Indianapolis Work at Home Employees Integration Support

Expanding your remote workforce may have a major effect on network architecture, cybersecurity, and corporate culture. Progent has two decades of background assisting small and mid-size businesses to design, configure, manage, tune, and debug IT environments that incorporate work-from-home employees. Progent can help your Indianapolis company to select the appropriate tools and adhere to leading practices in building and operating a secure virtual solution for telecommuters that promotes collaboration and returns top value. Progent offers support services ranging from as-needed expertise for getting you over challenging technical bottlenecks to full project management to help you carry out business-critical tasks.

Progent's consultants can assist Indianapolis, Indiana organizations to succeed with any facet of building a high-performing telecommuting ecosystem by providing network infrastructure configuration services, IP voice expertise, video conferencing support, collaboration platform customization and training, public cloud integration, Help Desk augmentation, cybersecurity, backup/restore solutions, and unified management.

Infrastructure for Telecommuters
Configuring the network infrastructure needed to support a remote workforce can be especially complicated if you have to manage a mix of worker-owned hardware like PCs and notebooks, routers, and Wi-Fi appliances from different manufacturers and with a mix of OS software and firmware levels. Progent's experience providing remote support for both outdated and current technologies in virtual office solutions enables you to make cost-effective use of your available network infrastructure and offers ready access to expertise for implement essential updates. Support services available from Progent to assist you to implement a productive telecommuting ecosystem include:

• Virtual Private Network (VPN) connectivity makes it possible to create a secure tunnel for authorized at-home workers to access IT resources located at your corporate data center or in the cloud. Progent's consultants can assist your company to configure and maintain VPN connections between your teleworkers and your key network resources by providing remote VPN configuration support. For businesses with Cisco's ASA firewalls, Progent's Cisco ASA Firewall experts can help your remote workers to utilize Cisco's popular AnyConnect software for secure VPN tunneling for a wide selection of devices such as Windows, macOS, iOS, Linux, and Google Android.
• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure platforms enable a telecommuter to view and use a data center computer's desktop. This provides IT managers substantial control over the digital environment of telecommuters and ensures remote users a consistent and more productive work experience. Progent's VDI consulting services include Windows Remote Desktop integration and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI solutions.
• Routers connect home networks to the Internet and typically support VPN tunnels, local wireless networks, and firewall services. Progent offers top-tier online consulting for setting up routers from a variety of vendors. See router configuration services from Cisco-certified consultants.
• Home Wireless networks, typically supporting an entire household and guests, are commonly used by at-home employees to access their Internet router for work. This can create performance as well as cybersecurity problems. Progent can assist you to resolve these problems by delivering expertise like Aironet configuration expertise, Cisco Meraki wireless installation expertise, and Ubiquiti WiFi AP setup assistance.
• Internet connectivity solutions affect the performance and reliability of connections between telecommuters and the company data center. Mission-critical applications may demand redundant Internet access in case the normal connection breaks. Progent offers expertise for identifying service providers, choosing sensible service bundles, and integrating high-availability Internet access. See Internet connectivity integration services.

VoIP Solutions for an At-Home Workforce
Extending the corporate phone system to include telecommuters is critical to supporting an effective work-at-home solution. A variety of cloud-centric VoIP products are used by SMBs to support remote users. Many larger organizations depend on Cisco's modern or legacy platforms for IP voice management. Progent can assist businesses of any size to design or maintain a telecommuter VoIP environment that delivers the versatility, transparency and protection needed for teleworkers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice consultants offer advanced support to assist organizations tune their existing Cisco VoIP environments to support a growing remote workforce.

• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM) extends enterprise telephony features to devices such as VoIP phones, media processing products, VoIP gateways, and mixed media applications deployed throughout the network. Unified Communications Manager manages additional mixed media services like messaging, video conferencing, and customer collaboration networks. For details about Progent's Unified Communications Manager expertise, refer to Cisco Unified Communications Manager consultants.
• CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing agent and has been replaced by Cisco Unified CM or CUCM. Progent's consultants can assist you to maintain your existing CallManager deployment or upgrade smoothly to Cisco's modern IP telephony products. To learn about Progent's expertise for Cisco CallManager and Cisco's other early VoIP products, see CallManager consulting services.
• Cisco IP Gateways enable integration with PSTN networks and with users working beyond the corporate perimeter like at-home workers. Progent can provide expert support for Cisco's earlier generation IP gateways like the UC520, UC540 and UC560 series as well as for modern Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco SIP gateway configuration expertise.
• Other VoIP Products supported by Progent's consultants include Vonage, RingCentral and 8x8. Progent can assist you to expand your WAN infrastructure to work with these VoIP solutions and deliver as-needed integration and troubleshooting expertise.

