Harrisburg Remote Workers Connectivity Consulting Partner

Expanding your at-home workforce may have a major impact on IT infrastructure, security, and company processes. Progent has 20 years of experience assisting SMBs to design, configure, manage, tune, and troubleshoot IT environments that support work-from-home employees. Progent can help your Harrisburg company to pick the right technologies and follow best practices in creating and operating a secure virtual ecosystem for teleworkers that facilitates collaboration and delivers maximum value. Progent offers services ranging from as-needed expertise for getting you over challenging IT roadblocks to full project management to help you successfully complete business-critical initiatives.

Progent can help Harrisburg, Pennsylvania companies to with any aspect of creating a high-functioning telecommuting environment by providing network infrastructure design and configuration services, IP voice troubleshooting, video conferencing integration, collaboration platform customization and training, public cloud connectivity, Help Desk augmentation, data security, backup/restore solutions, and unified management.

Network Infrastructure for a Remote Workforce
Integrating the network infrastructure needed to support an at-home work environment can be especially challenging if you have to manage a mix of worker-owned hardware such as desktop computers and notebooks, routers, and Wi-Fi APs from an assortment of vendors and with a variety of OS software and firmware releases. Progent's experience delivering remote support for both legacy and current IT products in remote office venues enables you to make cost-effective use of your existing network infrastructure and offers ready access to expertise for implement essential updates. Services available from Progent to assist your company to implement a productive work-at-home infrastructure include:

• Virtual Private Network technology allows you to create a safe connection for authenticated at-home employees to use IT resources located at your company data center or in a public cloud. Progent's consultants can help you to deploy and manage VPN access 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-certified ASA experts can help your remote workers to utilize Cisco's AnyConnect software for safe VPN tunneling for a wide range of devices such as Windows, macOS, iOS, Linux, and Android.
• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure products enable a telecommuter to view and interact with a data center computer's desktop. This technology gives IT managers significant control over the digital environment of telecommuters and offers them a familiar experience. Progent's virtual desktop services include Windows Remote Desktop support and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI consulting.
• Routers connect home computer networks to the Internet and support VPN connections, local wireless connectivity, and firewall services. Progent can provide expert remote support for deploying home routers from a range of vendors. See router configuration services from Cisco-certified experts.
• Home Wi-Fi networks, typically shared by an entire household and guests, are commonly used by at-home employees to access their Internet router for work. This can create throughput as well as security problems. Progent can assist you to mitigate these issues by providing expertise like Aironet integration expertise, Cisco-certified Meraki wireless installation expertise, and Ubiquiti WiFi access point integration help.
• Internet access solutions affect the performance and availability of connections between telecommuters and the corporate data center. Business-critical applications might demand redundant Internet connections in case the normal connection breaks. Progent offers expertise for identifying Internet service providers, choosing appropriate bandwidth and data volume bundles, and setting up high-availability Internet connections. Refer to Internet access solutions.

VoIP Integration for Remote Workers
Expanding the company PBX environment to accommodate telecommuters is vital to supporting an effective work-at-home solution. A variety of cloud-based VoIP platforms are used by small and mid-size businesses to support teleworkers. Many enterprises depend on Cisco's current or older products for IP voice management. Progent can help businesses of any size to plan or tune a telecommuter IP voice environment that provides the versatility, convenience and security needed for at-home workers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE Voice consultants can provide high-level support to help organizations optimize their current Cisco VoIP systems to support an expanding remote workforce.

• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM or CUCM) extends enterprise IP telephony capabilities to devices such as IP phones, media processing platforms, Voice over IP gateways, and multimedia applications used throughout the network. CUCM manages other mixed media services like unified messaging, voice/video conferencing, and team interaction networks. For more information about Progent's CUCM expertise, see Cisco Unified CM expertise.
• CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing agent and has been replaced by Cisco Unified CM. Progent can assist you to support your current CallManager environment or migrate smoothly to Cisco's current IP telephony solutions. To find out about Progent's support services for CallManager and Cisco's other legacy VoIP products, see Cisco CallManager expertise.
• Cisco IP Gateways provide integration with public telephony networks and with users working outside the corporate firewall such as telecommuters. Progent offers expert support for Cisco's earlier generation IP gateways like the UC520, UC540 and UC560 series and for current Cisco SIP gateways. See Cisco SIP gateway integration consulting.
• Other VoIP Products supported by Progent's consultants include Vonage, RingCentral and 8x8. Progent can help you to expand your WAN architecture to support these VoIP solutions and deliver online deployment and debugging expertise.

Video Conferencing for an At-Home Workforce
A wide selection of voice/video conferencing platforms from major technology companies support virtual meetings, video and voice conferencing, chat sessions, and screen sharing for both local users and at-home workers. Many organizations utilize a mix of conferencing products to meet the needs of their different partners and clients. Progent's communications experts can assist you to maintain your current voice/video conferencing ecosystem and optimize the engagement of your remote workforce.

