Edmonton Teleworkers Configuration Consulting and Support

Enlarging your telecommuter workforce may have a significant effect on IT infrastructure, cybersecurity, and corporate workflows. Progent has two decades of experience assisting SMBs to design, deploy, manage, optimize, and troubleshoot IT networks that incorporate a remote workforce. Progent can assist your Edmonton organization to pick the right technologies and adhere to leading practices in creating and operating a secure virtual office solution for teleworkers that facilitates collaboration and returns top value. Progent offers services that go from as-needed guidance for helping you over challenging IT bottlenecks to full project management or co-management to help you carry out business-critical tasks.

Progent's consultants can assist Edmonton, Alberta companies to succeed with any facet of building a high-functioning remote work ecosystem by providing infrastructure design and configuration services, IP voice expertise, voice/video conferencing integration, collaboration platform selection and deployment, cloud integration, helpdesk services, data security, data protection solutions, and unified management.

Infrastructure for a Remote Workforce
Integrating the physical and software infrastructure needed for an at-home workforce can be particularly challenging if you have to accommodate a combination of personal equipment such as desktop computers and notebooks, routers, and Wi-Fi appliances from an assortment of vendors and with a variety of operating systems and firmware releases. Progent's background delivering remote help for both legacy and current technologies in remote office solutions enables you to make efficient use of your existing network infrastructure and provides you with ready access to top-tire consultants for implement essential upgrades. Services offered by Progent to assist you to create a high-functioning telecommuting infrastructure include:

• VPN technology allows you to establish a safe connection for authenticated remote workers to access IT resources located at your corporate datacenter or in a public cloud. Progent's consultants can assist your company to configure and maintain VPN access between your teleworkers and your various IT resources by providing remote VPN configuration consulting. For organizations with Cisco's ASA firewalls, Progent's Cisco ASA Firewall consultants can help your remote workers to utilize Cisco's popular AnyConnect software to provide safe VPN tunneling for a wide range of devices such as Microsoft Windows, macOS, Apple iOS, Linux, and Android.
• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure platforms enable a teleworker to view and interact with a data center computer's desktop. This technology provides network managers more control over the digital environment of at-home employees and offers them a familiar work experience. Progent's VDI services include Windows Remote Desktop integration and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops expertise.
• Routers attach at-home computer networks to the Internet and typically support VPN tunnels, local wireless connectivity, and firewalls. Progent can provide top-tier remote support for deploying home routers from all major manufacturers. See router integration services from Cisco-certified experts.
• Home Wireless networks, typically supporting an entire household and visitors, are frequently used by at-home employees to access their router for work. This can cause performance and cybersecurity problems. Progent can assist businesses to resolve these problems by delivering services like Aironet configuration expertise, Cisco-certified Meraki wireless installation consulting, and Ubiquiti Unifi wireless access point setup help.
• Internet connectivity methods affect the speed and availability of connections between telecommuters and the company data center. Vital processes might require backup Internet connections in the event the primary connection fails. Progent can provide guidance for identifying Internet service providers, selecting sensible bandwidth and data volume packages, and integrating high-availability Internet connections. See Internet connectivity integration services.

VoIP Integration for Telecommuters
Extending the corporate phone environment to accommodate remote users is critical to supporting a productive work-at-home solution. A broad range of cloud-based digital PBX platforms are popular with SMBs to support teleworkers. Many enterprises depend on Cisco's modern or older platforms for IP voice management. Progent can help organizations of all sizes to plan or tune a telecommuter VoIP service that delivers the versatility, convenience and security required for telecommuters. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice consultants can provide advanced support to help businesses optimize their current Cisco VoIP systems to support a growing at-home workforce.

• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM or CUCM) extends advanced telephony features to devices like IP phones, media processing platforms, Voice over IP gateways, and multimedia software deployed across the network. Unified Communications Manager supports additional combined media services like messaging, voice/video conferencing, and team interaction networks. For details about Progent's CUCM expertise, refer to Cisco Unified Communications Manager consulting services.
• CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing agent and has been superseded by Cisco Unified CM or CUCM. Progent can assist your company to maintain your current CallManager deployment or upgrade efficiently to Cisco's current IP telephony products. To find out about Progent's support services for Cisco CallManager and Cisco's other legacy IP voice products, see Cisco CallManager consulting services.
• Cisco IP Gateways enable integration with public telephony networks and with clients operating outside the corporate firewall such as at-home workers. Progent can provide expert support for Cisco's earlier generation IP gateways like the UC520, UC540 and UC560 products and for current Cisco SIP gateways. See Cisco SIP gateway integration consulting.
• Additional VoIP Platforms supported by Progent include Vonage, Intermedia Unite and 8x8. Progent can help you to update your wide area network architecture to work with these VoIP solutions and deliver online configuration and troubleshooting services.

Video Conferencing for At-Home Workers
A wide range of video conferencing products from leading technology companies enable virtual meetings, video conferencing, chat, and content sharing for both onsite users and teleworkers. Many companies utilize a mix of products to meet the needs of their various partners and customers. Progent's communications experts can help your organization to manage your existing voice/video conferencing environment and optimize the experience of your at-home employees.

• Skype for Business is Microsoft's popular unified communications platform that supports presence, instant messaging, voice and video calling and conferencing as well as 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 consultants who can help you to configure and maintain Skype for Business clients to accommodate your at-home employees. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Skype for Business, refer to Skype for Business integration services.
• FaceTime is Apple's group video calling platform for iOS, iPadOS, iPod and Mac computers and smartphones. FaceTime runs over Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Newer editions of FaceTime support as many as 32 concurrent users for voice/video sessions. For details about Progent's consulting services for FaceTime, visit Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
• Webex Meeting Center supports online conferencing for most computing devices. Offered through Cisco's Webex Cloud, Webex services include sharing discrete content or screens, presentations that embed rich media such as Microsoft PowerPoint and Flash videos, network-based recording, plus editing and playback for training. For details about Progent's support services for Webex as well as for additional IP video products from Cisco, refer to Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
• Teams is Microsoft's follow-up for Skype for Business. Teams provides a portal for conferencing, contacts, and information with capabilities such as video conferencing, persistent threaded chat, plus data sharing. To learn more about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft Teams and for other Microsoft 365 apps, visit 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 debugging expertise for these conferencing platforms and assist your business to optimize your WAN infrastructure to host them.

Microsoft Collaboration Software for Teleworkers
Microsoft's collaboration platforms are tightly integrated with Microsoft's popular Office and Microsoft 365 families, offering a powerful ecosystem of productivity apps that create a cohesive user experience for sharing data and ideas throughout multiple sites and on a wide range of endpoint computers. Progent has provided remote consulting services for Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange Server since their initial publication and can assist businesses to deploy these flagship collaboration products to optimize the productivity of your remote 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 deliver real-time collaboration. Developed as a substitute for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams can support chat, audio/video meetings that include screen sharing, phone calls, cloud voicemail, group email, as well as file and app sharing. Teams is tightly integrated with Microsoft 365 and depends on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Azure Entra (formerly branded Azure Active Directory) for delivering its full range of features. For details about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium, visit solution design and deployment consulting for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium.

SharePoint utilizes web entities to promote collaboration and knowledge delivery by offering policy-driven access to data, business processes, and tools for looking through enterprise-wide information silos. SharePoint allows you to build secure web portals that allows remote workforce to see and update aggregated corporate intelligence via Wikis, Blogs, social sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). For information about Progent's SharePoint expertise, refer to SharePoint integration 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 expertise, refer to integration consulting for Exchange Server.

