Rancho Cordova Telecommuters Configuration Consulting Partner

Enlarging your at-home workforce can have a major impact on IT infrastructure, cybersecurity, and corporate processes. Progent has 20 years of background helping SMBs to design, deploy, manage, optimize, and debug IT environments that support work-from-home employees. Progent can assist your Rancho Cordova organization to pick the appropriate tools and follow best practices in creating and operating a secure virtual office solution for teleworkers that facilitates collaboration and returns top business value. Progent offers support services that go from on demand expertise for helping you past occasional IT bottlenecks to full project management or co-management to help you successfully complete business-critical tasks.

Progent can help Rancho Cordova, California companies to with any aspect of building a high-performing work-at-home ecosystem by delivering infrastructure design and configuration services, VoIP PBX troubleshooting, voice/video conferencing integration, collaboration platform selection and deployment, public cloud connectivity, helpdesk outsourcing, data security, data protection solutions, and unified management.

Infrastructure for a Remote Workforce
Configuring the physical and software infrastructure required to support a remote work environment can be especially complex if you have to accommodate a combination of worker-owned hardware like PCs and notebooks, routers, and wireless appliances from different vendors and with a mix of OS software and firmware releases. Progent's experience providing online support for both outdated as well as modern IT products in virtual office venues allows you to make efficient use of your existing network infrastructure and provides you with ready access to expertise for making essential upgrades. Services offered by Progent to assist your company to create a high-functioning telecommuting infrastructure include:

• VPN connectivity makes it possible to establish a safe connection for authorized remote employees to access IT resources located at your corporate data center or in a public cloud. Progent's consultants can assist your company to configure and maintain VPN access between your teleworkers and your key network resources by providing online VPN integration consulting. For businesses using Cisco's ASA security appliances, Progent's Cisco-certified ASA consultants can assist your remote workers to utilize Cisco's popular AnyConnect client software for secure VPN tunneling for a broad selection of devices such as Microsoft Windows, Mac, iOS, Linux, and Android.
• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure products allow an at-home worker to view and use a data center computer's desktop. This technology gives network managers more control over the computing ecosystem of at-home employees and offers remote users a consistent and more productive work experience. Progent's virtual desktop services include Windows Remote Desktop integration and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI solutions.
• Routers attach at-home networks to the Internet and typically support VPN connections, local Wi-Fi connectivity, and firewalls. Progent offers top-tier online consulting for setting up routers from a range of vendors. See router configuration services from Cisco-certified experts.
• Home Wireless networks, typically shared by families and guests, are commonly utilized by telecommuters to access their router for work. This can create performance and cybersecurity issues. Progent can help businesses to resolve these issues by providing services like Cisco Aironet integration consulting, Cisco Meraki WiFi installation expertise, and Ubiquiti WiFi AP integration help.
• Internet access solutions impact the performance and reliability of connections between telecommuters and the company data center. Line-of-business applications may demand backup Internet connections in case the primary connection breaks. Progent offers guidance for identifying Internet service providers, picking sensible bandwidth and data volume packages, and configuring redundant Internet access. Refer to Internet connectivity solutions.

IP Voice Solutions for At-Home Workers
Extending the company PBX system to include teleworkers is critical to maintaining a productive at-home workforce. A broad range of cloud-based IP voice products are used by SMBs to support remote users. Many larger organizations rely on Cisco's current or legacy products for IP voice solutions. Progent can assist businesses of all sizes to plan or maintain a telecommuter VoIP service that provides the flexibility, convenience and protection required for teleworkers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice consultants can provide advanced support to assist organizations optimize their existing Cisco IP voice systems to support an expanding remote workforce.

• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM or CUCM) delivers enterprise IP telephony features to devices such as IP phones, media processing products, Voice over IP gateways, and multimedia applications used across the network. CUCM supports other mixed media services like unified messaging, video conferencing, and team collaboration networks. For details about Progent's CUCM support, see Cisco Unified Communications Manager expertise.
• CallManager is Cisco's earlier call-processing software and has been superseded by Cisco Unified CM or CUCM. Progent's consultants can help your company to maintain your existing CallManager environment or upgrade smoothly to Cisco's current IP telephony solutions. To find out about Progent's expertise for CallManager and Cisco's other older VoIP platforms, see Cisco CallManager consulting.
• Cisco IP Gateways provide integration with public telephony networks and with clients working beyond the corporate firewall like telecommuters. Progent offers consulting expertise for Cisco's legacy IP gateways like the UC520, UC540 and UC560 product lines as well as for current Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco SIP gateway integration expertise.
• Additional VoIP Products supported by Progent's consultants include Vonage, RingCentral and 8x8. Progent can help you to update your WAN infrastructure to work with these VoIP solutions and deliver on-demand integration and debugging services.

Voice/Video Conferencing for an At-Home Workforce
A broad range of voice/video conferencing platforms from major technology companies enable online meetings, video conferencing, chat, and screen sharing for both onsite workers and teleworkers. Many organizations utilize a mix of products to meet the needs of their different partners and clients. Progent's communications experts can assist your organization to manage your existing conferencing environment and optimize the engagement of your at-home employees.

• Skype for Business is Microsoft's popular unified communications product that enables real-time presence, IM, voice and video conferencing plus the transparent integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 applications such as PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. Progent can provide the expertise of Microsoft-certified specialists who can assist you to configure and maintain Skype for Business client software to accommodate your at-home employees. For details about Progent's support services for Skype for Business, refer to Skype for Business consulting experts.
• FaceTime is Apple's multiuser video calling platform for iOS, iPadOS, iPod and macOS devices. FaceTime runs over Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Current versions of FaceTime support up to 32 concurrent users for voice/video sessions. For details about Progent's consulting services for Apple FaceTime, visit Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
• Webex Meeting Center supports online conferencing for virtually all desktop or mobile devices. Offered via Cisco's Webex Cloud, Webex services include sharing granular content or screens, presentations that embed rich media including Microsoft PowerPoint and Flash videos, network-based recording, plus revision and playback for future reference. For details about Progent's support services for Webex as well as for other IP video solutions from Cisco, see 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 content with features that include video conferencing, persistent chat, plus file sharing. For details about Progent's support expertise for Teams as well as for other Microsoft 365 apps, refer to Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
• Additional Conferencing Platforms supported by Progent include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can deliver configuration and troubleshooting services for these conferencing platforms and assist your business to optimize your network infrastructure to run them.

Microsoft Collaboration Platforms for Teleworkers
Microsoft's collaboration products are tightly integrated with Microsoft's popular Office families, providing a powerful ecosystem of productivity apps that create a consistent user interface for exchanging information across multiple sites and on a wide selection of endpoints. Progent has provided online consulting services for SharePoint and Exchange since their original releases and can assist businesses to deploy these flagship collaboration platforms to maximize the productivity 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 with Microsoft 365 and integrates with third-party cloud services to provide real-time collaboration. Developed as a substitute for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium can support chat, video meetings that include screen sharing, phone calls, cloud voicemail, group email, as well as file and application sharing. Teams is tightly integrated with Microsoft 365 and relies on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Microsoft Entra (formerly called Azure Active Directory) for supporting its complete range of features. For details about Progent's support services for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium, see solution design and deployment expertise for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium.

SharePoint utilizes web entities to allow collaboration and information sharing by providing policy-based access to data, business processes, and tools for searching through company-wide information silos. SharePoint enables you to create secure portals that permits at-home workers to view and update consolidated business intelligence by means of Wikis, Blogs, social web sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). For information about Progent's SharePoint consulting services, see SharePoint configuration and application 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 learn about Progent's Exchange consulting services, see integration consulting for Microsoft Exchange Server.