• Skype for Business is Microsoft's leading communications product that supports presence, instant messaging, audio and video calling and conferencing plus the seamless integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 productivity software including PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. Progent offers the expertise of Microsoft-certified consultants who can help your company to configure and maintain Skype for Business clients to support your remote employees. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Skype for Business, visit Skype for Business consulting experts.
• FaceTime is Apple's multiuser video calling platform for compatible iOS, iPadOS, iPod and Mac computers and smartphones. FaceTime runs over Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Current versions of FaceTime allow as many as 32 simultaneous users for voice/video sessions. For details about Progent's support expertise for FaceTime, visit Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
• Webex Meeting Center provides online conferencing for virtually all computing devices. Delivered through Cisco's Webex Cloud, Webex capabilities include sharing specific 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 support services for Webex as well as for additional video conferencing 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 information with capabilities that include video calling, persistent chat, plus file sharing. To learn more about Progent's support services for Microsoft Teams as well as for additional Microsoft 365 products, visit Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
• Additional Voice/Video Conferencing Apps supported by Progent's conferencing experts include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can deliver configuration and debugging expertise for these products and help your business to optimize your WAN architecture to host them.

Microsoft Collaboration Platforms for At-Home Workers
Microsoft's collaboration platforms are closely integrated with Microsoft's popular Office families, offering a powerful environment of applications that deliver a cohesive user interface for exchanging data and ideas across a corporate network and on a wide range of endpoint devices. Progent has provided online consulting services for Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange Server since their original publication and can assist businesses to tune these flagship collaboration products to maximize the effectiveness of your at-home workers.

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. Developed as a substitute for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium can enable chat, video meetings that include screen sharing, phone calls, cloud voicemail, group email, as well as file and app sharing. Teams is closely integrated with Microsoft 365 and relies on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Microsoft Entra (formerly branded Azure Active Directory) for delivering its complete range of capabilities. For details about Progent's support services for Microsoft Teams, see solution design and configuration expertise for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium.

SharePoint utilizes web sites to promote collaboration and information sharing by providing policy-based access to content, business processes, and tools for looking through company-wide business data. SharePoint allows you to build secure web portals that permits remote workforce to view and edit consolidated business intelligence via Wikis, Blogs, social networking web sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). To learn about Progent's SharePoint consulting services, visit SharePoint configuration and application 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 services, go to deployment consulting for Exchange Server.

OneDrive is Microsoft�s shared cloud-based file hosting and synchronization service, similar to GoogleDrive. At-home users can save files to the OneDrive service, and co-workers can share them safely through a browser. Included with Microsoft 365, OneDrive enables at-home workers to co-edit files. Edits made offline are uploaded when you go back online. To learn about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft OneDrive, visit Microsoft Onedrive integration experts.

Public Cloud Integration Services for Telecommuters
Progent offers fast and affordable remote assistance for helping businesses to build, manage and optimize integrated hybrid network models that include internal data centers, at-home workers, branches, and cloud services. Progent offers top-tier consultant for all types of cloud service including Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help remote workers fix issues with public cloud access, authentication, and cybersecurity.

Azure is a leading platform for cloud services that allows you to use infrastructure, virtual servers, and key applications running on Microsoft's extensive cloud. Microsoft Azure features over one hundred services services such as the ability to host Windows and Linux-powered VMs, scalable cloud storage, messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and backup/restore. Progent can help you to deploy virtual machines on Azure Virtual Machines, configure cloud-based storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity control with Azure AD, and design backup and recovery solutions with Azure Backup. Progent can also help you create secure access to Azure services for teleworkers by configuring and debugging firewall appliances and VPN tunnels. For information about Progent's support services for Azure, see Azure consulting.

Microsoft 365, previously called Office 365, is Microsoft's growing family of client productivity software and cloud services available by subscription. Microsoft apps and cloud services are provided in a variety of plans designed for customers ranging from students and small offices to major enterprises. Progent can provide quick and affordable online contact with experts familiar with Microsoft 365-compatible endpoints based on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android technology. Progent's experts can assist your business to evaluate the numerous subscription bundles offered with Microsoft 365 and configure 365 applications for your teleworkers to achieve top business value. To find out about Progent's expertise for Microsoft 365, refer to 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 additional advantages associated with cloud computing. Microsoft has designed Microsoft 365 Exchange Online to operate transparently with on-premises deployments of Exchange, enabling you to create hybrid information systems. Progent's certified Exchange experts can provide as-needed help to guide you past challenging technical roadblocks and can also provide comprehensive project management outsourcing to make sure your remote workers have convenient and secure access to your Microsoft 365 Exchange Online deployment. For information Progent's consulting services for Exchange Online, see Exchange Online integration and troubleshooting consulting.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a pioneer in the public cloud computing market and is the world's biggest source of cloud services. Progent offers rapid and economical online contact with cloud connectivity experts who can help your business to design, implement, maintain, and troubleshoot hybrid information networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud services with on-premises data centers and with other popular cloud platforms such as Microsoft Azure. Progent also offers access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking consultants to assist you to build a high-uptime network architecture to make sure your users have a consistent computing experience whether they are working from your headquarters, a remote branch, at home, or on the road. For information about Progent's expertise for Amazon AWS, go to Amazon AWS consulting support.

