Chesapeake At Home Workers Solutions Support Partner

Expanding your telecommuter workforce may have a major impact on IT infrastructure, security/compliance, and company workflows. Progent has two decades of experience assisting businesses of all sizes to plan, deploy, manage, tune, and troubleshoot IT networks that support a remote workforce. Progent can help your Chesapeake company to pick the appropriate tools and follow best practices in building and operating a secure virtual ecosystem for teleworkers that facilitates teamwork and returns top business value. Progent offers support services that go from as-needed expertise for getting you over challenging technical bottlenecks to comprehensive project management to help you carry out business-critical tasks.

Progent can assist Chesapeake, Virginia companies to succeed with any aspect of creating a high-performing telecommuting environment by delivering network infrastructure configuration services, VoIP PBX expertise, voice/video conferencing integration, collaboration platform selection and deployment, cloud connectivity, Call Desk augmentation, security monitoring, backup/restore solutions, and streamlined management.

Infrastructure for Teleworkers
Integrating the network infrastructure required to support a remote work environment can be especially complicated if you have to accommodate a combination of personal hardware such as PCs and laptops, Internet routers, and Wi-Fi appliances from different vendors and with a variety of OS software and firmware releases. Progent's experience delivering remote support for both legacy as well as modern technologies in virtual office solutions enables you to make cost-effective use of your existing infrastructure and provides you with fast access to top-tire consultants for making essential upgrades. Services available from Progent to assist you to create a productive work-at-home infrastructure include:

• VPN technology allows you to establish a secure connection for authenticated at-home employees to use IT resources situated at your company datacenter or in a public cloud. Progent's consultants can help your company to deploy and maintain VPN access between your at-home workforce and your various network resources by providing online VPN integration consulting. For businesses with Cisco's ASA firewalls, Progent's Cisco-certified ASA experts can assist your remote workers to set up Cisco's popular AnyConnect client software to provide secure VPN tunneling for a broad selection of devices including Windows, Mac, iOS, Linux, and Google Android.
• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure products allow a teleworker to view and use a remote PC's desktop. This technology gives IT managers substantial control over the digital ecosystem of telecommuters and offers them a familiar experience. Progent's VDI consulting services include Windows Remote Desktop integration and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops expertise.
• Routers connect at-home networks to the Internet and typically support VPN connections, local Wi-Fi connectivity, and firewalls. Progent offers top-tier remote consulting for deploying home routers from all major manufacturers. See router integration support from Cisco-certified experts.
• Home Wi-Fi networks, typically supporting the whole family and guests, are commonly utilized by at-home employees to connect to their router for work. This can cause throughput and cybersecurity issues. Progent can help businesses to mitigate these problems by providing services like Aironet integration expertise, Cisco-certified Meraki wireless installation consulting, and Ubiquiti WiFi AP integration help.
• Internet connectivity solutions impact the speed and availability of connections between at-home workers and the corporate data center. Business-critical processes may demand redundant Internet access in the event the primary connection fails. Progent can provide guidance for selecting Internet service providers, choosing appropriate service packages, and setting up fault-tolerant Internet access. See Internet connectivity integration services.

VoIP Integration for Remote Workers
Expanding the corporate PBX system to include teleworkers is vital to supporting a productive work-at-home solution. A broad range of cloud-based IP voice platforms are popular with SMBs to server telecommuters. Many larger organizations depend on Cisco's current or older platforms for IP voice solutions. Progent can assist organizations of all sizes to plan or tune a telecommuter IP voice environment that delivers the versatility, convenience and protection required for at-home workers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice experts offer advanced support to assist organizations optimize their current Cisco VoIP systems to support a growing remote workforce.

• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM) extends enterprise telephony capabilities to devices such as IP phones, media processing products, Voice over IP gateways, and multimedia software deployed across the network. CUCM supports additional mixed media services such as unified messaging, voice/video conferencing, and team interaction networks. For more information about Progent's Cisco Unified CM or CUCM expertise, see Cisco Unified CM expertise.
• Cisco CallManager is Cisco's earlier call-processing software and has been replaced by Cisco Unified CM. Progent can help your company to maintain your current CallManager deployment or migrate smoothly to Cisco's modern IP telephony products. To find out about Progent's support services for CallManager and Cisco's other legacy VoIP products, refer to CallManager consulting services.
• Cisco IP Gateways enable integration with PSTN networks and with clients working outside the corporate perimeter like at-home workers. Progent can provide expert support for Cisco's legacy IP gateways such as the UC520, UC540 and UC560 series and for modern Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateway integration expertise.
• Other VoIP Products supported by Progent include Vonage, Intermedia Unite and 8x8. Progent can assist you to enhance your wide area network infrastructure to support these VoIP solutions and provide on-demand integration and debugging expertise.

Video Conferencing for Remote Workers
A broad selection of video conferencing platforms from leading vendors support virtual meetings, video conferencing, chat sessions, and screen sharing for both onsite users and at-home workers. Many companies utilize a mix of products to meet the needs of their various partners and customers. Progent can assist you to manage your current conferencing environment and optimize the productivity of your remote workforce.

• Skype for Business is Microsoft's popular communications product that enables presence, instant messaging, audio and video calling and conferencing as well as the seamless integration of these functions within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 applications including PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook. Progent offers the skills of Microsoft-certified consultants who can help you to configure and maintain Skype for Business clients to support your at-home employees. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Skype for Business, refer to Skype for Business integration experts.
• FaceTime is Apple's group video phone app for iOS and Mac devices. FaceTime works on Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Current versions of FaceTime support as many as 32 concurrent users for video sessions. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for FaceTime, see Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
• Webex Meeting Center provides online conferencing for most desktop or mobile devices. Delivered through Cisco's Webex Cloud platform, Webex services include sharing granular content or computer screens, presentations that incorporate rich media such as Microsoft PowerPoint, network-based recording, plus revision and playback for future reference. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Webex as well as for additional video conferencing products from Cisco, visit Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
• Teams is Microsoft's follow-up for Skype for Business. Teams acts as a portal for conferencing, contacts, and content with capabilities such as IP voice and video conferencing, persistent chat, plus file sharing. For details about Progent's support services for Teams and for additional Microsoft 365 apps, visit 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 services for these products and assist you to optimize your network infrastructure 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 powerful environment of productivity apps that create a cohesive user experience for sharing information throughout a corporate network and on a wide range of endpoint computers. Progent has delivered online consulting support for SharePoint and Exchange since their original publication and can assist businesses to deploy these flagship collaboration platforms to optimize the effectiveness of your at-home workforce.

Microsoft's collaboration platforms are tightly integrated with Microsoft's popular Office suite, providing a rich ecosystem of applications that deliver a consistent user experience for sharing information across multiple sites and on a wide variety of endpoint devices. Progent has provided remote consulting services for SharePoint and Exchange since their initial releases and can help at-home workers set up and use these flagship collaboration platforms to maximize productivity.

Microsoft Teams works on top of Microsoft 365 and supports third-party cloud services to provide real-time collaboration and communication. Designed as a replacement for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams can enable chat, audio/video meetings that include screen sharing, calling, cloud voicemail, group email, plus file and application 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 full range of features. For details about Progent's support services for Microsoft Teams, see planning and deployment expertise for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium.

SharePoint utilizes web entities to facilitate collaboration and information delivery by providing policy-based delivery of data, workflow, and tools for looking through enterprise-wide information silos. SharePoint permits you to create secure web portals that allows at-home workforce to view and edit aggregated business intelligence via Wikis, Blogs, social sites, and Web Parts. To learn about Progent's SharePoint support 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. To find out about Progent's Exchange consulting expertise, refer to planning and configuration consulting for Exchange Server.

