Ottawa Teleworkers Solutions Consulting Partner

Enlarging your at-home workforce can have a significant impact on IT architecture, cybersecurity, and corporate processes. Progent has two decades of background assisting SMBs to plan, configure, administer, optimize, and troubleshoot IT environments that incorporate work-from-home employees. Progent can help your Ottawa company to select the right tools and follow leading practices in building and operating a secure virtual ecosystem for telecommuters that promotes collaboration and returns top business value. Progent offers support services that go from as-needed guidance for getting you past challenging technical roadblocks to comprehensive project management to help you carry out mission-critical initiatives.

Progent can assist Ottawa, Ontario businesses to with any facet of building a high-performing telecommuting environment by providing network infrastructure configuration services, IP voice expertise, voice/video conferencing integration, collaboration platform customization and training, public cloud connectivity, Help Desk outsourcing, cybersecurity, backup/restore solutions, and unified management.

Infrastructure for Teleworkers
Configuring the physical and software infrastructure needed to support an at-home work environment can be especially complicated if you have to accommodate a combination of worker-owned equipment such as PCs and notebooks, Internet routers, and wireless APs from various manufacturers and with a mix of operating systems and firmware releases. Progent's background providing online support for both legacy as well as modern IT products in remote office venues allows you to make cost-effective use of your available infrastructure and provides you with ready access to expertise for making essential upgrades. Services available from Progent to assist your company to create a high-functioning telecommuting ecosystem include:

• Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology makes it possible to establish a secure tunnel for authorized remote workers to use IT resources located at your company datacenter or in the cloud. Progent can help your company to configure and maintain VPN connections between your teleworkers and your various IT resources by providing remote VPN integration support. For businesses with Cisco's ASA firewalls, Progent's Cisco ASA experts can help your at-home workers to set up Cisco's popular AnyConnect client software to provide safe VPN connections for a wide range of endpoint devices such as Microsoft Windows, macOS, Apple iOS, Linux, and Google Android.
• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) products allow an at-home worker to view and use a data center PC's desktop. This technology gives network managers more control over the computing ecosystem of at-home employees and offers them a consistent and more productive work experience. Progent's VDI consulting services include Windows Remote Desktop support and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI consulting.
• Routers attach home networks to the Internet and typically support VPN connections, home wireless networks, and firewalls. Progent offers top-tier remote support for setting up home routers from a range of manufacturers. See router configuration support from Cisco-certified consultants.
• Home Wi-Fi networks, often supporting families and visitors, are frequently used by at-home employees to connect to their Internet router for work. This can create performance and cybersecurity problems. Progent can assist you to mitigate these problems by providing expertise that include Aironet configuration expertise, Cisco-certified Meraki wireless installation expertise, and Ubiquiti Unifi wireless AP integration assistance.
• Internet access solutions impact the speed and reliability of connections between telecommuters and the company data center. Vital processes may demand backup Internet connections in case the normal connection breaks. Progent can provide expertise for selecting Internet service providers, choosing appropriate service packages, and configuring fault-tolerant Internet access. Refer to Internet access integration services.

VoIP Solutions for Teleworkers
Extending the company phone environment to include teleworkers is critical to maintaining a productive work-at-home solution. A variety of cloud-centric digital PBX products are used by small and mid-size businesses to support remote users. Many larger organizations depend on Cisco's current or legacy platforms for VoIP solutions. Progent can help organizations of any size to plan or tune a telecommuter VoIP environment that delivers the flexibility, convenience and protection needed for at-home workers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE Voice experts offer high-level support to assist businesses optimize their current Cisco VoIP environments to handle an expanding at-home workforce.

• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM or CUCM) extends enterprise IP telephony capabilities to devices such as VoIP phones, media processing products, Voice over IP gateways, and mixed media software deployed throughout the network. CUCM supports additional mixed media services like messaging, video conferencing, and team interaction networks. For more information about Progent's Cisco Unified CM or CUCM support, see CUCM consulting services.
• CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing agent and has been superseded by Cisco Unified CM or CUCM. Progent can help your company to support your current CallManager deployment 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, refer to Cisco CallManager consulting.
• Cisco IP Gateways enable integration with PSTN networks and with users operating beyond the corporate firewall like telecommuters. Progent offers consulting expertise for Cisco's earlier generation IP gateways including the UC520, UC540 and UC560 series as well as for modern Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco SIP gateway configuration consulting.
• Additional VoIP Platforms supported by Progent include Vonage, Intermedia Unite and 8x8. Progent can help you to expand your WAN architecture to support these VoIP solutions and deliver as-needed deployment and troubleshooting expertise.

Voice/Video Conferencing for Remote Workers
A wide selection of voice/video conferencing products from leading technology companies support virtual meetings, video conferencing, chat sessions, and screen sharing for both onsite workers and telecommuters. Many companies utilize multiple products to meet the needs of their various partners and clients. Progent can assist you to maintain your current conferencing ecosystem and enhance the engagement of your at-home workforce.

• Skype for Business is Microsoft's leading unified communications product that enables real-time presence, IM, audio and video conferencing plus the transparent integration of these functions within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 applications such as PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook. Progent offers the expertise of Microsoft-certified specialists who can help you to set up and maintain Skype for Business clients to accommodate your remote workforce. For details about Progent's support expertise for Skype for Business, see Skype for Business consulting experts.
• FaceTime is Apple's group video phone platform for iOS, iPadOS, iPod and Mac devices. FaceTime works over Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Current versions of FaceTime allow up to 32 simultaneous users for video sessions. To learn more about Progent's consulting expertise for Apple FaceTime, refer to Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
• Webex Meeting Center supports online conferencing for most computing devices. Delivered via Cisco's Webex Cloud, Webex services include sharing granular content or screens, presentations that embed rich media including Microsoft PowerPoint, network-based capture, plus editing and playback for future reference. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Cisco Webex as well as for other IP video 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 conversations, contacts, and content with capabilities such as voice/video conferencing, persistent threaded chat, plus data sharing. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft Teams as well as for additional Microsoft 365 products, see Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
• Additional Conferencing Platforms supported by Progent include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can provide integration and debugging expertise for these products and assist your business to optimize your network architecture to run them.

Microsoft Collaboration Software for Telecommuters
Microsoft's collaboration platforms are closely integrated with Microsoft's familiar Office and Microsoft 365 suites, offering a rich ecosystem of productivity apps that create a cohesive user experience for sharing data and ideas across multiple sites and on a broad selection of endpoint devices. Progent has delivered remote consulting support for Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange Server since their first releases and can help your company to tune these flagship collaboration products to optimize the effectiveness of your remote workforce.

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

Microsoft Teams works on top of Microsoft 365 and supports third-party cloud services to provide real-time collaboration and communication. Designed as a substitute for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams can enable chat, video meetings with screen sharing, phone calls, cloud voicemail, group email, plus file and app sharing. Teams is closely integrated with Microsoft 365 and relies on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Azure Entra (previously called Azure Active Directory) for delivering its complete range of capabilities. For additional information about Progent's support services for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium, see planning and deployment expertise for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium.

SharePoint uses web sites to promote collaboration and information delivery by offering policy-based delivery of content, business processes, and utilities for looking through company-wide business data. SharePoint permits you to build protected portals that permits remote workers to view and edit consolidated business intelligence via Wikis, Blogs, social sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). To learn about Progent's SharePoint consulting expertise, see 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 consulting services, see planning and configuration expertise for Microsoft Exchange Server.

OneDrive is Microsoft�s shared cloud-based file hosting and synchronization service, comparable to GoogleDrive. At-home users can store files to OneDrive, and co-workers anywhere can retrieve them safely via a browser. Provided with Microsoft 365, OneDrive enables remote workers to jointly author files. Edits made offline are uploaded when you go back online. For details about Progent's consulting services for OneDrive, refer to Microsoft Onedrive configuration experts.