Voice/Video Conferencing for an At-Home Workforce
A broad selection of voice/video conferencing platforms from leading vendors support online discussions, video conferencing, chat sessions, and screen/content sharing for both local workers and teleworkers. Many organizations utilize a mix of products to meet the needs of their different partners and customers. Progent can assist you to maintain your current conferencing ecosystem and optimize the experience of your remote employees.

• Skype for Business is Microsoft's popular communications product that enables presence, instant messaging, audio 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, Excel and Outlook. Progent offers the expertise of Microsoft-certified specialists who can help your company to set up and maintain Skype for Business clients to accommodate your remote employees. For details about Progent's consulting services for Skype for Business, visit Skype for Business integration services.
• FaceTime is Apple's group video calling platform for compatible iOS, iPadOS, iPod and macOS devices. FaceTime runs over Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Newer editions of FaceTime allow as many as 32 simultaneous users for voice/video calls. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Apple FaceTime, see Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
• Webex Meeting Center supports remote conferencing for most desktop or mobile devices. Delivered through Cisco's Webex Cloud, Webex services include sharing granular content or computer screens, presentations that incorporate rich media including Microsoft PowerPoint, network-based capture, plus editing and playback for future reference and training. For details about Progent's support expertise for Webex and for other video conferencing products from Cisco, visit 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 calling, threaded chat, plus data sharing. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft Teams as well as for additional Microsoft 365 apps, see Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
• Other Voice/Video Conferencing Apps 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 help your business to optimize your WAN architecture to run them.

Microsoft Collaboration Software for At-Home Workers
Microsoft's collaboration platforms are tightly integrated with Microsoft's popular Office and Microsoft 365 suites, providing a powerful ecosystem of productivity apps that deliver a consistent user experience for sharing information across multiple sites and on a wide selection of endpoint devices. Progent has delivered online consulting support for SharePoint and Exchange Server since their original releases and can assist businesses to deploy these flagship collaboration platforms 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 integrates with third-party cloud services to deliver real-time collaboration and communication. Developed as a replacement for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams can support chat, audio/video meetings with screen sharing, phone calls, cloud voicemail, group email, as well as file and application sharing. Teams is tightly integrated with Microsoft 365 and depends 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 and Teams Premium, see solution design and configuration consulting for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium.

SharePoint utilizes web sites to enable collaboration and knowledge sharing by offering policy-based delivery of data, business processes, and utilities for searching through company-wide information silos. SharePoint permits you to build protected portals that permits remote workforce to see and edit aggregated business intelligence by means of Wikis, Blogs, social sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). To learn about Progent's SharePoint consulting services, go to SharePoint configuration and 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, visit integration consulting for Microsoft Exchange Server.

OneDrive is Microsoft�s collaborative cloud file hosting and synchronization service, similar to GoogleDrive. At-home workers can store files to OneDrive, and co-workers can access them securely via a browser. Provided with Office 365, OneDrive enables at-home workers to co-author documents. Edits created offline are synced when you reconnect to the Internet. To find out about Progent's support services for Microsoft OneDrive, visit Microsoft Onedrive configuration experts.

Public Cloud Integration Services for Teleworkers
Progent can provide affordable online assistance for helping organizations to create, manage and optimize cohesive network architectures that combine internal data centers, at-home workers, branch offices, plus public cloud services. Progent can provide expertise for all modes of public cloud service delivery including Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service. Progent can help teleworkers resolve issues with public cloud connectivity, identity, and security.

Microsoft Azure is a leading platform for cloud software and services that enables you to use infrastructure, servers, and critical apps running on Microsoft's massive cloud. Microsoft Azure features more than 100 services services such as hosting for Windows and Linux-based virtual machines, on-demand cloud storage, email and messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and data protection. Progent can help you to deploy VMs on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate cloud-based storage on Azure Storage services, streamline identity management with Azure AD, and design 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 setting up and troubleshooting firewall appliances and VPN IPsec tunnels. For information about Progent's support services for Microsoft Azure, refer to Azure expertise.

Microsoft 365, previously branded Office 365, is Microsoft's popular suite of business productivity applications and cloud-based services offered on a subscription basis. Office applications and services are provided in a variety of bundles intended for users ranging from students and small offices to large corporations. Progent offers fast and affordable remote access to consultants knowledgeable about Microsoft 365-compatible endpoints running Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android operating systems. Progent's experts can help you to assess the numerous subscription bundles offered with Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 applications for your remote workers in a way that delivers maximum business value. To find out about Progent's expertise for Microsoft 365, see Microsoft 365 consulting support.