OneDrive is Microsoft�s shared cloud-based storage service, comparable to GoogleDrive. Remote workers can save files to OneDrive, and co-workers can share them securely via a web browser. Included with Microsoft 365, OneDrive allows home employees to jointly author files. Revisions made offline are synced when you reconnect to the Internet. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft OneDrive, visit Onedrive integration consulting.

Public Cloud Integration Services for At-Home Workers
Progent offers fast and affordable online support for helping organizations to build, maintain and repair cohesive network architectures that incorporate physical data centers, telecommuters, branch offices, and public cloud resources. Progent offers top-tier consultant for all modes of cloud service delivery such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service. Progent can help remote workers fix issues with public cloud connectivity, identity, and security.

Azure is a popular platform for public cloud software and services that allows you to utilize IT infrastructure, servers, and key apps running on Microsoft's massive cloud. Microsoft Azure includes more than 100 cloud-based services including hosting for Windows and Linux-powered virtual machines, scalable cloud storage, email and messaging, application development with Visual Studio, and data protection. Progent can help you to deploy VMs on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity management with Azure AD, and plan backup and recovery systems with Azure Backup. Progent can also show you how to establish protected connections to Azure for telecommuters by setting up and troubleshooting firewall appliances and VPN IPsec tunnels. For information about Progent's consulting services for Azure, go to Microsoft Azure expertise.

Microsoft 365, previously branded Office 365, is Microsoft's popular family of client productivity software and cloud services offered on a subscription basis. Office applications and services are provided in a variety of bundles designed for customers ranging from students and households to large corporations. Progent offers quick and affordable remote access to consultants familiar with Microsoft 365-compatible client devices based on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android operating systems. Progent can help your business to assess the various subscription bundles available for Microsoft 365 and configure 365 applications for your teleworkers in a way that delivers maximum business value. For information about Progent's expertise for Microsoft 365, visit Microsoft 365 consulting expertise.

Microsoft 365 Exchange Online is one of the most widely used cloud-based applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product suite. Exchange Online offers the advantages of reduced spending for data center infrastructure, easier management, on-demand scaling, high availability, and other benefits inherent with cloud computing. Microsoft has engineered Exchange Online to run seamlessly with on-premises Exchange environments, enabling you to build hybrid information systems. Progent's certified Exchange experts can provide as-needed help to guide you through challenging technical roadblocks and can also provide end-to-end project management services to make sure your teleworkers have convenient and secure access to your Exchange Online deployment. For details Progent's consulting services for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, visit Microsoft 365 Exchange Online integration and support expertise.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a trailblazer in the public cloud arena and is the industry's leading source of cloud-based services. Progent can provide quick and affordable online contact with cloud integration consultants who can help your organization to plan, implement, manage, and troubleshoot hybrid IT networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud services with local data centers and with other popular cloud platforms such as Azure. Progent also offers access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to help your company to create a high-uptime network model to make sure your employees have a productive computing environment whether they are working from your headquarters, a branch office, at home, or on the move. To learn about Progent's consulting services for Amazon AWS, go to Amazon AWS consulting support.

Google Cloud (GCP) is a leading set of public cloud services that provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco experts can assist you to expand your existing IT assets with the Google Cloud, and Progent's database experts can show you how to make your mission-critical apps cloud friendly so your remote workers can take full advantage of Google Cloud Platform services. Progent's consultants can help your business to deploy virtual machines on Google Cloud Compute Engine, design a cost-effective storage solution with GCP Storage, and simplify access management for at-home workers with GCP Cloud Identity. Progent's consultants can also help you to utilize GCP's unified management technology to administer and track your GCP environment. To learn, see Google Cloud Platform (GCP) integration expertise.

Help Desk Call Center Services for Remote Workers
An emergency, company-wide transition to a from-home business model, which might be motivated by a pandemic or as part of a disaster recovery plan, can overstretch even a high-performing internal Help Desk. Progent's Call Center services make it possible for businesses to outsource or supplement their Call Desk by using Progent's online Technical Response Center (TRC) team.