Public Cloud Integration for Remote Workers
Progent offers affordable remote support for enabling businesses to create, manage and optimize integrated network architectures that include internal data centers, teleworkers, branches, and public cloud services. Progent offers top-tier consultant for all types of cloud service such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service. Progent can help teleworkers resolve issues with public cloud access, identity, and security.

Azure is a popular family of cloud services that enables you to utilize IT infrastructure, servers, and critical apps hosted on Microsoft's extensive cloud. Azure includes over one hundred services services including hosting for Windows and Linux-based 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, integrate storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity control with Azure AD, and plan data backup and restore solutions with Azure Backup. Progent's cloud experts can also help you establish secure access to Azure for at-home workers by configuring and debugging firewalls and VPN tunnels. For information about Progent's consulting expertise for Azure, go to Azure consulting services.

Microsoft 365, formerly called Office 365, is Microsoft's growing family of business productivity applications and cloud services available on a subscription basis. Office applications and cloud services are marketed in a variety of plans designed for customers ranging from students and households to major corporations. Progent offers quick and easy remote access to experts familiar with Microsoft 365-compatible endpoint devices running Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android technology. Progent can help you to assess the numerous subscription bundles available for Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 applications for your at-home workers in a way that delivers maximum business value. To learn about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft 365, go to Microsoft 365 integration services.

Exchange Online is among the most popular cloud-based applications in the Microsoft 365 product line. Exchange Online offers the benefits of reduced costs for physical infrastructure, easier management, on-demand scaling, high availability, and additional benefits associated with cloud computing. Microsoft has engineered Exchange Online to run seamlessly with on-premises Exchange environments, enabling you to build hybrid cloud/onsite networks. Progent's Exchange experts can provide occasional assistance to guide you through tough IT bottlenecks and also offer end-to-end project management services to make sure your at-home workers have easy and safe access to your Exchange Online deployment. For details Progent's consulting services for Exchange Online, refer to Microsoft 365 Exchange Online integration and troubleshooting consulting.

Amazon AWS is a trailblazer in the public cloud arena and is the world's top source of cloud-based services. Progent can provide rapid and affordable online access to cloud connectivity experts who can assist your organization to plan, deploy, manage, and debug hybrid IT networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud services with local resources and with other public clouds such as Microsoft Azure. Progent also can provide access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to assist your company to build a high-availability network architecture so your users have a consistent computing experience whether they are working from your headquarters, a branch office, from home, or on the move. For information about Progent's consulting services for Amazon AWS, visit Amazon AWS consulting expertise.

Google Cloud (GCP) is a leading set of public cloud services that provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco consulting experts can assist your organization to scale your existing IT resources with the Google Cloud, and Progent's DBA consultants can show you how to make your critical apps cloud friendly so your remote workers can benefit fully from Google Cloud Platform services. Progent can assist your business to set up VMs on Google Cloud Compute Engine, design a cost-effective storage system with GCP Storage, and simplify access management for remote workers with Google Cloud Identity services. Progent can also assist your organization to use GCP's unified management technology to administer and monitor your GCP environment. For information, refer to Google Cloud Platform (GCP) integration expertise.

