Garland Remote Workforce Connectivity Consultants

Enlarging your remote workforce can have a major effect on IT architecture, security/compliance, and corporate workflows. Progent has 20 years of background helping small and mid-size businesses to design, configure, manage, tune, and troubleshoot IT environments that incorporate work-from-home employees. Progent can help your Garland organization to pick the appropriate tools and follow best practices in building and operating a secure virtual solution for teleworkers that facilitates collaboration and delivers maximum value. Progent offers services ranging from on demand expertise for helping you past occasional technical roadblocks to comprehensive project management or co-management to help you carry out business-critical initiatives.

Progent can assist Garland, Texas businesses to with any aspect of building a high-functioning telecommuting ecosystem by delivering infrastructure design and configuration services, IP voice troubleshooting, video conferencing integration, collaboration platform customization and training, cloud connectivity, Call Desk augmentation, endpoint security, backup/restore solutions, and centralized management.

Infrastructure for Teleworkers
Integrating the physical and software infrastructure needed to support a remote work environment can be particularly complicated if you must manage a mix of personal equipment such as PCs and notebooks, routers, and Wi-Fi appliances from different manufacturers and with a variety of OS software and firmware releases. Progent's experience providing online help for both legacy and current technologies in remote office solutions enables you to make cost-effective use of your existing network infrastructure and offers fast access to expertise for making essential upgrades. Services available from Progent to assist your company to create a high-functioning telecommuting ecosystem include:

• Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology makes it possible to establish a secure tunnel for authenticated remote workers to use IT resources situated at your corporate datacenter or in a public cloud. Progent's consultants can assist your company to deploy and maintain VPN connections between your at-home workforce and your key IT resources by providing online VPN integration support. For organizations with Cisco's ASA security appliances, Progent's Cisco-certified ASA experts can help your remote workers to utilize Cisco's popular AnyConnect client software for safe VPN tunneling for a broad selection of devices including Microsoft Windows, macOS, iOS, Linux, and Google Android.
• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) platforms allow a teleworker to view and use a data center PC's desktop. This technology gives IT managers more control over the computing environment of telecommuters and ensures remote users a familiar work experience. Progent's VDI services include Windows Remote Desktop integration and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI consulting.
• Routers attach home networks to the Internet and typically support VPN connections, local wireless connectivity, and firewalls. Progent offers top-tier online support for deploying routers from a variety of manufacturers. See router integration support from Cisco-certified consultants.
• Home Wi-Fi networks, typically supporting an entire household and guests, are frequently utilized by at-home employees to access their Internet router for work. This can cause performance as well as cybersecurity issues. Progent can help businesses to resolve these problems by delivering expertise that include Cisco Aironet configuration consulting, Cisco-certified Meraki wireless deployment expertise, and Ubiquiti WiFi access point setup help.
• Internet access methods affect the performance and availability of connections between at-home workers and the corporate network. Vital processes may require redundant Internet connections in the event the primary connection breaks. Progent offers expertise for picking Internet service providers, picking appropriate service packages, and configuring redundant Internet connections. Refer to Internet connectivity integration services.

VoIP Solutions for At-Home Workers
Extending the business phone system to include telecommuters is critical to maintaining a productive work-at-home solution. A variety of cloud-based digital PBX platforms are used by small and mid-size businesses to support telecommuters. Many larger organizations rely on Cisco's current or legacy platforms for VoIP solutions. Progent can help businesses of all sizes to plan or tune a telecommuter VoIP service that provides the versatility, transparency and protection needed for telecommuters. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE Voice experts can provide advanced support to help businesses optimize their current Cisco IP voice environments to handle a growing remote workforce.

• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) delivers advanced telephony capabilities to devices like VoIP phones, media processing platforms, Voice over IP gateways, and multimedia apps used throughout the network. CUCM manages other mixed media services such as messaging, video conferencing, and team interaction networks. For more information about Progent's CUCM expertise, refer to Cisco Unified Communications Manager expertise.
• CallManager is Cisco's earlier call-processing software and has been superseded by Cisco Unified CM or CUCM. Progent can assist your company to support your current CallManager environment or migrate smoothly to Cisco's current IP telephony products. To learn about Progent's support services for CallManager and Cisco's other early VoIP products, refer to Cisco CallManager expertise.
• Cisco IP Gateways enable integration with public telephony networks and with users operating outside the corporate firewall such as telecommuters. Progent offers expert support for Cisco's earlier generation IP gateways including the UC520, UC540 and UC560 product lines and for modern Cisco SIP gateways. See Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateway configuration consulting.
• Other VoIP Products supported by Progent's consultants include Vonage, RingCentral and 8x8. Progent can assist you to update your wide area network architecture to work with these solutions and deliver online deployment and debugging services.

Video Conferencing for Remote Workers
A broad selection of voice/video conferencing products from leading technology companies support virtual discussions, video conferencing, chat, and screen sharing for both local workers and teleworkers. Many companies utilize multiple conferencing products to meet the needs of their different partners and clients. Progent can assist you to manage your existing voice/video conferencing ecosystem and enhance the engagement of your remote workforce.

• Skype for Business is Microsoft's leading communications product that supports presence, IM, voice and video conferencing as well as the transparent integration of these functions within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 applications such as PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. Progent offers the expertise of Microsoft-certified specialists who can assist your company to configure and manage Skype for Business clients to accommodate your remote employees. To learn more about Progent's support expertise for Skype for Business, visit Skype for Business consulting experts.
• FaceTime is Apple's multiuser video phone platform for compatible iOS and macOS devices. FaceTime runs over Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Current versions of FaceTime allow as many as 32 simultaneous users for voice/video calls. For details about Progent's support expertise for FaceTime, refer to Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
• Webex Meeting Center supports remote conferencing for most computing devices. Delivered via Cisco's Webex Cloud platform, Webex capabilities include sharing specific content or computer screens, presentations that incorporate rich media including Microsoft PowerPoint and Flash videos, network-based capture, plus revision and playback for training. To learn more about Progent's support services for Webex and for additional IP video products from Cisco, see Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
• Teams is Microsoft's next-generation replacement for Skype for Business. Teams acts as a hub for conferencing, contacts, and content with features such as IP voice and video conferencing, threaded chat, plus data sharing. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Teams and for additional Microsoft 365 products, refer to Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
• Additional Voice/Video Conferencing Platforms supported by Progent's conferencing experts include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can provide configuration and debugging expertise for these conferencing platforms and help your business to tune your network architecture to run them.

Microsoft Collaboration Software for Telecommuters
Microsoft's collaboration platforms are tightly integrated with Microsoft's familiar Office and Microsoft 365 families, offering a rich environment of productivity apps that deliver a cohesive user interface for exchanging information throughout multiple sites and on a wide range of endpoint devices. Progent has provided online consulting services for SharePoint and Exchange since their initial releases and can help your company to configure these critical collaboration products 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 integrates with third-party cloud services to deliver real-time collaboration. Designed as a replacement for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium can support chat, audio/video meetings that include 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 Microsoft Entra (previously branded Azure Active Directory) for delivering its full range of capabilities. For additional information about Progent's support services for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium, visit solution design and configuration expertise for Microsoft Teams.

SharePoint uses web sites to promote collaboration and information sharing by offering policy-driven delivery of data, business processes, and utilities for looking through company-wide business data. SharePoint permits you to create protected portals that allows remote workforce to see and edit aggregated business intelligence via Intranets (Wikis), Blogs, social sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). To find out about Progent's SharePoint consulting expertise, go to SharePoint integration 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. For information about Progent's Exchange consulting services, visit planning and configuration consulting services for Exchange Server.

