Richmond At Home Workers Connectivity Support and Consulting

Enlarging your remote workforce can have a major impact on IT architecture, security/compliance, and corporate processes. Progent has 20 years of experience helping businesses of all sizes to plan, configure, administer, tune, and debug IT networks that incorporate a remote workforce. Progent can help your Richmond company to pick the right tools and adhere to leading practices in building and operating a safe virtual ecosystem for telecommuters that facilitates collaboration and delivers maximum business value. Progent offers support services that go from as-needed guidance for helping you over occasional IT roadblocks to full project management to help you carry out mission-critical tasks.

Progent's consultants can help Richmond, Virginia businesses to with any facet of creating a high-performing remote work environment by providing network infrastructure configuration services, VoIP PBX troubleshooting, voice/video conferencing integration, collaboration platform selection and deployment, cloud integration, Help Desk outsourcing, cybersecurity, data protection solutions, and unified management.

Infrastructure for Teleworkers
Setting up the physical and software infrastructure required to support a remote work environment can be especially complex if you have to manage a combination of worker-owned equipment such as desktop computers and notebooks, Internet routers, and wireless APs from an assortment of manufacturers and with a mix of operating systems and firmware levels. Progent's experience delivering remote help for both outdated and current technologies in virtual office venues enables you to make efficient use of your available infrastructure and provides you with ready access to top-tire consultants for making necessary updates. Support services offered by Progent to help you to implement a productive work-at-home infrastructure include:

• Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology makes it possible to create a safe tunnel for authenticated at-home employees to access IT assets situated at your corporate data center or in a public cloud. Progent can assist your company to deploy and maintain VPN access between your at-home workforce and your key IT resources by providing online VPN integration support. For businesses with Cisco's ASA security appliances, Progent's Cisco ASA consultants can assist your telecommuters to set up Cisco's popular AnyConnect software for safe VPN connections for a broad selection of devices such as Microsoft Windows, Mac, Apple iOS, Linux, and Android.
• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) platforms allow an at-home worker to view and use a remote computer's desktop. This provides network managers significant control over the computing ecosystem of at-home employees and ensures them 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 at-home computer networks to the Internet and support VPN connections, home wireless connectivity, and firewalls. Progent can provide expert remote consulting for configuring home routers from a variety of manufacturers. See router integration support from Cisco-certified experts.
• Home Wi-Fi networks, typically supporting an entire household and visitors, are commonly utilized by telecommuters to access their router for work. This can create throughput as well as cybersecurity problems. Progent can help businesses to mitigate these issues by providing services like Cisco Aironet integration consulting, Cisco-certified Meraki WiFi installation expertise, and Ubiquiti Unifi WiFi AP setup help.
• Internet access methods impact the speed and reliability of connections between telecommuters and the company network. Vital processes may require backup Internet connections in case the primary connection fails. Progent offers expertise for picking Internet service providers, selecting appropriate service bundles, and setting up high-availability Internet access. See Internet connectivity integration services.

IP Voice Integration for Remote Workers
Extending the company PBX system to include remote users is critical to supporting a productive work-at-home solution. A variety of cloud-based digital PBX platforms are used by SMBs to support teleworkers. Many enterprises depend on Cisco's current or older platforms for VoIP solutions. Progent can help organizations of all sizes to design or tune a remote IP voice environment that delivers the versatility, transparency and security required for teleworkers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE Voice consultants offer high-level support to help businesses tune their existing Cisco VoIP systems to handle a growing at-home workforce.

• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) delivers enterprise telephony capabilities to devices such as IP phones, media processing products, Voice over IP gateways, and multimedia applications deployed throughout the network. Unified Communications Manager supports additional combined media services like messaging, voice/video conferencing, and team interaction networks. For details about Progent's Cisco Unified CM or CUCM support, see Cisco Unified Communications Manager expertise.
• CallManager is Cisco's earlier call-processing agent and has been superseded by Cisco Unified CM. Progent's consultants can assist your company to maintain your current CallManager deployment or migrate efficiently to Cisco's modern IP telephony products. To find out about Progent's expertise for 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 users working outside the corporate firewall like at-home workers. Progent can provide consulting expertise for Cisco's legacy IP gateways like the UC520, UC540 and UC560 series and for current Cisco SIP gateways. See Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateway integration expertise.
• Other VoIP Products supported by Progent include Vonage, Intermedia Unite and 8x8. Progent can assist you to expand your WAN architecture to support these VoIP solutions and provide online configuration and troubleshooting services.

Video Conferencing for Teleworkers
A wide selection of video conferencing products from leading technology companies support online discussions, video conferencing, chat sessions, and screen/content sharing for both local workers and teleworkers. Many companies use multiple products to meet the needs of their different partners and customers. Progent can assist you to maintain your existing conferencing ecosystem and optimize the engagement of your at-home employees.