• Progent's Standard Support Desk services utilize Progent's nationwide team of online IT support specialists combined with world-class trouble ticketing and tracking technology to offer an affordable, advanced Help Desk. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services provide a comprehensive solution that handles all aspects of remote Level 1 PC support from initial help requests to trouble ticket creation, desktop sharing, issue resolution, and reporting. A browser-based User's Service Portal allows telecommuters to track or edit their active trouble tickets, add details, and upload screenshots or relevant files. Desktop support services are delivered at a significant price reduction off Progent's normal Level 1 desktop support rates, and Progent offers optional fast escalation to Level 2 and Level 3 support specialists to resolve complex problems. To learn more, see Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services outsourcing for small and mid-size companies.
• Progent's Help Desk Call Center Augmentation Service enables your company to expand your existing Support Desk team by sharing responsibilities for Help Desk Call Center services transparently between your in-house support personnel and Progent's extensive pool of desktop support technicians and subject matter specialists. Progent's shared Call Desk service uses a collaborative support solution utilizing the number one professional services automation platform for managing help requests and trouble tickets, assigning responsibility, monitoring progress, and generating management reports. To find out how Progent's Help Desk Supplementation Services can enable your business to provide world-class IT support to your from-home workers, see Progent's Support Desk augmentation Services.

Cybersecurity for Remote Workers
Work-from-Home (WFH) workers commonly use their personal computers and often operate in an unsecured physical environment. This multiplies their vulnerability to malware attacks and calls for judicious deployment of corporate firewalls, anti-malware tools, MFA-based identity verification, remote endpoint monitoring, intensive user education, and the development of policies based on leading practices. Progent's seasoned team of IT security support experts can help you to design, configure and manage an effective cybersecurity solution that protects critical IT resources in environments that incorporate remote workers.

Firewalls enable you to create a network environment that can be securely accessed by on-premises users and by an at-home workforce, mobile users, suppliers, customers, and the public. Modern firewall devices allow you to assign and control appropriate permissions to various groups of users and to scale your IT network and adjust your security profile as your company evolves and as network attacks become more sophisticated. Progent works with both current and older firewall appliances from all major vendors like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, WatchGuard, Juniper, SonicWall and Fortinet. To learn more about Progent's firewall integration expertise, see firewall integration and support services.

Online Endpoint Security Monitoring makes it possible to track the disparate devices utilized by an at-home workforce and either reject or spot and mitigate modern threats such as 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 detect zero-day threats before they can spread. When an attack is spotted, ProSight ASM immediately disconnects the targeted device from the corporate network to contain the malware. Since the ProSight ASM agent is self-contained, endpoints stay secure even if they are disconnected from the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. To find out more about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, go to remote endpoint monitoring for at-home workers.

Progent's Duo authentication Services utilize Cisco's Duo technology to defend against stolen passwords by using two-factor authentication. Duo enables one-tap identity verification with iOS, Google Android, and other personal devices. Using Duo 2FA, when you log into a protected application and enter your password you are requested to confirm who you are on a device that only you possess and that uses a different network channel. A broad selection of out-of-band devices can be used as this added form of authentication including an iPhone or Android or watch, a hardware/software token, a landline phone, etc. You may designate multiple verification devices. For details about ProSight Duo two-factor identity validation services, visit Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for telecommuters.

Security Audits can assess the exposure of your network to all classes of external and internal security attacks for a network that incorporates telecommuters. Progent can run remote, automated cybersecurity inventory scanning for rapidly and economically detecting a wide variety of security holes that can be surfaced via the Internet. Progent's endpoint security assessment consulting services, which can be provided by network security experts with advanced credentials including CISM, ISSAP, and GIAC, can assist your company to evaluate your operations and policies and review your IT infrastructure to enable you to design top-level security for your telecommuters.