Microsoft 365 Exchange Online is one of the most popular applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product line. Exchange Online provides the benefits of lower costs for physical infrastructure, easier management, dynamic scaling, high reliability, and additional benefits inherent with cloud computing. Microsoft has designed Exchange Online to run seamlessly with on-premises Exchange environments, enabling customers to create hybrid networks. Progent's certified Exchange consultants are available for occasional help to guide you past tough technical bottlenecks and can also provide comprehensive project management services to make sure your at-home workers have convenient and secure access to your Microsoft 365 Exchange Online deployment. For details Progent's expertise for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, refer to Microsoft 365 Exchange Online integration and troubleshooting expertise.

Amazon AWS is a pioneer in the public cloud computing arena and is the industry's leading provider of cloud-based services. Progent can provide fast and affordable online contact with cloud connectivity consultants who can help your business to design, implement, manage, and troubleshoot hybrid IT networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud services with local resources and with other public clouds such as Microsoft Azure. Progent also offers access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking consultants to help you to build a high-uptime network model so your users have a consistent computing experience whether they are working from your main office, a branch office, at home, or on the move. For information about Progent's expertise for Amazon AWS, go to Amazon AWS integration support.

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is a popular collection of cloud computing services that offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco consulting experts can assist your organization to scale your current IT assets with the Google Cloud Platform, and Progent's DBA experts can show you how to make your mission-critical applications cloud friendly so your teleworkers can take full advantage of Google Cloud Platform services. Progent can help your organization to set up VMs on GCP Compute Engine, plan an efficient storage system with GCP Storage, and streamline access control for telecommuters with GCP Cloud Identity. Progent can also assist your organization to use GCP's management technology to administer and monitor your GCP ecosystem. For information, visit Google Cloud Platform integration expertise.

Help Desk Support for At-Home Workers
A fast, organization-wide changeover to a from-home workforce, which might be activated by a pandemic or as an element of a business continuity preparedness plan, can overstretch even the most efficient internal Help Desk. Progent's Help Desk Call Center services make it possible for businesses of any size to outsource or supplement their Call Desk by using Progent's remote Technical Response Center services.

• Progent's Standard Help Desk Call Center support services utilize Progent's nationwide network of online technical support specialists combined with world-class ticketing and follow-up technology to provide an affordable, advanced Help Desk. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services offer a comprehensive solution that addresses all facets of remote Level 1 desktop technical support from help requests to ticket generation, screen sharing, issue resolution, and incident reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal enables telecommuters to monitor or revise the status of their current trouble tickets, add details, and upload screenshots or attachments. Desktop support services are delivered at a significant discount off Progent's normal Level 1 desktop service charges, and Progent makes available optional rapid hand-off to Level 2 and Level 3 IT experts to deal with advanced problems. To find out more, refer to Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services for small companies.
• Progent's Call Desk Augmentation Service enables your company to supplement your existing Help Desk organization by splitting responsibilities for Help Desk support transparently between your in-house IT support organization and Progent's extensive roster of PC support engineers and subject matter specialists. Progent's co-managed Call Center service uses a collaborative support model utilizing the number one professional services automation tool for managing help requests and trouble tickets, assigning responsibility, monitoring progress, and generating reports. For information about how Progent's Support Desk Supplementation Services can help your business to provide world-class desktop support to your from-home workers, see Progent's Call Desk augmentation Services.

Cybersecurity for Remote Workers
Work-from-Home (WFH) workers typically utilize their own computers and often work in an unsecured physical space. This increases their vulnerability to malware attacks and requires judicious configuration of corporate firewalls, anti-malware tools, multi-factor authentication, remote monitoring, thorough end-user education, and the creation of security policies built on leading practices. Progent's seasoned team of cybersecurity support experts can assist you to plan, deploy and manage an effective security solution that guards vital information assets in environments that incorporate an at-home workforce.

Firewalls allow companies to build a network that can be safely accessed by on-premises users as well as by telecommuters, mobile employees, vendors, clients, and other stakeholders. Modern firewall devices permit you to assign and control different permissions to various groups of users and to scale your IT network and adjust your cybersecurity posture as your company evolves and as network attacks grow increasingly sophisticated. Progent works with both new and older security devices from all leading manufacturers including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Juniper, and Fortinet. For details about Progent's firewall configuration services, go to firewall support services.

Remote Endpoint Security Monitoring makes it possible to track the disparate devices used by teleworkers and either block or identify and respond to modern cyber attacks such as ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring services, a lightweight agent is installed on each secured endpoint device, watching all activity and utilizing advanced machine learning and full execution context from SentinelOne to identify new threats at inception. When an attack is discovered, ProSight Active Security Monitoring instantly isolates the impacted device from the network to contain the threat. Because the ProSight Active Security Monitoring software agent is autonomous, endpoint devices stay secure even when they are offline. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. For more information about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, refer to remote endpoint monitoring for remote workers.