OneDrive is Microsoft�s collaborative cloud storage service, similar to GoogleDrive. At-home users can store files to the OneDrive service, and co-workers can share them securely via a web browser. Included with Microsoft 365, OneDrive allows remote employees to co-author documents. Edits made offline are synced when you reconnect to the Internet. To find out about Progent's support services for OneDrive, refer to Onedrive integration consulting.

Public Cloud Integration for At-Home Workers
Progent offers affordable online support for helping businesses to build, maintain and repair cohesive hybrid network architectures that incorporate physical data centers, teleworkers, branch offices, and cloud services. Progent offers top-tier consultant for all modes of cloud service delivery including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service. Progent can help telecommuters resolve problems with public cloud connectivity, authentication, and security.

Azure is a popular platform for public cloud services that enables you to use infrastructure, virtual servers, and critical applications running on Microsoft's extensive cloud. Microsoft Azure features over one hundred services services including the ability to host Windows and Linux-based virtual machines, on-demand cloud storage, messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and backup/restore. Progent can help your organization to deploy VMs on Azure Virtual Machines, configure storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity management with Azure AD, and plan data backup and recovery solutions with Azure Backup. Progent can also help you establish protected access to Azure services for telecommuters by setting up and troubleshooting firewalls and VPN tunnels. To find out about Progent's expertise for Microsoft Azure, see Microsoft Azure consulting services.

Microsoft 365, formerly called Office 365, is Microsoft's popular suite of business productivity applications and cloud-based services available on a subscription basis. Microsoft applications and cloud services are marketed in a selection of bundles intended for users ranging from students and households to major corporations. Progent offers quick and easy online access to consultants knowledgeable about Microsoft 365-compatible clients based on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android technology. Progent's experts can assist your business to evaluate the various subscription bundles available for Microsoft 365 and configure 365 apps for your at-home workers in a way that delivers maximum business value. For details about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft 365, visit Microsoft 365 consulting support.

Exchange Online is among the most widely used cloud-based applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product suite. Microsoft 365 Exchange Online provides the advantages of lower costs for data center infrastructure, easier management, on-demand scaling, high availability, and other benefits associated with cloud computing. Microsoft has engineered Exchange Online to run seamlessly with local deployments of Exchange, allowing customers to build hybrid cloud/onsite networks. Progent's certified Exchange experts are available for as-needed help to get you past challenging technical bottlenecks and also offer end-to-end project management services to make sure your teleworkers have easy and secure access to your Exchange Online deployment. For details Progent's expertise for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, go to Exchange Online configuration and troubleshooting expertise.

Amazon AWS is a pioneer in the public cloud computing arena and is the world's top source of cloud services. Progent can provide rapid and economical online access to cloud integration consultants who can assist your organization to plan, deploy, manage, and troubleshoot hybrid information networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with on-premises data centers and with other public clouds like Microsoft Azure. Progent also offers access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking consultants to help you to create a high-uptime network model so your employees 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 consulting services for Amazon AWS, visit Amazon AWS integration expertise.

Google Cloud is a leading suite of cloud services that offers 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 current IT resources with the Google Cloud, and Progent's DBA consultants can show you how to make your key apps cloud ready so your telecommuters can benefit fully from Google Cloud Platform services. Progent can help your business to deploy virtual machines on Google Cloud Compute Engine, plan a cost-effective storage solution with Google Cloud Storage, and simplify access management for telecommuters with GCP Cloud Identity. Progent can also help you to use GCP's unified management tools to control and monitor your GCP environment. To find out, refer to Google Cloud Platform integration support.

Help Desk Support for Remote Workers
A fast, enterprise-wide switchover to a telecommuter business model, which could be the result of a pandemic or as a component of a disaster recovery preparedness plan, can overstretch even a high-performing in-house Support Desk. Progent's Help Desk Call Center services make it possible for organizations of any size to outsource or supplement their Call Desk by using Progent's remote Technical Response Center team.