• Skype for Business is Microsoft's leading communications platform that supports real-time presence, instant messaging, voice and video conferencing plus the seamless integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 productivity software including PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. Progent offers the expertise of Microsoft-certified specialists who can assist your company to deploy and manage Skype for Business client software to support your remote workforce. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Skype for Business, visit Skype for Business consulting experts.
• 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 up to 32 simultaneous users for video sessions. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for FaceTime, refer to Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
• Webex Meeting Center supports remote conferencing for virtually all computing devices. Delivered via Cisco's Webex Cloud platform, Webex capabilities include sharing discrete content or screens, presentations that incorporate rich media including Microsoft PowerPoint and Flash videos, network-based capture, plus editing and playback for training. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Cisco Webex and for other video conferencing products from Cisco, see Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
• Teams is Microsoft's follow-up for Skype for Business. Teams provides a portal for conversations, contacts, and information with capabilities that include video calling, persistent threaded chat, plus data sharing. For details about Progent's support services for Teams and for additional Microsoft 365 apps, refer to Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
• Other Conferencing Platforms supported by Progent's conferencing experts include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can provide integration and troubleshooting services for these conferencing platforms and assist your business to tune your WAN infrastructure to run them.

Microsoft Collaboration Platforms for Remote Workers
Microsoft's collaboration products are tightly integrated with Microsoft's familiar Office and Microsoft 365 suites, providing a powerful environment of productivity apps that deliver a consistent user interface for sharing data and ideas across multiple sites and on a wide range of endpoint devices. Progent has provided online consulting support for SharePoint and Exchange Server since their initial releases and can help businesses to configure these flagship collaboration products to optimize 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 and communication. Developed as a replacement for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams can support chat, audio/video meetings that include 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 Microsoft Entra (previously called Azure Active Directory) for supporting its full range of capabilities. For details about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft Teams, visit solution design and deployment expertise for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium.

SharePoint utilizes web sites to promote collaboration and knowledge delivery by offering policy-driven delivery of content, workflow, and tools for looking through enterprise-wide information silos. SharePoint allows you to build secure portals that enables remote workers to view and update consolidated corporate intelligence by means of Wikis, Blogs, social web sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). For information about Progent's SharePoint support services, see SharePoint integration 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 services, visit deployment consulting services for Microsoft Exchange.

OneDrive is Microsoft�s collaborative cloud storage service, comparable to GoogleDrive. At-home workers can save files to OneDrive, and co-workers can share them safely via a browser. Provided with Office 365, OneDrive allows remote workers to co-edit files. Edits created offline are automatically synced when you reconnect to the Internet. To learn about Progent's consulting services for OneDrive, see Onedrive configuration experts.

Public Cloud Integration Services for Remote Workers
Progent offers advanced online assistance for helping organizations to create, maintain and optimize integrated hybrid network models that incorporate internal data centers, teleworkers, branch offices, and public cloud services. Progent offers top-tier consultant for all types of cloud service delivery including Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service. Progent can help teleworkers fix issues with cloud access, identity, and security.

Azure is a popular family of public cloud services that allows you to utilize IT infrastructure, virtual servers, and key apps running on Microsoft's massive cloud. Azure includes over one hundred cloud-based services including the ability to host Windows and Linux-based VMs, scalable cloud storage, email and messaging, application development with Visual Studio, and data protection. Progent can help your organization to deploy VMs on Azure Virtual Machines, configure cloud-based storage on Azure Storage services, streamline identity management with Azure Active Directory, and design backup and recovery solutions with Azure Backup. Progent's cloud experts can also help you establish secure access to Azure for telecommuters by configuring and troubleshooting firewalls and VPN tunnels. To find out about Progent's support services for Azure, go to Azure consulting.

Microsoft 365, formerly called Office 365, is Microsoft's growing suite of business productivity software and cloud-based services offered on a subscription basis. Microsoft apps and services are provided in a variety of bundles intended for customers ranging from individuals and small offices to major corporations. Progent can provide fast and affordable remote contact with consultants knowledgeable about Microsoft 365-compatible endpoint devices based on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android operating systems. Progent's experts can assist you to assess the various subscription bundles available for Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 applications for your teleworkers to achieve top business value. To find out about Progent's support services for Microsoft 365, refer to Microsoft 365 consulting support.

Exchange Online is among the most widely used cloud-based applications in the Microsoft 365 product line. Exchange Online provides the benefits of reduced costs for physical infrastructure, simplified management, on-demand scaling, high reliability, and other advantages associated with cloud computing. Microsoft has engineered Microsoft 365 Exchange Online to operate transparently with on-premises deployments of Exchange, enabling you to build hybrid cloud/onsite networks. Progent's certified Exchange consultants are available for occasional assistance to guide you past tough technical roadblocks and also offer comprehensive project management services to ensure your at-home workers have easy and secure access to your Exchange Online deployment. For details Progent's support services for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, go to Microsoft 365 Exchange Online configuration and support expertise.