OneDrive is Microsoft�s collaborative cloud file hosting and synchronization service, comparable to GoogleDrive. Remote users can save files to the OneDrive service, and co-workers can access them securely through a browser. Included with Office 365, OneDrive allows remote workers to co-edit files. Edits created offline are uploaded when you go back online. For information about Progent's consulting expertise for OneDrive, visit Onedrive configuration consulting.

Cloud Integration Services for Remote Workers
Progent can provide advanced remote assistance for enabling businesses to create, maintain and repair cohesive hybrid network models that incorporate physical data centers, remote workers, branches, plus public cloud resources. Progent offers top-tier consultant for all types of cloud service including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help remote workers fix issues with public cloud access, identity, and cybersecurity.

Azure is a leading platform for public cloud services that allows you to use infrastructure, servers, and key apps hosted on Microsoft's extensive cloud. Microsoft Azure includes over one hundred services services including the ability to host Windows and Linux-based VMs, scalable cloud storage, email and messaging, application development with Visual Studio, and backup/restore. Progent can assist you to set up VMs on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity control with Azure AD, and plan data backup and restore systems with Azure Backup. Progent's cloud experts can also show you how to establish secure connections to Azure for telecommuters by configuring and troubleshooting firewall appliances and VPN IPsec tunnels. To find out about Progent's expertise for Azure, refer to Microsoft Azure consulting.

Microsoft 365, formerly called Office 365, is Microsoft's growing suite of client productivity applications and cloud-based services available by subscription. Office applications and services are provided in a variety of plans designed for users ranging from individuals and small offices to major corporations. Progent offers quick and easy online access to consultants knowledgeable about Microsoft 365-compatible client devices running Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android operating systems. Progent's experts can assist you to evaluate the various subscription bundles available for Microsoft 365 and configure 365 apps for your remote workers in a way that delivers top business value. To find out about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft 365, see Microsoft 365 consulting expertise.

Exchange Online is among the most widely used applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product line. Microsoft 365 Exchange Online offers the benefits of reduced spending for data center infrastructure, easier management, on-demand scaling, high availability, and other benefits associated with cloud computing. Microsoft has designed Exchange Online to run smoothly with local Exchange environments, allowing you to build hybrid information systems. Progent's certified Exchange experts are available for as-needed help to guide you past challenging IT roadblocks and can also provide comprehensive project management services to make sure your at-home workers have easy and secure access to your Microsoft 365 Exchange Online deployment. For details Progent's expertise for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, visit Microsoft 365 Exchange Online integration and support consulting.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a pioneer in the public cloud arena and is the world's top provider of cloud-based services. Progent can provide fast and affordable online contact with cloud integration consultants who can help your organization to design, deploy, manage, and troubleshoot hybrid information networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with on-premises resources and with other popular cloud platforms like Azure. Progent also can provide the skills of Cisco-certified CCIE networking consultants to help you to create a high-uptime network model so your employees have a productive computing experience 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, go to Amazon AWS consulting expertise.

Google Cloud Platform is a popular suite of cloud computing services that provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco consulting experts can assist you to expand your current IT resources with the Google Cloud Platform, and Progent's DBA experts can help you make your mission-critical applications cloud friendly so your teleworkers can benefit fully from Google Cloud Platform services. Progent's consultants can help your organization to deploy virtual machines on GCP Compute Engine, design an efficient storage solution with GCP Storage services, and streamline identity control for remote workers with GCP Cloud Identity. Progent can also assist you to use GCP's management technology to control and track your Google Cloud ecosystem. For details, go to Google Cloud Platform consulting services.

Help Desk Services for Remote Workers
A sudden, company-wide switchover to a teleworker business model, which might be activated by a pandemic or as a component of a disaster recovery process, can overstretch even the most efficient in-house Call Center. Progent's Help Desk Call Center services allow businesses of any size to outsource or augment their Support Desk with Progent's online Technical Response Center (TRC) team.