• Progent's Standard Support Desk support services utilize Progent's nationwide team of online technical support specialists combined with world-class trouble ticketing and follow-up software to offer an affordable, modern Help Desk. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services provide an end-to-end solution that handles all facets of remote Level 1 desktop support from initial service requests through ticket creation, screen sharing, issue resolution, and reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal enables telecommuters to monitor or revise the status of their current tickets, enter details, and upload screen captures and attachments. Technical support services are delivered at a significant price reduction off Progent's ordinary Level 1 technical service charges, and Progent makes available the option of fast hand-off to Level 2 and Level 3 support specialists to deal with complex problems. To learn more, refer to Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services for small and mid-size businesses.
• Progent's Support Desk Augmentation Service enables your business to augment your existing Call Center staff by splitting delivery of Call Desk support services seamlessly between your in-house support organization and Progent's extensive team of desktop support engineers and subject matter specialists. Progent's co-managed Help Desk Call Center service is based on a collective support solution based on the number one PSA platform for handling help requests and trouble tickets, assigning ownership, monitoring progress, and producing management reports. For information about how Progent's Help Desk Augmentation Services can help your company to deliver world-class desktop support to your from-home workers, visit Progent's Help Desk Call Center supplementation Services.

Cybersecurity for Teleworkers
Work-from-Home (WFH) staff members typically utilize their own computers and often operate in an unsecured physical environment. This situation multiplies their susceptibility to malware attacks and calls for careful configuration of firewalls, AV tools, MFA-based identity verification, remote endpoint monitoring, intensive user training, and the creation of security policies based on leading practices. Progent's veteran roster of data security solutions experts can help your business to design, deploy and manage a compliant security solution that guards critical information assets in environments that include remote workers.

Firewalls allow companies to build a network environment that can be securely utilized by on-premises users as well as by teleworkers, mobile employees, suppliers, customers, and other stakeholders. Modern firewall devices allow you to assign and manage different permissions to different classes of users and to expand your IT network and adjust your security profile as your business evolves and as network attacks become more complex. Progent supports both new and older firewall appliances from all leading manufacturers like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Juniper, SonicWall and Fortinet. For more information about Progent's firewall integration expertise, refer to firewall integration and support expertise.

Remote Endpoint Monitoring makes it easy to track the various devices used by teleworkers and either block or spot and mitigate modern cyber attacks like ransomware. With 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 attacks before they can spread. When a cyberattack is discovered, ProSight ASM instantly isolates the infected device from the corporate network to quarantine the malware. Since the ProSight Active Security Monitoring software agent is self-contained, endpoint devices remain protected even if they are disconnected from the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. For details about ProSight ASM, refer to remote endpoint monitoring for remote workers.

Progent's Duo MFA Service Plans utilize Cisco's Duo technology to defend against stolen passwords through the use of two-factor authentication. Duo supports single-tap identity confirmation with iOS, Google Android, and other out-of-band devices. Using 2FA, when you sign into a secured online account and enter your password you are asked to verify who you are via a device that only you possess and that is accessed using a different network channel. A wide range of out-of-band devices can be utilized as this second means of authentication such as a smartphone or wearable, a hardware token, a landline telephone, etc. You can designate several verification devices. To learn more about ProSight Duo identity validation services, go to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for at-home workers.

Security Audits can evaluate the vulnerability of your network to all types of outside and local security threats for a network that incorporates remote workers. Progent can run remote, automated cybersecurity analysis software for rapidly and affordably uncovering a broad range of security holes that can be found via the Internet. Progent's endpoint security audit consulting services, which can be provided by data security professionals with top certifications including CISA, ISSAP, and GIAC, can assist your company to evaluate your procedures and governance policies and review your IT architecture to allow you to design top-level security for your an at-home workforce.