Amazon AWS is a pioneer in the public cloud market and is the world's leading source of cloud-based services. Progent can provide quick and affordable online access to cloud integration experts who can assist your business to design, implement, manage, and debug hybrid IT networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with on-premises data centers and with other public clouds such as Azure. Progent also can provide access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to help your company to build a high-availability network architecture to make sure your employees have a consistent computing environment regardless of whether they are working from your headquarters, a branch office, at home, or on the road. To find out about Progent's support services for Amazon AWS, refer to Amazon AWS consulting support.

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is a leading collection of public cloud services that offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco consulting experts can help you to scale your current IT resources with the Google Cloud, and Progent's database experts can help you make your key applications cloud ready so your at-home workers can benefit fully from Google Cloud services. Progent can help your organization to deploy virtual machines on GCP Compute Engine, design an efficient storage system with GCP Storage, and simplify identity control for remote workers with GCP Cloud Identity services. Progent's consultants can also assist your business to utilize GCP's management technology to administer and track your GCP ecosystem. To find out, go to Google Cloud Platform consulting services.

Help Desk Support for Remote Workers
A rapid, company-wide transition to a from-home workforce, which might be the result of an epidemic or as a component of a business continuity plan, can overstretch even the most efficient in-house Support Desk. Progent's Call Center services make it possible for organizations of any size to outsource or supplement their Help Desk by using Progent's online Technical Response Center team.

• Progent's Standard Help Desk services utilize Progent's extensive network of online IT support specialists combined with world-class trouble ticketing and follow-up software to provide an affordable, modern Support Desk. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services offer an end-to-end solution that handles all aspects of remote Level 1 desktop technical support from initial help requests through trouble ticket generation, screen sharing, issue resolution, and incident reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal allows telecommuters to check or edit the status of their current trouble tickets, add details, and append screen captures or relevant files. Support services are delivered at a substantial discount off Progent's ordinary Level 1 desktop support charges, and Progent offers the option of rapid hand-off to Level 2 and Level 3 support specialists to deal with complex issues. For more information, visit Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services outsourcing for small and mid-size businesses.
• Progent's Help Desk Call Center Augmentation Service enables you to supplement your current Support Desk organization by sharing delivery of Support Desk services seamlessly between your regular support staff and Progent's nationwide pool of desktop support technicians and subject matter specialists. Progent's shared Support Desk service is based on a co-sourcing support solution utilizing the number one PSA tool for managing service requests and ticketing, establishing ownership, monitoring progress, and producing management reports. For details about how Progent's Support Desk Augmentation Services can help your business to deliver best-in-class IT support to your at-home employees, visit Progent's Call Desk augmentation Services.

Security and Compliance for Remote Workers
At-home workers typically utilize their personal computing devices and usually work in an unsecured physical environment. This multiplies their vulnerability to malware threats and calls for judicious configuration of firewalls, anti-malware tools, MFA-based identity verification, remote monitoring, thorough user education, and the creation of security policies built on leading practices. Progent's seasoned roster of IT security solutions consultants can assist your business to design, implement and maintain an effective cybersecurity solution that protects critical IT assets in environments that include at-home workers.

Firewalls enable you to create a network environment that can be safely utilized by on-premises users as well as by telecommuters, mobile employees, vendors, customers, and other stakeholders. Modern firewall devices allow you to configure and control different permissions to various groups of users and to expand your IT network and adjust your security as your company evolves and as cyber threats grow more sophisticated. Progent supports both current and older security appliances from all leading vendors including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, WatchGuard, Juniper, SonicWall and Fortinet. For more information about Progent's firewall support expertise, visit firewall support services.

Remote Endpoint Monitoring makes it easy to watch over the disparate devices utilized by at-home workers and either block or spot and respond to the latest cyber attacks such as ransomware. With Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) services, a small-footprint software agent is put on every protected endpoint, monitoring all activity and utilizing state-of-the-art AI technology from SentinelOne to identify new threats at inception. When a cyberattack is discovered, ProSight ASM instantly disconnects the impacted endpoint from the corporate network to contain the threat. Since the ProSight Active Security Monitoring agent is autonomous, endpoint devices stay protected even when they are disconnected from the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. To learn more about ProSight ASM, go to remote endpoint security monitoring for telecommuters.

Progent's Duo MFA Managed Services utilize Cisco's Duo cloud technology to defend against compromised passwords by using two-factor authentication. Duo enables single-tap identity verification with Apple iOS, Android, and other out-of-band devices. With Duo 2FA, whenever you log into a protected online account and enter your password you are asked to verify your identity on a device that only you have and that is accessed using a separate network channel. A broad selection of devices can be utilized as this second means of ID validation such as an iPhone or Android or watch, a hardware token, a landline phone, etc. You can designate several validation devices. To find out more about Duo identity authentication services, refer to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for remote workers.