• Progent's Standard Call Center services utilize Progent's extensive team of online technical support specialists along with enterprise-class ticketing and follow-up technology to provide an economical, advanced Help Desk Call Center. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services provide a comprehensive solution that addresses all facets of online Level 1 desktop technical support from initial service requests to ticket generation, desktop sharing, problem resolution, and reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal allows telecommuters to check or revise the status of their current trouble tickets, enter information, and append screen captures or relevant files. Desktop support services are provided at a significant price reduction off Progent's ordinary Level 1 desktop service charges, and Progent offers optional fast escalation to Level 2 and Level 3 support experts to resolve advanced issues. To learn more, visit Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services outsourcing for small and mid-size businesses.
• Progent's Call Desk Supplemental Service allows your business to expand your existing Help Desk Call Center team by sharing delivery of Support Desk support transparently between your regular support organization and Progent's extensive pool of PC support engineers and subject matter experts. Progent's shared Call Center service uses a co-sourcing support solution based on the leading PSA tool for handling help requests and trouble tickets, establishing ownership, tracking progress, and generating management reports. To learn how Progent's Support Desk Augmentation Services can help your company to provide world-class technical support to your from-home workers, visit Progent's Help Desk augmentation Services.

Cybersecurity for Remote Workers
Work-from-Home employees typically utilize their own computers and usually operate in a poorly secured physical environment. This increases their susceptibility to cyber attacks and requires judicious deployment of firewalls, AV tools, MFA-based identity verification, remote endpoint monitoring, thorough user training, and the creation of policies based on best practices. Progent's seasoned group of data security support experts can assist you to design, deploy and manage a compliant cybersecurity solution that guards vital information resources in networks that include telecommuters.

Firewalls allow companies to build a network environment that can be securely utilized by on-premises users and by telecommuters, mobile users, vendors, clients, and the public. Next-generation firewall appliances allow you to configure and manage different access rights to different classes of users and to scale your network and adjust your cybersecurity posture as your business evolves and as cyber threats grow increasingly sophisticated. Progent supports both current and legacy firewall appliances from all leading manufacturers including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, WatchGuard, Juniper, SonicWall and Fortinet. To find out more about Progent's firewall support expertise, go to firewall integration and support services.

Remote Endpoint Monitoring makes it possible to track the various computers used by at-home workers and either reject or identify and mitigate the latest cyber attacks like ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) services, a small-footprint software agent is put on each secured endpoint device, monitoring all activity and using state-of-the-art machine learning and full execution context from SentinelOne to identify new threats before they can spread. When an attack is discovered, ProSight Active Security Monitoring instantly disconnects the targeted device from the network to quarantine the threat. Because the ProSight ASM agent is autonomous, endpoints remain secure even if they are disconnected from the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. To learn more about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, see remote endpoint security monitoring for teleworkers.

Progent's Duo MFA Managed Services utilize Cisco's Duo cloud technology to protect against stolen passwords by using two-factor authentication. Duo enables one-tap identity confirmation with Apple iOS, Google Android, and other personal devices. With 2FA, when you log into a protected online account and enter your password you are asked to confirm your identity on 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 added means of authentication including a smartphone or watch, a hardware/software token, a landline telephone, etc. You can register several verification devices. For more information about ProSight Duo two-factor identity validation services, refer to Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for teleworkers.

Security Audits can evaluate the vulnerability of your information system to all classes of outside and local security attacks for a network that incorporates teleworkers. Progent can deploy online, automated cybersecurity inventory scanning for quickly and economically uncovering a broad range of security gaps that can be found over the Internet. Progent's security assessment experts, which can be provided by security professionals with advanced credentials such as CISM, ISSAP, and GIAC, can assist your company to audit your procedures and governance policies and assess your WAN infrastructure to enable you to implement the highest level of protection for your remote workers.

