators managing the enrolled endpoint devices of teleworkers can use Intune to deploy and authenticate applications on managed devices, push patches and certificates, set up rules for permission to access data and resources, set passwords, create VPN connections, control how telecommuters share information, establish threat protection, verify security compliance, and delete corporate information from lost, stolen or decommissioned endpoint devices. Intune can be used with iOS/iPadOS, Google Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X computers. For details about Intune and how Progent can assist you to use this platform to administer the endpoint computers of your teleworkers, visit Intune telecommuter device management expertise.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is an advanced unified Mobile Device Management platform that helps network administrators to keep off-premises endpoint devices current and secure. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch technology for unified endpoint management combined with VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery platform for access control, application management, and setup management of endpoint computers. Workspace ONE operates with endpoints based on Windows 10, macOS, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, or leading distributions of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is offered by subscription as a cloud-based service or as an on-premises product via a one-time purchase. Top features of Workspace ONE include fast over-the-air provisioning of out-of-the-box notebooks, quick onboarding of new users, policy set up and enforcement for all categories of endpoints, aggregated reporting and performance analytics, an email encryption gateway, and tight integration with Microsoft applications and cloud-based products. To find out about Progent's support for VMware Workspace ONE, visit VMware Workspace ONE remote endpoint management consultants.

Contact Progent for Telecommuter Support Services
To get in touch with Progent about building and managing an efficient telecommuter solution for your Calgary, Alberta company, phone 1-800-993-9400 or go to Contact Progent.