Sioux Falls Remote Workers Solutions Support Services

Enlarging your telecommuter workforce may have a major impact on IT architecture, security, and company processes. Progent has two decades of experience assisting SMBs to design, configure, manage, optimize, and debug IT environments that incorporate a remote workforce. Progent can help your Sioux Falls company to select the right technologies and follow leading practices in building and operating a safe virtual office solution for teleworkers that promotes teamwork and delivers top value. Progent offers services ranging from on demand guidance for getting you past challenging technical bottlenecks to full project management to help you successfully complete business-critical tasks.

Progent's consultants can assist Sioux Falls, South Dakota businesses to succeed with any aspect of creating a high-functioning work-at-home environment by delivering network infrastructure configuration services, IP voice troubleshooting, video conferencing integration, collaboration platform selection and deployment, public cloud connectivity, helpdesk services, security and compliance, data protection solutions, and centralized management.

Infrastructure for Teleworkers
Integrating the physical and software infrastructure needed for a remote work environment can be particularly complicated if you have to manage a mix of personal hardware such as PCs and notebooks, Internet routers, and wireless appliances from various manufacturers and with a variety of operating systems 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 available infrastructure and provides you with ready access to top-tire consultants for implement necessary updates. Services offered by Progent to assist you to create a high-functioning work-at-home ecosystem include:

• VPN connectivity allows you to establish a secure tunnel for authenticated remote workers to use IT resources located at your company datacenter or in the cloud. Progent can assist your company to deploy and maintain VPN connections between your at-home workforce and your key IT resources by providing online VPN integration consulting. For organizations using Cisco's ASA security appliances, Progent's Cisco ASA Firewall consultants can help your telecommuters to set up Cisco's popular AnyConnect software to provide safe VPN tunneling for a wide range of devices such as Windows, Mac, Apple iOS, Linux, and Android.
• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure products allow an at-home worker to view and use a remote PC's desktop. This gives network managers substantial control over the computing ecosystem of telecommuters and offers remote users a consistent and more productive work experience. Progent's VDI services include Windows Remote Desktop support and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI expertise.
• Routers connect at-home computer networks to the Internet and typically support VPN tunnels, local Wi-Fi networks, and firewall services. Progent can provide top-tier online support for integrating home routers from all major manufacturers. See router configuration support from Cisco-certified consultants.
• Home Wi-Fi networks, often supporting an entire household and guests, are frequently utilized by telecommuters to access their router for work. This can cause performance as well as security problems. Progent can help businesses to mitigate these problems by delivering services that include Aironet integration consulting, Cisco-certified Meraki wireless installation consulting, and Ubiquiti Unifi wireless access point integration help.
• Internet connectivity solutions impact the performance and availability of connections between at-home workers and the corporate network. Business-critical applications might require redundant Internet connections in the event the normal connection breaks. Progent can provide expertise for picking ISPs, picking appropriate service bundles, and setting up fault-tolerant Internet access. See Internet connectivity solutions.

VoIP Solutions for At-Home Workers
Expanding the business PBX system to accommodate teleworkers is vital to supporting a productive at-home workforce. A broad range of cloud-centric digital PBX platforms are popular with small and mid-size businesses to support teleworkers. Many enterprises depend on Cisco's modern or legacy products for VoIP management. Progent can assist organizations of all sizes to plan or maintain a remote VoIP service that delivers the flexibility, convenience and security needed for telecommuters. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE Voice experts can provide high-level support to help organizations optimize their existing Cisco VoIP systems to support an expanding remote workforce.

• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) extends high-end telephony features to devices like IP phones, media processing platforms, Voice over IP gateways, and mixed media apps deployed across the network. Unified Communications Manager supports additional combined media services like unified messaging, voice/video conferencing, and customer interaction networks. For more information about Progent's Unified Communications Manager support, refer to Cisco Unified Communications Manager consultants.
• Cisco CallManager is Cisco's earlier call-processing software and has been superseded by CUCM. Progent's consultants can help you to support your current CallManager deployment or migrate smoothly to Cisco's current IP telephony solutions. For details about Progent's expertise for Cisco CallManager and Cisco's other early VoIP platforms, refer to Cisco CallManager consulting services.
• Cisco IP Gateways enable connectivity with public telephony networks and with clients working outside the corporate firewall like telecommuters. Progent can provide consulting expertise for Cisco's earlier generation IP gateways such as the UC520, UC540 and UC560 products as well as for modern Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateway configuration expertise.
• Additional VoIP Platforms supported by Progent include Vonage, RingCentral and 8x8. Progent can help you to expand your WAN architecture to support these solutions and deliver on-demand configuration and troubleshooting expertise.

Voice/Video Conferencing for Telecommuters
A wide selection of video conferencing platforms from leading technology companies enable virtual discussions, video and voice conferencing, chat sessions, and content sharing for both onsite users and teleworkers. Many organizations utilize multiple conferencing products to meet the needs of their various partners and customers. Progent's communications experts can help your organization to maintain your current conferencing environment and optimize the productivity of your remote workforce.

• Skype for Business is Microsoft's popular unified communications product that enables real-time presence, instant messaging, voice and video conferencing as well as the seamless integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 applications such as PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. Progent can provide the skills of Microsoft-certified consultants who can help you to deploy and manage Skype for Business clients to support your remote employees. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Skype for Business, visit Skype for Business consulting experts.
• FaceTime is Apple's group video phone app for compatible iOS, iPadOS, iPod and macOS computers and smartphones. FaceTime works over Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Newer editions of FaceTime support up to 32 concurrent users for voice/video calls. For details about Progent's consulting services for FaceTime, refer to Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
• Webex Meeting Center supports remote conferencing for virtually all computing devices. Offered via Cisco's Webex Cloud platform, Webex services include sharing discrete content or screens, presentations that embed rich media such as 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 additional IP video products from Cisco, refer to Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
• Teams is Microsoft's next-generation replacement for Skype for Business. Teams provides a portal for conferencing, contacts, and content with capabilities such as video conferencing, threaded chat, plus data sharing. For details about Progent's support services for Teams and for other Microsoft 365 apps, refer to Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
• Other Voice/Video Conferencing Platforms supported by Progent include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can deliver integration and debugging expertise for these conferencing platforms and help you to tune your WAN infrastructure to host them.

Microsoft Integrated Collaboration Platforms for At-Home Workers
Microsoft's collaboration platforms are tightly integrated with Microsoft's familiar Office and Microsoft 365 suites, providing a powerful environment of productivity apps that deliver a consistent user experience for exchanging information throughout multiple sites and on a broad selection of endpoints. Progent has delivered online consulting services for SharePoint and Exchange since their original publication and can help your company to configure these critical collaboration platforms to maximize the effectiveness of your at-home workers.

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

Microsoft Teams works 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 with screen sharing, phone calls, cloud voicemail, group email, plus file and app sharing. Teams is tightly integrated with Microsoft 365 and relies on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Azure Entra (formerly branded Azure Active Directory) for delivering its complete range of capabilities. To learn more about Progent's support services for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium, visit planning and configuration consulting for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium.

SharePoint utilizes web entities to facilitate collaboration and knowledge sharing by providing policy-based access to data, workflow, and utilities for searching through company-wide information silos. SharePoint enables you to create secure portals that enables at-home workforce to view and edit aggregated business intelligence via Wikis, Blogs, social sites, and Web Parts. For details about Progent's SharePoint consulting expertise, visit SharePoint configuration and application development consulting.

Exchange and Exchange Online offer secure collaboration features including public folders, shared mailboxes, and shared calendars and contacts. Progent's Microsoft certified Exchange experts can show you how to activate and utilize these features for your at-home workers. For details about Progent's Exchange consulting expertise, refer to deployment consulting services for Exchange Server.