Google Cloud (GCP) is a popular suite of cloud services that offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service products. Progent's certified Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco experts can help your business to extend your current IT resources with the Google Cloud Platform, and Progent's DBA experts can show you how to make your mission-critical apps cloud friendly so your at-home workers can take full advantage of Google Cloud services. Progent can help you to set up VMs on GCP Compute Engine, design a cost-effective storage solution with Google Cloud Storage, and streamline access control for remote workers with GCP Cloud Identity services. Progent's experts can also help your organization to utilize GCP's unified management technology to control and track your Google Cloud ecosystem. To learn, go to Google Cloud Platform integration expertise.

Help Desk Services for Telecommuters
An emergency, organization-wide switchover to a teleworker business model, which might be motivated by a pandemic or as a component of a disaster recovery/business continuity plan, can overwhelm even the most efficient in-house Help Desk. Progent's Call Center services make it possible for businesses of any size to outsource or supplement their Call Desk by using Progent's online Technical Response Center (TRC) team.

• Progent's Standard Call Center services utilize Progent's nationwide team of online technical support specialists combined with enterprise-class ticketing and follow-up software to offer an economical, modern Call Desk. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services offer a comprehensive solution that addresses all aspects of remote Level 1 desktop support from service requests to ticket creation, desktop sharing, issue resolution, and incident reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal allows telecommuters to track or edit their active trouble tickets, add information, and upload screen captures or relevant files. Desktop support services are provided at a significant discount off Progent's normal Level 1 technical support rates, and Progent makes available optional fast hand-off to Level 2 and Level 3 IT experts to deal with complex problems. For details, refer to Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services for small companies.
• Progent's Call Desk Supplemental Service enables your company to supplement your existing Call Center staff by splitting delivery of Help Desk support transparently between your in-house IT support organization and Progent's extensive pool of desktop support engineers and subject matter specialists. Progent's co-managed Support Desk service is based on a collaborative support solution utilizing the number one professional services automation (PSA) platform for managing service requests and trouble tickets, establishing responsibility, tracking progress, and generating reports. For details about how Progent's Support Desk Supplementation Services can help your business to deliver world-class IT support to your at-home workforce, refer to Progent's Call Center augmentation Services.

Cybersecurity for Remote Workers
Work-from-Home (WFH) staff members commonly utilize their personal computers and usually operate in a poorly secured physical environment. This multiplies their vulnerability to cyber attacks and requires careful configuration of corporate firewalls, AV tools, multi-factor authentication, remote endpoint monitoring, extensive end-user training, and the creation of security policies based on leading practices. Progent's veteran group of cybersecurity support consultants can help your business to plan, deploy and manage an effective cybersecurity solution that protects vital IT assets in networks that incorporate telecommuters.

Firewalls allow you to build a network environment that can be securely utilized by on-premises users and by an at-home workforce, mobile users, vendors, customers, and the public. Next-generation firewall appliances allow you to assign and manage different access rights to various classes of users and to expand your network and modify your security profile as your company evolves and as cyber threats grow more complex. Progent supports both current and older firewall appliances from all major vendors like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, WatchGuard, Juniper, and Fortinet. To learn more about Progent's firewall integration services, see firewall configuration and support services.

Online Endpoint Monitoring makes it possible to track the disparate devices utilized by at-home workers and either block or spot and mitigate modern threats such as ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) services, a small-footprint software agent is installed on each protected endpoint device, monitoring all activity and utilizing advanced machine learning and full execution context from SentinelOne to identify new threats on arrival. When an attack is discovered, ProSight ASM instantly disconnects the impacted device from the corporate network to quarantine the malware. Because the ProSight ASM software agent is autonomous, endpoints stay secure even if they are not connected to the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. To find out more about ProSight ASM, go to remote endpoint security monitoring for at-home workers.