Progent's Duo authentication Service Plans utilize Cisco's Duo technology to protect against compromised passwords through the use of two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo enables one-tap identity verification with Apple iOS, Android, and other out-of-band devices. With Duo 2FA, whenever you log into a protected application and give your password you are asked to confirm your identity on a unit that only you possess and that uses a different network channel. A wide range of out-of-band devices can be utilized as this added means of ID validation such as an iPhone or Android or watch, a hardware token, a landline telephone, etc. You may designate multiple validation devices. For more information about ProSight Duo identity validation services, go to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for remote workers.

Security Audits can evaluate the exposure of your network to all types of outside and local security threats for an environment that incorporates teleworkers. Progent can run online, automated cybersecurity analysis scanning for quickly and affordably detecting a broad range of security gaps that can be found via the Internet. Progent's security assessment experts, which can be managed by data security professionals with advanced credentials such as CISA, ISSAP, and GIAC, can help you to evaluate your operations and governance policies and assess your IT architecture to enable you to implement the highest level of protection for your teleworkers.

Horizon3.ai's NodeZero Penetration Testing Platform is a leading-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that supports autonomous testing of your at-home connectivity solution as well as your internal and perimeter networks to help you uncover, rank, remediate, and verify cybersecurity vulnerabilities before malicious hackers can exploit them. Progent's pentest experts can assist you to deploy NodeZero to perform comprehensive pentests of your network perimeter and your internal network so you can evaluate your present security profile. Progent's NodeZero experts can also assist you to harden your existing network security and can help you to design and deploy a cohesive cybersecurity ecosystem that simplifies management and delivers maximum cyber defense for on-prem, cloud-based, remote, and perimeter IT assets. To learn additional information about Progent's threat assessment services based on on NodeZero's penetration test platform, visit Consulting Support for NodeZero's PEN Test Platform.

Download White Paper: Protecting a Work-From-Home Environment
To view or download a white paper describing key things to focus on for protecting an IT environment that supports telecommuters, 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 covers backing up and restoring vital information in order to prevent data loss and reduce recovery time in case of storage system problems resulting from equipment breakdowns, programming glitches, user mistakes, malware, or any other reason. Dependable data protection solutions can be especially challenging to architect and maintain in hybrid networks that incorporate in-house data centers, public clouds, and an at-home workforce.

• Backup/Recovery solutions for at-home workers must cover multiple types of user-owned endpoints. Progent offers quick remote help from consultants knowledgeable about a broad array of products for backing up Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac and Linux/UNIX servers and desktop computers as well as notebooks, iPads and handhelds. Popular backup/recovery solutions supported by Progent's backup/recovery consultants include Barracuda Backup, Azure Backup, Symantec Backup Exec, Acronis Backup and Recovery, Mozy, and Time Machine. To protect resources spread throughout a wide area network, Progent offers ProSight Data Protection Services, a managed backup/recovery service that uses cloud storage and includes fine-grained recovery and unified management capabilities.
• Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity strategies commonly envision scenarios that require a rapid changeover to an at-home workforce. Progent's senior disaster recovery preparedness consultants and business continuity planning specialists can assist your business to develop, document and validate a DR/BC plan that addresses the logistics of switching to an at-home workforce.

Unified Management for At-Home Workers
Microsoft has rebranded and reshuffled its endpoint management products under the title Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which encompasses Intune for cloud management of mobile and remote devices and Configuration Manager for managing on-premises endpoints. Microsoft Endpoint Manager provides a centralized solution for safeguarding corporate information by controlling onsite, 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 service for managing and protecting mobile devices and applications. Remote endpoint devices can be personally owned or business owned. IT admins managing the endpoint computers of at-home workers can utilize Intune to provision and validate applications on managed devices, push patches and certificates, configure policies for permission to access information and resources, set passwords, establish VPN connections, determine how teleworkers share data, set up threat defense, ensure security compliance, and delete corporate data from missing, stolen or deactivated endpoint devices. Intune can be used with iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X computers. For details about Intune and to find out how Progent can help your company to use Microsoft's Endpoint Management to administer the devices of your at-home workforce, go to Intune mobile endpoint management expertise.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich unified MDM product that allows network managers to keep remote endpoints current and protected. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch for unified endpoint administration plus VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery technology for access control, app management, and setup management of endpoint computers. Workspace ONE runs with endpoints powered by Windows 10, macOS, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, or leading 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 Workspace ONE include fast remote provisioning of out-of-the-box laptops, quick onboarding of new users, policy set up and enforcement for all categories of devices, aggregated reporting and performance analytics, email encryption, and seamless integration with Microsoft applications and cloud-based products. For information about Progent's support for VMware Workspace ONE, refer to VMware Workspace ONE mobile device management expertise.

Contact Progent for At-Home Worker Expertise
To get in touch with Progent about building and maintaining a productive telecommuter solution for your Indianapolis, Indiana business, call 1-800-993-9400 or refer to Contact Progent.