OneDrive is Microsoft�s collaborative cloud-based storage service, comparable to GoogleDrive. At-home users can store files to OneDrive, and co-workers can access them safely through a web browser. Provided with Microsoft 365, OneDrive enables at-home employees to jointly author files. Revisions made offline are automatically synced when you go back online. To find out about Progent's support services for Microsoft OneDrive, visit Onedrive integration experts.

Cloud Integration Services for Remote Workers
Progent can provide advanced remote assistance for enabling businesses to create, maintain and optimize integrated network models that include physical data centers, at-home workers, branch offices, and public cloud resources. Progent can provide top-tier consultant for all types of public cloud service delivery such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service. Progent can help telecommuters fix problems with public cloud access, authentication, and security.

Microsoft Azure is a popular platform for public cloud services that enables you to utilize IT infrastructure, virtual servers, and key applications hosted on Microsoft's massive cloud. Microsoft Azure offers over 100 services services such as hosting for Windows and Linux-powered VMs, scalable cloud storage, messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and backup/restore. Progent can assist your organization to set up 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 solutions with Azure Backup. Progent's cloud experts can also show you how to create secure connections to Azure for remote workers by setting up and debugging firewalls and VPN IPsec tunnels. For details about Progent's support services for Microsoft Azure, visit Microsoft Azure consulting.

Microsoft 365, previously branded Office 365, is Microsoft's growing suite of business productivity software and cloud-based services available by subscription. Office apps and cloud services are marketed in a selection of bundles intended for customers ranging from individuals and small offices to major enterprises. Progent can provide quick and easy remote contact with experts knowledgeable about Microsoft 365-compatible client devices running Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android operating systems. Progent can assist your business to assess the numerous subscription bundles available for Microsoft 365 and configure 365 apps for your at-home workers to achieve top business value. To find out about Progent's expertise for Microsoft 365, see Microsoft 365 consulting expertise.

Microsoft 365 Exchange Online is among the most widely used applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product line. Microsoft 365 Exchange Online provides the benefits of lower spending for data center infrastructure, simplified management, dynamic scaling, high reliability, and other advantages associated with cloud computing. Microsoft has designed Exchange Online to run transparently with on-premises Exchange environments, enabling customers to create hybrid information systems. Progent's certified Exchange consultants are available for as-needed help to guide you past tough IT roadblocks and can also provide comprehensive project management services to make sure your telecommuters have convenient and secure access to your Exchange Online deployment. To find out Progent's support services for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, go to Microsoft 365 Exchange Online configuration and troubleshooting expertise.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a pioneer in the public cloud arena and is the world's top source of cloud services. Progent can provide quick and economical online access to cloud integration experts who can help your organization to plan, implement, manage, and troubleshoot hybrid IT networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud services with on-premises resources and with other public clouds such as Azure. Progent also can provide access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking consultants to assist your company to build a high-availability network architecture to make sure your employees have a productive computing environment regardless of whether they are working from your main office, a remote branch, from home, or on the move. For information about Progent's expertise for Amazon AWS, go to Amazon AWS integration services.

Google Cloud Platform is a leading suite of cloud services that provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service products. Progent's certified Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco experts can help your business to expand your current IT resources with the Google Cloud Platform, and Progent's DBA experts can show you how to make your critical applications cloud ready so your remote workers can take full advantage of Google Cloud Platform services. Progent's consultants can assist your business to deploy VMs on Google Cloud Compute Engine, design an efficient storage system with GCP Storage services, and streamline access management for remote workers with Google Cloud Identity. Progent's consultants can also assist your business to utilize GCP's management technology to control and track your GCP environment. For information, visit Google Cloud Platform consulting support.

Help Desk Call Center Support for At-Home Workers
A sudden, company-wide changeover to a teleworker business model, which could be the result of a pandemic or as an element of a disaster recovery/business continuity process, can overstretch even a high-performing in-house Call Desk. Progent's Help Desk services allow businesses to outsource or augment their Support Desk by using Progent's remote Technical Response Center team.