Security Audits can assess the vulnerability of your network to all classes of outside and local security threats for a network that includes remote workers. Progent can run remote, automated security analysis scanning for rapidly and economically uncovering a broad range of security weaknesses that can be surfaced over the Internet. Progent's endpoint security audit experts, which can be managed by data security experts with top credentials such as CISM, ISSAP, and GIAC, can assist you to audit your operations and policies and review your WAN infrastructure to allow you to implement top-level security for your an at-home workforce.

Horizon3.ai's NodeZero Pentest Platform is a breakthrough penetration test (pentest) product family that supports autonomous threat assessment of your work-from-home connectivity solution as well as your internal and perimeter networks to help you expose, prioritize, remediate, and confirm security vulnerabilities before threat actors can exploit them. Progent can assist you to deploy NodeZero to perform thorough pentests of your network perimeter and your internal network so you can determine your current security profile. Progent can also help you to harden your network security and can help you to plan and deploy a cohesive cybersecurity ecosystem that streamlines management and delivers maximum cyber defense for on-prem, multi-cloud, at-home, and perimeter IT resources. To learn additional details about Progent's threat analysis services powered by on NodeZero's PEN test platform, see Consulting Services for NodeZero's Penetration Test Products.

Download White Paper: Securing a Work-From-Home Network
To read or download a white paper about key areas to concentrate on for securing 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 involves backing up and recovering critical data in order to prevent data loss and reduce restoration time and effort in the event of storage system problems due to equipment issues, software glitches, human mistakes, malware, or other causes. Dependable data protection solutions can be especially challenging to architect and maintain in hybrid environments that incorporate local data centers, public clouds, and an at-home workforce.

• Backup/Recovery solutions for an at-home workforce must address multiple types of user-owned endpoint devices. Progent offers fast remote help from consultants knowledgeable about a wide range of products for backing up Microsoft Windows, Apple and Linux/UNIX servers and desktops as well as laptops, iOS and Android tablets and handhelds. Popular backup/restore products supported by Progent's data protection consultants include Barracuda Backup, Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, Acronis Backup and Recovery, Retrospect, and Time Machine. To back up resources spread across a wide area network, Progent offers ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a backup/recovery subscription service that utilizes cloud storage and features granular restore and centralized management capabilities.
• Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity (DR/BC) strategies often anticipate scenarios that require a quick switch to an at-home workforce. Progent's expert disaster recovery preparedness consultants and business continuity planning consultants can help your company to develop, document and validate a DR/BC plan that addresses the process of switching to an at-home workforce.

Unified Management for Teleworkers
Microsoft has renamed and reshuffled its endpoint management products under the title Endpoint Manager, which includes Intune for cloud management of mobile and remote devices and Configuration Manager for managing local endpoints. Endpoint Manager provides a centralized solution for safeguarding critical information by controlling local, mobile, and at-home endpoint devices.

Microsoft Intune
Intune is a component of Microsoft's Endpoint Management suite that also features Microsoft Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and securing remote devices and software. Managed endpoint computers can be user owned or business owned. Network admins managing the enrolled endpoint computers of at-home workers can use Intune to deploy and authenticate apps on devices, push patches and certificates, set up rules for permission to access information and resources, manage passwords, create VPN connections, determine how telecommuters share information, set up threat protection, ensure compliance, and erase corporate information from missing, stolen or deactivated endpoint devices. Microsoft Intune works with Apple iOS, Google Android, Windows, and macOS devices. To find out about Microsoft Intune and how Progent can help you to use Microsoft's Endpoint Management to administer the endpoint devices of your telecommuters, go to Intune telecommuter endpoint management expertise.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich unified Mobile Device Management product that helps network managers to keep remote endpoint devices up to date and secure. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch for unified endpoint management plus VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery technology for identity control, app management, and configuration management of endpoint computers. Workspace ONE runs with endpoints based on Windows 10, macOS, Apple 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-premises deployment via a one-time purchase. Key features of Workspace ONE include rapid remote provisioning of new laptops, immediate onboarding of new employees, policy setting and enforcement for all categories of endpoints, aggregated management reporting and analytics, an email encryption gateway, and tight integration with Microsoft applications and cloud-based products. To find out about Progent's support services for VMware Workspace ONE, see VMware Workspace ONE remote endpoint management expertise.

Contact Progent for Remote Workforce Support Services
To get in touch with Progent about building and maintaining an efficient work-from-home environment for your Richmond, Virginia business, call 1-800-993-9400 or go to Contact Progent.