Horizon3.ai's NodeZero Pentest Platform is a cutting-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 expose, prioritize, remediate, and verify cybersecurity vulnerabilities before malicious hackers can exploit them. Progent can help you to use NodeZero to carry out comprehensive pentests of your network perimeter and your internal network in order to determine your current security profile. Progent's NodeZero experts can also help you to strengthen your existing network security and can assist you to design and deploy a cohesive cybersecurity ecosystem that streamlines management and provides optimum protection for on-prem, multi-cloud, at-home, and perimeter IT resources. To learn additional information about Progent's vulnerability assessment solutions based on on NodeZero's pentest products, see Consulting Services for NodeZero's PEN Test Products.

Download White Paper: Protecting a Work-From-Home (WFH) Network
To view or download a white paper about critical things to concentrate on for securing an IT environment that supports work-from-home staff, click:
Protecting a Work-From-Home (WFH) Environment White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection Solutions for Telecommuters
The field of Data Protection covers saving and restoring critical information in order to prevent data loss and reduce recovery time and effort in case of storage system problems resulting from equipment breakdowns, software glitches, user mistakes, cyber attack, or any other reason. Reliable data protection strategies can be especially challenging to design and manage in hybrid networks that combine in-house data centers, cloud resources, and an at-home workforce.

• Backup/Restore strategies for teleworkers must cover multiple kinds of user-owned endpoint devices. Progent offers quick online access to consultants familiar with a broad range of platforms for backing up Microsoft Windows, Apple and Linux/UNIX servers and desktop computers as well as laptops, iPads and smartphones. Leading backup/restore solutions supported by Progent's data protection consultants include Barracuda Backup, Microsoft Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, Acronis Backup and Recovery, Mozy, and Time Machine. To protect resources spread across a hybrid network, Progent can provide ProSight Data Protection Services, a backup/recovery subscription service that utilizes cloud storage and features fine-grained restore and centralized management capabilities.
• Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity plans typically envision circumstances that require a rapid changeover to a work-at-home environment. Progent's senior disaster recovery preparedness experts and business continuity specialists can help your business to create, document and validate a DR/BC strategy that addresses the process of moving to an at-home workforce.

Unified Management for an At-Home Workforce
Microsoft has rebranded and rebundled its endpoint management platforms under the name Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which includes Intune for cloud management of mobile and remote endpoints and Configuration Manager for managing onsite computers. Microsoft Endpoint Manager offers a centralized solution for safeguarding critical information by controlling local, mobile, and at-home endpoints.

Intune
Intune is a component of Microsoft's Endpoint Management suite that also includes Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and securing off-premises computers and applications. Managed endpoint computers can be personally owned or company owned. IT administrators managing the enrolled endpoint devices of at-home workers can use Intune to provision and validate applications on managed devices, push patches and certificates, configure policies for accessing data and networks, set passwords, create VPN connections, control how teleworkers share information, establish threat defense, verify security compliance, and wipe sensitive information from missing, stolen or deactivated devices. Intune can be used with Apple iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS computers. For information about Microsoft Intune and to find out how Progent can help your company to use Microsoft's Endpoint Management to manage the devices of your at-home workforce, go to Intune mobile device management experts.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich unified Mobile Device Management product that allows network administrators to keep remote endpoints current and secure. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch technology for centralized endpoint management along with VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery technology for authorization control, app management, and configuration management of endpoints. Workspace ONE operates with endpoints based on Windows 10, macOS, iOS, Google Android, Chrome OS, or popular distros of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is available by subscription as a cloud-based service or as an on-site deployment through a perpetual license. Key capabilities of VMware Workspace ONE include fast remote provisioning of out-of-the-box notebooks, immediate onboarding of new employees, policy setting and enforcement for all categories of endpoints, aggregated reporting and performance analytics, an email encryption gateway, and integration with Microsoft applications and cloud-based products. For information about Progent's support services for VMware Workspace ONE, go to VMware Workspace ONE remote endpoint management expertise.

Contact Progent for Remote Workforce Expertise
To get in touch with Progent about creating and managing a productive work-from-home solution for your Edmonton, Alberta organization, call 1-800-993-9400 or refer to Contact Progent.