OneDrive is Microsoft�s collaborative cloud-based file hosting and synchronization service, comparable to GoogleDrive. At-home users can save files to the OneDrive service, and co-workers anywhere can share them securely through a web browser. Included with Microsoft 365, OneDrive enables home employees to co-edit documents. Edits made offline are synced when you reconnect to the Internet. To learn about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft OneDrive, go to Onedrive integration experts.

Cloud Integration Services for Teleworkers
Progent offers affordable remote assistance for helping organizations to build, maintain and troubleshoot cohesive hybrid network models that incorporate internal data centers, at-home workers, branch offices, and cloud resources. Progent offers expertise for all modes of public cloud service delivery including Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service. Progent can help teleworkers resolve issues with cloud access, identity, and security.

Microsoft Azure is a popular family of cloud services that enables you to use infrastructure, servers, and critical apps running on Microsoft's massive cloud. Microsoft Azure features over one hundred cloud-based services including the ability to host Windows and Linux-based VMs, on-demand cloud storage, email and messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and backup/restore. Progent can assist you to deploy VMs on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate cloud-based storage on Azure Storage services, streamline identity control with Azure Active Directory, and design backup and restore systems with Azure Backup. Progent can also help you establish protected access to Azure for teleworkers by configuring and debugging firewall appliances and VPN tunnels. For information about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft Azure, see Azure consulting services.

Microsoft 365, formerly called Office 365, is Microsoft's popular family of business productivity applications and cloud-based services offered on a subscription basis. Office apps and services are provided in a selection of plans intended for customers ranging from students and small offices to major enterprises. Progent can provide fast and affordable remote access to consultants familiar with Microsoft 365-compatible clients based on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android operating systems. Progent's experts can help you to assess the various subscription plans available for Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 apps for your at-home workers in a way that delivers maximum business value. To learn about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft 365, refer to Microsoft 365 integration support.

Exchange Online is among the most popular applications in the Microsoft 365 product suite. Exchange Online offers the advantages of lower costs for data center infrastructure, easier management, dynamic scaling, high reliability, and additional benefits inherent with cloud computing. Microsoft has engineered Microsoft 365 Exchange Online to operate transparently with local Exchange environments, allowing customers to create hybrid information systems. Progent's certified Exchange consultants can provide as-needed help to get you past tough IT roadblocks and can also provide end-to-end project management services to ensure your at-home workers have convenient and safe access to your Microsoft 365 Exchange Online environment. For details Progent's support services for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, see Exchange Online integration and troubleshooting consulting.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a trailblazer in the public cloud computing market and is the industry's biggest provider of cloud-based services. Progent offers quick and affordable online access to cloud integration consultants who can assist your business to design, deploy, manage, and debug hybrid IT networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with on-premises data centers and with other public clouds like Microsoft Azure. Progent also offers the skills of Cisco-certified CCIE networking consultants to help your company to create a high-availability network architecture so your employees have a consistent computing environment regardless of whether they are working from your main office, a remote branch, from home, or on the road. For information about Progent's consulting services for Amazon AWS, see Amazon AWS consulting support.

Google Cloud Platform is a leading suite of cloud computing services that provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco experts can assist your organization to extend your current IT assets with the Google Cloud Platform, and Progent's database experts can show you how to make your mission-critical applications cloud ready so your at-home workers can benefit fully from Google Cloud services. Progent can assist you to set up VMs on GCP Compute Engine, design a cost-effective storage solution with GCP Storage services, and streamline identity control for teleworkers with Google Cloud Identity. Progent's experts can also assist your business to use GCP's management tools to control and track your Google Cloud environment. To find out, go to Google Cloud Platform (GCP) consulting expertise.

Help Desk Services for Remote Workers
A fast, organization-wide switchover to a telecommuter workforce, which could be the result of a pandemic or as an element of a business continuity plan, can overstretch even a high-performing internal Help Desk. Progent's Call Center services make it possible for businesses of any size to outsource or expand their Help Desk Call Center with Progent's remote Technical Response Center services.