Horizon3.ai's NodeZero Pentest Platform is a breakthrough penetration test (pentest) product family that supports automated threat assessment of your work-from-home connectivity solution as well as your internal and perimeter networks to help you expose, rank, remediate, and verify security weaknesses before threat actors can take advantage of them. Progent's pentest experts can assist you to use NodeZero to carry out comprehensive penetration tests of your perimeter and your internal IT infrastructure in order to evaluate your present security posture. Progent's NodeZero experts can also assist you to strengthen your network security and can assist you to plan and deploy a cohesive cybersecurity strategy that streamlines management and provides optimum cyber defense for on-premises, multi-cloud, remote, and perimeter IT assets. To learn additional details about Progent's vulnerability assessment solutions based on on NodeZero's PEN test platform, see Consulting Support for NodeZero's Penetration Test Products.

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

Data Protection Solutions for Teleworkers
The field of Data Protection involves backing up and restoring vital information so as to avoid data loss and minimize recovery time and effort in the event of storage failures due to equipment issues, programming glitches, operator mistakes, cyber attack, or other causes. Reliable data protection solutions can be especially difficult to design and maintain in hybrid environments that combine private data centers, public clouds, and an at-home workforce.

• Backup/Restore solutions for an at-home workforce must cover multiple kinds of user-owned endpoints. Progent can provide fast online access to consultants knowledgeable about a broad array of products for backing up Microsoft Windows, Apple and Linux/UNIX servers and desktops as well as laptops, tablets and handhelds. Leading backup/recovery solutions supported by Progent's data protection experts include Barracuda Backup, Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, CrashPlan, Mozy, and Time Machine. To back up data distributed across a hybrid network, Progent offers ProSight Data Protection Services, a managed backup/recovery service that utilizes cloud storage and features fine-grained recovery and unified management capabilities.
• Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity (DR/BC) strategies typically envision circumstances that require a temporary changeover to an at-home workforce. Progent's senior disaster recovery planning experts and business continuity consultants can help your company to create, document and validate a DR/BC plan that includes the process of switching to telecommuting.

Unified Management for At-Home Workers
Microsoft has rebranded and rebundled its endpoint management platforms under the name Endpoint Manager, which encompasses Intune for cloud management of remote devices and Configuration Manager for managing onsite computers. Microsoft Endpoint Manager features a centralized platform for protecting corporate information by managing onsite, mobile, and at-home endpoint devices.

Microsoft Intune
Intune is a component of Microsoft's Endpoint Management family that also features Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud service for managing and securing off-premises devices and applications. Managed endpoint computers can be personally owned or business owned. IT admins managing the endpoint devices of teleworkers can utilize Intune to provision and authenticate applications on managed devices, push patches and certificates, configure policies for permission to access information and resources, manage passwords, create VPN tunnels, determine how teleworkers share data, set up threat protection, verify compliance, and wipe sensitive data from missing, stolen or deactivated devices. Microsoft Intune runs with iOS, Google Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X endpoints. To learn about Microsoft Intune and to find out how Progent can assist your company to use this platform to administer the endpoint computers of your telecommuters, go to Intune remote device management experts.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich unified MDM platform that allows network administrators to keep remote endpoint devices current and secure. Workspace ONE uses VMware AirWatch technology for unified endpoint administration combined with VMware's Horizon virtual application delivery technology for identity control, application management, and setup management of endpoints. Workspace ONE runs with endpoints powered by Windows 10, macOS, Apple iOS, Android, Chrome OS, or popular distributions of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is available by subscription as a cloud service or as an on-site deployment via a one-time purchase. Top capabilities of Workspace ONE include rapid remote provisioning of out-of-the-box laptops, quick onboarding of new employees, policy setting and enforcement for all classes of devices, aggregated management reporting and performance analytics, email encryption, and tight integration with Microsoft apps and cloud-based services. To find out about Progent's expertise for VMware Workspace ONE, go to VMware Workspace ONE mobile endpoint management consultants.

Contact Progent for Telecommuter Support Services
To get in touch with Progent about building and maintaining a productive work-from-home solution for your Chesapeake, Virginia company, phone 1-800-993-9400 or refer to Contact Progent.