• Progent's Standard Call Desk support services leverage Progent's extensive network of remote IT support experts combined with world-class trouble ticketing and tracking software to provide an affordable, advanced Call Center. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services provide a comprehensive solution that addresses all aspects of online Level 1 PC technical support from service requests to trouble ticket generation, screen sharing, issue resolution, and reporting. A browser-based User's Service Portal allows teleworkers to track or revise the status of their current trouble tickets, add details, and append screen captures and relevant files. Technical support services are delivered at a significant discount off Progent's normal Level 1 desktop support charges, and Progent offers optional rapid escalation to Level 2 and Level 3 support specialists to deal with advanced issues. To find out more, go to Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services for small and mid-size businesses.
• Progent's Support Desk Augmentation Service enables you to augment your current Support Desk organization by splitting responsibilities for Call Center services seamlessly between your regular support personnel and Progent's nationwide roster of PC support engineers and subject matter specialists. Progent's shared Help Desk service is based on a collaborative support solution utilizing the number one professional services automation platform for handling help requests and ticketing, assigning ownership, monitoring progress, and producing reports. To find out how Progent's Help Desk Augmentation Services can help your business to deliver world-class IT support to your from-home workers, visit Progent's Help Desk supplementation Services.

Cybersecurity for Teleworkers
Work-from-Home (WFH) workers commonly utilize their personal computers and usually work in an unsecured physical area. This multiplies their vulnerability to cyber attacks and calls for judicious configuration of firewalls, anti-malware tools, MFA-based identity verification, remote endpoint monitoring, extensive end-user training, and the development of security policies built on leading practices. Progent's veteran team of data security solutions consultants can help your business to design, configure and manage a compliant security solution that guards critical information resources in networks that incorporate telecommuters.

Firewalls allow you to create a network that can be safely utilized by local users and by teleworkers, mobile employees, vendors, clients, and the public. Next-generation firewall devices permit you to assign and control different permissions to various groups of users and to scale your IT network and modify your cybersecurity posture as your business evolves and as cyber threats grow increasingly complex. Progent works with both current and older firewall devices from all major manufacturers including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, WatchGuard, Juniper, and Fortinet. For more information about Progent's firewall support expertise, visit firewall configuration and support services.

Online Endpoint Security Monitoring makes it easy to track the various computers used by remote workers and either block or identify and mitigate the latest threats like ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) services, a lightweight agent is installed on every protected endpoint device, monitoring all activity and using state-of-the-art behavioral threat analysis from SentinelOne to detect new attacks on arrival. When an attack is spotted, ProSight ASM immediately disconnects the infected endpoint device from the corporate network to contain the threat. Because the ProSight Active Security Monitoring software agent is autonomous, endpoint devices stay protected even when they are offline. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. To learn more about ProSight ASM, visit remote endpoint monitoring for at-home workers.

Progent's Duo authentication Managed Services utilize Cisco's Duo cloud technology to protect against password theft through the use of two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo supports single-tap identity verification with Apple iOS, Google Android, and other out-of-band devices. With Duo 2FA, whenever you sign into a secured application and enter your password you are asked to verify who you are on a device that only you possess and that is accessed using a different ("out-of-band") network channel. A broad selection of devices can be used for this second means of authentication including an iPhone or Android or wearable, a hardware/software token, a landline phone, etc. You can designate several verification devices. To learn more about ProSight Duo identity authentication services, visit Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for remote workers.

Security Audits can assess the vulnerability of your network to all types of external and local security attacks for a network that incorporates teleworkers. Progent can deploy online, automated security inventory scanning for rapidly and affordably uncovering a broad range of security weaknesses that can be found via the Internet. Progent's endpoint security assessment consulting services, which can be provided by network security experts with advanced certifications including CISA, ISSAP, and GIAC, can assist your company to audit your procedures and policies and assess your IT infrastructure to allow you to design the highest level of security for your telecommuters.