• Progent's Standard Help Desk Call Center support services leverage Progent's nationwide network of online IT support specialists combined with world-class ticketing and follow-up software to offer an economical, advanced Help Desk. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services provide a comprehensive solution that addresses all aspects of online Level 1 desktop support from help requests to ticket creation, screen sharing, problem resolution, and incident reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal enables from-home workers to track or edit their active trouble tickets, enter details, and upload screenshots and attachments. Desktop support services are provided at a significant discount off Progent's normal Level 1 desktop support charges, and Progent makes available optional fast hand-off to Level 2 and Level 3 support experts to resolve complex issues. To learn more, visit Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services outsourcing for small and mid-size businesses.
• Progent's Call Desk Augmentation Service allows you to supplement your current Call Center team by sharing responsibilities for Support Desk support seamlessly between your regular support staff and Progent's extensive team of desktop support technicians and subject matter specialists. Progent's co-managed Help Desk service uses a collaborative support solution based on the number one professional services automation (PSA) tool for handling help requests and trouble tickets, establishing ownership, monitoring progress, and generating reports. For information about how Progent's Support Desk Augmentation Services can enable your business to provide world-class technical support to your at-home workforce, go to Progent's Help Desk supplementation Services.

Security and Compliance for Remote Workers
Work-from-Home (WFH) workers typically use their own computing devices and usually work in an unsecured physical space. This increases their susceptibility to cyber attacks and requires judicious deployment of firewalls, AV tools, multi-factor authentication, remote monitoring, thorough end-user education, and the creation of security policies built on best practices. Progent's veteran group of IT security solutions experts can assist you to plan, configure and manage a compliant security solution that guards critical information assets in environments that include an at-home workforce.

Firewalls enable you to create a network environment that can be securely accessed by on-premises users as well as by teleworkers, mobile employees, suppliers, customers, and other stakeholders. Modern firewall devices permit you to configure and control different access rights to different classes of users and to expand your IT network and adjust your security profile as your business evolves and as cyber threats become increasingly sophisticated. Progent supports both new and older security appliances from all leading manufacturers like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Juniper, and Fortinet. To find out more about Progent's firewall integration services, refer to firewall support expertise.

Online Endpoint Security Monitoring makes it possible to watch over the disparate computers utilized by teleworkers and either block or identify and respond to the latest cyber attacks such as ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) services, a lightweight agent is put on every secured endpoint, watching all activity and using advanced machine learning from SentinelOne to identify new threats at inception. When an attack is discovered, ProSight Active Security Monitoring immediately isolates the targeted endpoint from the network to quarantine the threat. Because the ProSight Active Security Monitoring agent is autonomous, endpoints stay secure even when they are not connected to the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. For details about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, see remote endpoint security monitoring for at-home workers.

Progent's Duo MFA Managed Services incorporate Cisco's Duo cloud technology to defend against stolen passwords through the use of two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo supports single-tap identity confirmation with Apple iOS, Android, and other personal devices. With 2FA, when you sign into a protected online account and enter your password you are requested to confirm who you are via a unit that only you possess and that uses a different ("out-of-band") network channel. A wide selection of out-of-band devices can be utilized for this second means of authentication such as a smartphone or watch, a hardware token, a landline telephone, etc. You may register multiple verification devices. For details about Duo two-factor identity validation services, refer to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for remote workers.

Security Audits can evaluate the exposure of your information system to all classes of outside and local security threats for a network that incorporates at-home workers. Progent can run online, automated cybersecurity inventory scanning for quickly and affordably uncovering a broad range of security gaps that can be found over the Internet. Progent's security assessment consulting services, which can be managed by data security experts with advanced credentials such as CISA, CISSP, and GIAC, can assist your business to evaluate your workflows and policies and review your WAN architecture to allow you to design the highest level of protection for your remote workers.