Horizon3.ai's NodeZero Pentest Platform is a breakthrough penetration test (pentest) product family that can deliver automated threat assessment of your work-from-home environment and your internal and perimeter networks so you can uncover, rank, fix, and confirm security weaknesses before malicious hackers can take advantage of them. Progent's pentest experts can assist you to deploy NodeZero to carry out comprehensive pentests of your network perimeter and your internal IT infrastructure in order to evaluate your present security posture. Progent can also assist you to strengthen your network security and can help you to design and implement a cohesive cybersecurity ecosystem that streamlines management and delivers maximum cyber defense for on-prem, multi-cloud, remote, and perimeter IT assets. To find out additional information about Progent's threat assessment services based on on NodeZero's pentest products, visit Consulting Services for NodeZero's Penetration Test Platform.

Download White Paper: Securing a Work-From-Home Network
To view or download a white paper describing critical 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 for Telecommuters
Data Protection involves backing up and restoring critical information in order to avoid data loss and minimize recovery time in case of storage failures due to equipment breakdowns, programming glitches, human mistakes, cyber attack, or any other reason. Dependable data protection solutions can be especially difficult to architect and maintain in hybrid networks that incorporate in-house data centers, public clouds, and an at-home workforce.

• Backup/Restore solutions for teleworkers must address multiple kinds of personally owned endpoint devices. Progent can provide fast remote help from experts familiar with a broad array of platforms for protection Microsoft Windows, Apple and Linux/UNIX servers and desktops as well as notebooks, tablets and handhelds. Leading backup/recovery products maintained by Progent's backup/recovery experts include Barracuda Backup, Microsoft Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, CrashPlan, Mozy, and Time Machine. To protect resources distributed throughout a hybrid network, Progent can provide ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a managed backup/recovery subscription service that uses cloud-based storage and features fine-grained restore and centralized management capabilities.
• Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity (DR/BC) strategies typically envision scenarios that call for a quick changeover to a work-at-home environment. Progent's senior disaster recovery planning experts and business continuity planning consultants can help your company to develop, document and test a DR/BC plan that includes the process of switching to telecommuting.

Unified Management for Remote Workers
Microsoft has renamed and rebundled its endpoint management platforms under the name Endpoint Manager, which includes Intune for cloud management of remote devices and Configuration Manager for managing local endpoints. Endpoint Manager offers a unified platform for protecting corporate information by controlling local, mobile, and home-based endpoints.

Intune
Intune is part of Microsoft's Endpoint Management suite that also features Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud service for managing and securing remote devices and software. Managed endpoint computers can be personally owned or company owned. Network administrators managing the enrolled endpoint devices of at-home workers can utilize Intune to deploy and validate apps on devices, push updates and certificates, configure rules for accessing data and networks, set passwords, create VPN connections, determine how teleworkers share data, establish threat protection, ensure compliance, and delete corporate data from lost, stolen or deactivated devices. Microsoft Intune runs with iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS endpoints. To learn about Intune and to find out how Progent can assist you to use this platform to administer the devices of your at-home workforce, go to Intune telecommuter endpoint management expertise.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is an advanced centralized MDM platform that helps network administrators to keep off-premises endpoints current and secure. Workspace ONE uses VMware AirWatch for centralized endpoint administration along with VMware's Horizon virtual application delivery technology for identity control, app management, and configuration management of endpoint devices. Workspace ONE operates with devices based on Windows 10, macOS, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, or leading distributions of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is available by subscription as a cloud-based service or as an on-site deployment via a one-time purchase. Key features of VMware Workspace ONE include fast remote provisioning of out-of-the-box notebooks, quick onboarding of new users, policy setting and enforcement for all classes of devices, aggregated management reporting and analytics, an email encryption gateway, and seamless integration with Microsoft applications and cloud-based services. For information about Progent's support services for VMware Workspace ONE, go to VMware Workspace ONE remote endpoint management consultants.

Contact Progent for Telecommuter Support Services
To get in touch with Progent about building and maintaining a productive telecommuter solution for your Garland, Texas company, call 1-800-993-9400 or visit Contact Progent.