Horizon3.ai's NodeZero Pentest Platform is a breakthrough penetration test (pentest) product family that can deliver automated threat assessment of your at-home connectivity solution as well as your internal and perimeter networks to help you identify, prioritize, fix, and confirm security weaknesses before malicious hackers can take advantage of them. Progent can assist you to deploy NodeZero to perform thorough pentests of your network perimeter and your internal IT infrastructure so you can evaluate your current security posture. Progent can also assist you to harden your network security and can help you to plan and deploy a cohesive cybersecurity ecosystem that simplifies management and provides maximum cyber defense for on-prem, multi-cloud, remote, and perimeter IT assets. To learn additional details about Progent's threat assessment solutions based on on NodeZero's PEN test platform, refer to Consulting Services for NodeZero's Penetration Test Products.

Download White Paper: Protecting a Work-From-Home (WFH) Environment
To view or download a white paper about key things to concentrate on for protecting a network that incorporates work-from-home staff, click:
Protecting a Work-From-Home (WFH) Environment White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection Solutions for Remote Workers
The field of Data Protection involves saving and restoring critical data in order to avoid data loss and minimize recovery time and effort in the event of storage system failures resulting from equipment issues, software hiccups, human error, cyber attack, or other causes. Dependable data protection solutions can be especially challenging to design and manage in hybrid environments that combine in-house data centers, public clouds, and at-home workers.

• Backup/Recovery strategies for telecommuters must address diverse types of personally owned endpoint devices. Progent offers fast online help from experts familiar with a broad array of products for backing up Windows, Apple and Linux/UNIX servers and desktop computers as well as laptops, iOS and Android tablets and handhelds. Leading backup/restore solutions maintained by Progent's data protection consultants include Barracuda Backup, Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, Acronis Backup and Recovery, Retrospect, and Time Machine. To protect data distributed throughout a hybrid network, Progent offers ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a managed backup/recovery service that utilizes cloud-based storage and includes fine-grained recovery and unified management.
• Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity strategies often envision circumstances that require a quick changeover to telecommuting. Progent's senior disaster recovery preparedness experts and business continuity specialists can assist you to create, document and test a DR/BC plan that addresses the process of moving to telecommuting.

Unified Management for Remote Workers
Microsoft has rebranded and reshuffled its endpoint management products under the title Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which includes Intune for cloud management of remote devices and Configuration Manager for managing on-premises computers. Endpoint Manager offers a centralized environment for protecting critical information by controlling local, mobile, and at-home endpoints.

Microsoft Intune
Intune is a component of Microsoft's Endpoint Management family that also features Microsoft Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and protecting mobile devices and software. Remote endpoint devices can be personally owned or business owned. IT admins managing the enrolled endpoint computers of at-home workers can use Intune to deploy and validate apps on managed devices, push updates and certificates, configure rules for permission to access data and networks, set passwords, create VPN tunnels, control how telecommuters share data, establish threat defense, verify security compliance, and wipe sensitive data from missing, stolen or deactivated endpoint devices. Intune works with iOS, Google Android, Windows, and macOS computers. To learn about Intune and to find out how Progent can help you to use this platform to manage the endpoint devices of your telecommuters, refer to Intune teleworker endpoint management expertise.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich centralized Mobile Device Management product that allows network administrators to keep remote endpoints up to date and protected. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch technology for centralized endpoint administration plus VMware's Horizon virtual application delivery platform for access control, application management, and setup management of endpoints. Workspace ONE operates with devices powered by 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 product through a one-time purchase. Key features of Workspace ONE include fast remote provisioning of out-of-the-box notebooks, quick onboarding of new employees, policy set up and enforcement for all categories of devices, unifies management reporting and analytics, an email encryption gateway, and seamless integration with Microsoft applications and cloud services. To find out about Progent's support services for VMware Workspace ONE, see VMware Workspace ONE mobile device management expertise.

Contact Progent for Telecommuter Support Services
To get in touch with Progent about creating and maintaining an efficient telecommuter solution for your Sioux Falls, South Dakota organization, phone 1-800-993-9400 or visit Contact Progent.