Horizon3.ai's NodeZero PEN Testing Platform is a leading-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that can deliver automated threat assessment of your work-from-home connectivity solution and your internal and perimeter networks so you can uncover, prioritize, remediate, and confirm cybersecurity vulnerabilities before threat actors can exploit them. Progent's pentest experts can help you to deploy NodeZero to carry out thorough pentests of your network perimeter and your internal IT infrastructure in order to determine your current security posture. Progent can also help you to strengthen your network security and can assist you to plan and deploy a cohesive cybersecurity strategy that streamlines management and provides maximum cyber defense for on-premises, cloud-based, at-home, and perimeter IT assets. To find out additional details about Progent's threat analysis solutions based on on NodeZero's PEN test platform, visit Consulting Services for NodeZero's PEN Test Platform.

Download White Paper: Protecting a Work-From-Home Environment
To read or download a white paper about critical things to focus on for protecting an IT environment that incorporates telecommuters, click:
Securing a Work-From-Home Environment White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection Solutions for At-Home Workers
The field of Data Protection covers backing up and recovering critical data in order to prevent data loss and reduce restoration time in the event of storage system problems due to equipment breakdowns, software glitches, user error, cyber attack, or any other reason. Dependable data protection strategies can be especially difficult to design and manage in hybrid environments that combine in-house data centers, public clouds, and at-home workers.

• Backup/Restore strategies for telecommuters must cover diverse types of personally owned endpoint devices. Progent can provide fast remote access to experts familiar with a broad range of platforms for backing up Microsoft Windows, Apple and Linux/UNIX powered servers and desktop computers as well as laptops, tablets and smartphones. Popular backup/recovery solutions supported 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 resources spread throughout a hybrid network, Progent can provide ProSight Data Protection Services, a backup/recovery subscription service that uses cloud storage and includes fine-grained recovery and centralized management.
• Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity strategies commonly anticipate circumstances that call for a rapid changeover to an at-home workforce. Progent's senior disaster recovery planning consultants and business continuity consultants can assist your business to produce, document and test a DR/BC strategy that includes the process of moving to an at-home workforce.

Unified Management for Telecommuters
Microsoft has rebranded and rebundled its endpoint management platforms under the name Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which includes Intune for cloud-based management of remote endpoints and Configuration Manager for managing onsite endpoints. Endpoint Manager offers a centralized environment for protecting critical data by managing onsite, mobile, and home-based endpoints.

Intune
Intune is part of Microsoft's Endpoint Management family that also features Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and securing remote devices and software. Managed endpoint computers can be personally 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 updates and certificates, set up policies for accessing information and resources, manage passwords, create VPN tunnels, determine how teleworkers share data, set up threat defense, ensure security compliance, and erase sensitive information from lost, stolen or decommissioned endpoint devices. Microsoft Intune works with iOS/iPadOS, Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X endpoints. For information about Microsoft Intune and how Progent can help you to use this platform to manage the endpoint devices of your teleworkers, visit Intune remote device management consultants.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is an advanced unified MDM platform that allows network administrators to keep remote endpoint devices current and protected. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch technology for centralized endpoint management along with VMware's Horizon virtual application delivery platform for access control, app management, and configuration management of endpoints. Workspace ONE operates with endpoints powered by 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-site product via a one-time purchase. Key capabilities of VMware Workspace ONE include rapid remote deployment of out-of-the-box laptops, immediate onboarding of new employees, policy setting and enforcement for all classes of endpoints, unifies reporting and performance analytics, email encryption, and seamless integration with Microsoft applications and cloud products. To learn about Progent's expertise for VMware Workspace ONE, visit VMware Workspace ONE remote device management consultants.

Contact Progent for Telecommuter Expertise
To get in touch with Progent about creating and maintaining a productive telecommuter environment for your Rancho Cordova, California organization, call 1-800-993-9400 or go to Contact Progent.