Help Desk Call Center Services for Telecommuters
A sudden, organization-wide changeover to a telecommuter workforce, which might be motivated by a pandemic or as an element of a business continuity process, can overwhelm even the most efficient internal Help Desk. Progent's Help Desk 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 Call Center support services utilize Progent's extensive network of remote IT support specialists combined with enterprise-class trouble ticketing and follow-up software to offer an affordable, advanced Help Desk Call Center. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services provide an end-to-end solution that handles all aspects of remote Level 1 desktop technical support from service requests through trouble ticket creation, desktop sharing, problem resolution, and incident reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal allows telecommuters to check or update their active trouble tickets, add information, and append screenshots or relevant files. Technical support services are delivered at a significant discount off Progent's ordinary Level 1 technical service charges, and Progent offers the option of fast hand-off to Level 2 and Level 3 support specialists to resolve complex issues. To find out more, refer to Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services outsourcing for small and mid-size businesses.
• Progent's Call Desk Augmentation Service enables you to augment your current Help Desk Call Center staff by sharing delivery of Call Desk support seamlessly between your in-house support staff and Progent's nationwide pool of PC support technicians and subject matter experts. Progent's co-managed Help Desk service uses a co-sourcing support solution based on the number one professional services automation platform for managing service requests and ticketing, establishing ownership, monitoring progress, and producing reports. To find out how Progent's Call Center Supplementation Services can enable your company to deliver best-in-class IT support to your at-home employees, visit Progent's Help Desk Call Center augmentation Services.

Security and Compliance for Remote Workers
Work-from-Home (WFH) staff members typically utilize their personal devices and often work in an unsecured physical space. This multiplies their vulnerability to cyber attacks and requires judicious deployment of firewalls, anti-malware tools, MFA-based identity verification, remote monitoring, thorough end-user education, and the development of security policies based on leading practices. Progent's veteran roster of cybersecurity support experts can assist your business to plan, implement and manage a compliant cybersecurity solution that protects critical information assets in networks that include an at-home workforce.

Firewalls allow companies to build a network environment that can be securely utilized by local users as well as by at-home workers, mobile users, vendors, clients, and the public. Next-generation firewall appliances allow you to configure and control appropriate permissions to various groups of users and to expand your network and adjust your security profile as your company evolves and as cyber threats grow more sophisticated. Progent works with both current and older firewall devices from all leading manufacturers including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, WatchGuard, Juniper, SonicWall and Fortinet. For details about Progent's firewall integration expertise, see firewall integration and support expertise.

Remote Endpoint Security Monitoring makes it easy to watch over the various devices utilized by teleworkers and either block or spot and mitigate modern cyber attacks like ransomware. With Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) services, a lightweight software agent is put on every secured endpoint device, monitoring all activity and using state-of-the-art machine learning from SentinelOne to detect new attacks on arrival. When an attack is spotted, ProSight Active Security Monitoring instantly disconnects the impacted device from the corporate network to quarantine the threat. Because the ProSight ASM software agent is autonomous, endpoint devices remain protected even if they are not connected to the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. For details about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, refer to remote endpoint security monitoring for telecommuters.

Progent's Duo MFA Service Plans utilize Cisco's Duo cloud technology to defend against compromised passwords through the use of two-factor authentication. Duo supports single-tap identity confirmation on Apple iOS, Android, and other personal devices. With 2FA, whenever you log into a secured online account and enter your password you are requested to confirm your identity on a device that only you have and that is accessed using a different network channel. A wide selection of out-of-band devices can be used as this second form of ID validation such as an iPhone or Android or watch, a hardware/software token, a landline phone, etc. You may designate multiple verification devices. For details about Duo identity authentication services, refer to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for at-home workers.

Security Audits can evaluate the vulnerability of your information system to all types of external and internal security attacks for a network that incorporates telecommuters. Progent can deploy remote, automated cybersecurity analysis scanning for rapidly and economically detecting a wide variety of security gaps that can be found via the Internet. Progent's endpoint security audit consulting services, which can be managed by network security professionals with advanced certifications such as CISA, CISSP, and GIAC, can assist you to evaluate your procedures and policies and review your WAN architecture to allow you to design the highest level of security for your teleworkers.