Progent's Duo authentication Services utilize Cisco's Duo cloud technology to protect against stolen passwords by using two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo supports one-tap identity confirmation on Apple iOS, Android, and other personal devices. With Duo 2FA, when you sign into a protected application and give your password you are asked to verify who you are on a device that only you possess and that uses a different ("out-of-band") network channel. A wide range of out-of-band devices can be used for this second means of authentication including a smartphone or watch, a hardware/software token, a landline phone, etc. You may designate multiple validation devices. To find out more about ProSight Duo identity authentication services, see Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for an at-home workforce.

Security Audits can assess the vulnerability of your network to all classes of outside and internal security attacks for a network that incorporates an at-home workforce. Progent can run online, automated security analysis software for rapidly and economically detecting a wide variety of security holes that can be found over the Internet. Progent's security audit consulting services, which can be managed by data security experts with advanced credentials including CISA, ISSAP, and GIAC, can help your business to evaluate your processes and governance policies and review your IT infrastructure to enable you to implement the highest level of protection for your remote workers.

Horizon3.ai's NodeZero Pentest Platform is a leading-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that can deliver automated threat assessment of your work-from-home environment as well as your internal and perimeter networks so you can find, rank, fix, and verify security vulnerabilities before threat actors can take advantage of them. Progent's pentest experts can help you to deploy NodeZero to carry out comprehensive pentests of your perimeter and your internal IT infrastructure in order to evaluate your present security profile. Progent can also assist you to strengthen your network security and can help you to design and implement a unified cybersecurity ecosystem that simplifies management and provides optimum protection for on-premises, multi-cloud, at-home, and perimeter IT assets. To learn additional information about Progent's vulnerability assessment services based on on NodeZero's PEN test products, see Consulting Support for NodeZero's Penetration Test Platform.

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

Data Protection for Teleworkers
Data Protection covers backing up and recovering vital information in order to prevent data loss and minimize restoration time and effort in case of storage system failures due to equipment issues, programming hiccups, operator error, malware, or any other reason. Dependable data protection solutions can be especially difficult to architect and maintain in hybrid networks that combine in-house data centers, public clouds, and at-home workers.

• Backup/Recovery solutions for at-home workers must cover multiple kinds of user-owned endpoints. Progent offers fast remote access to consultants familiar with a wide array of products for backing up Microsoft Windows, Apple and Linux/UNIX servers and desktop computers as well as notebooks, tablets and smartphones. Leading backup/restore products supported by Progent's backup/recovery consultants include Barracuda Backup, Microsoft Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, CrashPlan, Mozy, and Time Machine. To protect data spread throughout a wide area network, Progent offers ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a managed backup/recovery service that uses cloud-based storage and includes fine-grained recovery and centralized management.
• Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity (DR/BC) plans often anticipate circumstances that call for a quick changeover to telecommuting. Progent's expert disaster recovery preparedness experts and business continuity planning consultants can help you to produce, document and test a DR/BC plan that includes the process of moving to telecommuting.

Unified Management for Telecommuters
Microsoft has renamed and rebundled its endpoint management products under the name Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which includes Intune for cloud-based management of remote endpoints and Configuration Manager for managing on-premises computers. Endpoint Manager features a centralized solution for protecting corporate information by controlling onsite, mobile, and at-home endpoint devices.

Intune
Intune is part of Microsoft's Endpoint Management suite that also includes Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud service for managing and protecting remote devices and applications. Remote endpoint devices can be personally owned or company owned. IT admins managing the endpoint devices of at-home workers can utilize Intune to provision and authenticate apps on managed devices, push updates and certificates, configure policies for permission to access data and networks, set passwords, create VPN connections, determine how telecommuters share information, set up threat protection, ensure security compliance, and erase sensitive data from missing, stolen or decommissioned devices. Microsoft Intune runs with Apple iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS endpoints. To learn about Microsoft Intune and how Progent can help you to use this platform to manage the devices of your telecommuters, see Intune remote device management experts.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is an advanced centralized Mobile Device Management product that helps network managers to keep offsite endpoint devices up to date and protected. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch for centralized endpoint management combined with VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery technology for access control, app management, and configuration management of endpoint computers. Workspace ONE runs with endpoints based on Windows 10, macOS, Apple iOS, Android, Chrome OS, or leading distributions of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is offered by subscription as a cloud service or as an on-site product via a perpetual license. Key features of VMware Workspace ONE include fast over-the-air deployment of new laptops, immediate onboarding of new employees, policy setting and enforcement for all classes of devices, aggregated management reporting and performance analytics, an email encryption gateway, and seamless integration with Microsoft applications and cloud products. To learn about Progent's support services for VMware Workspace ONE, see VMware Workspace ONE mobile endpoint management consultants.

Contact Progent for Telecommuter Support Services
To get in touch with Progent about building and maintaining an efficient work-from-home environment for your Harrisburg, Pennsylvania business, phone 1-800-993-9400 or visit Contact Progent.