Horizon3.ai's NodeZero Penetration Testing Platform is a breakthrough penetration test (pentest) product family that can deliver autonomous testing of your work-from-home connectivity solution as well as your internal and perimeter networks to help you identify, rank, remediate, and verify security vulnerabilities before malicious hackers can take advantage of them. Progent's pentest experts can assist you to deploy NodeZero to perform comprehensive pentests of your network perimeter and your internal network in order to determine your current security posture. Progent can also help you to harden your network security and can help you to design and deploy a cohesive cybersecurity strategy that streamlines management and delivers optimum protection for on-premises, multi-cloud, remote, and perimeter IT assets. To learn additional information about Progent's vulnerability analysis services based on on NodeZero's PEN test platform, visit Consulting Support for NodeZero's Pentest Products.

Download White Paper: Securing a Work-From-Home Environment
To view or download a white paper describing critical areas to focus on for securing a network that includes work-from-home staff, click:
Protecting a Work-From-Home (WFH) Environment White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection Solutions for At-Home Workers
The field of Data Protection involves backing up and recovering vital data in order to prevent data loss and minimize recovery time and effort in case of storage system failures due to equipment issues, software glitches, user mistakes, cyber attack, or any other reason. Dependable data protection strategies can be especially difficult to design and maintain in hybrid networks that combine in-house data centers, cloud resources, and at-home workers.

• Backup/Restore strategies for teleworkers must cover multiple types of personally owned endpoint devices. Progent can provide quick remote access to experts knowledgeable about a broad array of products for backing up Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac and Linux/UNIX powered servers and desktops as well as notebooks, iOS and Android tablets and smartphones. Leading backup/recovery products maintained by Progent's data protection consultants include Barracuda Backup, Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, CrashPlan, Retrospect, and Time Machine. To back up resources spread throughout a wide area network, Progent can provide ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a backup/recovery subscription service that utilizes cloud storage and features granular restore and unified management.
• Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity strategies commonly envision scenarios that call for a quick changeover to a work-at-home environment. Progent's senior disaster recovery preparedness experts and business continuity planning specialists can help you to develop, document and test a DR/BC strategy that addresses the process of moving to an at-home workforce.

Unified Management for Telecommuters
Microsoft has renamed and reshuffled its endpoint management products under the name Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which encompasses Intune for cloud-based management of remote devices and Configuration Manager for managing local computers. Endpoint Manager features a centralized platform for safeguarding critical information by controlling on-premises, mobile, and home-based endpoint devices.

Microsoft Intune
Intune is a component of Microsoft's Endpoint Management suite that also includes Microsoft Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and protecting remote computers and applications. Remote endpoint devices can be user owned or company owned. IT administrators managing the endpoint devices of telecommuters can use Intune to deploy and authenticate applications on managed devices, push patches and certificates, set up policies for permission to access data and networks, manage passwords, establish VPN tunnels, determine how teleworkers share information, establish threat defense, verify security compliance, and erase sensitive information from lost, stolen or deactivated devices. Intune runs with iOS, Google Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X computers. To learn about Microsoft Intune and how Progent can assist your company to use Microsoft's Endpoint Management to manage the devices of your at-home workforce, go to Intune remote endpoint management expertise.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich centralized Mobile Device Management platform that helps network administrators to keep remote endpoint devices up to date and secure. Workspace ONE uses VMware AirWatch technology for centralized endpoint administration combined with VMware's Horizon virtual application delivery technology for access control, application management, and setup management of endpoints. Workspace ONE operates with endpoints powered by Windows 10, macOS, Apple iOS, Google Android, Chrome OS, or leading distributions of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is offered by subscription as a cloud-based service or as an on-premises product via a one-time purchase. Top features of VMware Workspace ONE include fast over-the-air deployment of new notebooks, immediate onboarding of new users, policy setting and enforcement for all classes of endpoints, aggregated management reporting and performance analytics, an email encryption gateway, and tight integration with Microsoft applications and cloud services. To find out about Progent's support services for VMware Workspace ONE, refer to VMware Workspace ONE mobile device management consultants.

Contact Progent for At-Home Worker Support Services
To contact Progent about creating and maintaining a productive telecommuter solution for your Ottawa, Ontario organization, phone 1-800-993-9400 or go to Contact Progent.