Sydney Teleworkers Configuration Consulting Partner

Enlarging your telecommuter workforce can have a significant effect on network architecture, security, and company workflows. Progent has 20 years of background assisting businesses of all sizes to design, configure, manage, tune, and troubleshoot IT networks that incorporate work-from-home employees. Progent can help your Sydney company to pick the right tools and follow leading practices in building and operating a safe virtual solution for telecommuters that facilitates collaboration and delivers top business value. Progent offers services that go from as-needed guidance for getting you over occasional IT bottlenecks to comprehensive project management or co-management to help you successfully complete business-critical initiatives.

Progent's consultants can help Sydney, New South Wales businesses to succeed with any aspect of creating a high-performing work-from-home ecosystem by delivering network infrastructure design and configuration services, VoIP PBX expertise, voice/video conferencing support, collaboration platform selection and deployment, public cloud connectivity, helpdesk services, security monitoring, data protection solutions, and streamlined management.

Infrastructure for a Remote Workforce
Configuring the network infrastructure required to support an at-home work environment can be especially complex if you must manage a mix of worker-owned hardware such as PCs and laptops, routers, and Wi-Fi appliances from different vendors and with a variety of operating systems and firmware levels. Progent's experience providing online support for both outdated as well as modern technologies in remote office venues enables you to make efficient use of your existing infrastructure and provides you with ready access to top-tire consultants for making essential updates. Services available from Progent to help you to implement a productive work-at-home infrastructure include:

• Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology makes it possible to create a secure connection for authenticated remote employees to use IT resources situated at your corporate data center or in a public cloud. Progent's consultants can help your company to deploy and maintain VPN connections between your teleworkers and your various IT resources by providing online VPN integration consulting. For organizations using Cisco's ASA security appliances, Progent's Cisco-certified ASA Firewall consultants can assist your telecommuters to set up Cisco's AnyConnect client software to provide secure VPN tunneling for a wide range of devices including Windows, macOS, Apple iOS, Linux, and Google Android.
• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure products allow a teleworker to see and interact with a remote PC's desktop. This technology gives network managers more control over the computing ecosystem of telecommuters and offers them a consistent and more productive work experience. Progent's virtual desktop consulting services include Windows Remote Desktop support and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI solutions.
• Routers attach home networks to the Internet and typically support VPN tunnels, home Wi-Fi connectivity, and firewalls. Progent offers top-tier online support for integrating routers from all major vendors. See router configuration services from Cisco-certified consultants.
• Home Wi-Fi networks, typically shared by families and visitors, are commonly utilized by at-home employees to connect to their router for work. This can create performance and cybersecurity issues. Progent can assist you to mitigate these problems by delivering expertise like Cisco Aironet integration consulting, Cisco-certified Meraki WiFi installation expertise, and Ubiquiti WiFi access point setup assistance.
• Internet connectivity methods affect the speed and reliability of connections between telecommuters and the corporate network. Mission-critical processes may require redundant Internet connections in case the normal connection fails. Progent offers guidance for selecting service providers, selecting appropriate bandwidth and data volume packages, and integrating high-availability Internet connections. Refer to Internet access solutions.

IP Voice Integration for At-Home Workers
Extending the corporate PBX system to accommodate teleworkers is vital to maintaining an effective work-at-home solution. A variety of cloud-centric VoIP platforms are popular with SMBs to server telecommuters. Many enterprises depend on Cisco's modern or older platforms for VoIP management. Progent can help organizations of any size to plan or tune a telecommuter VoIP service that delivers the versatility, transparency and protection needed for teleworkers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice consultants offer high-level support to help businesses tune their current Cisco VoIP systems to support a growing at-home workforce.

• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM or CUCM) delivers advanced telephony capabilities to devices such as VoIP phones, media processing platforms, Voice over IP gateways, and mixed media apps deployed across the network. Unified Communications Manager manages additional mixed media services like unified messaging, voice/video conferencing, and team interaction networks. For details about Progent's CUCM support, see Cisco Unified Communications Manager expertise.
• CallManager is Cisco's earlier call-processing agent and has been replaced by Cisco Unified CM. Progent can help you to maintain your current CallManager deployment or migrate smoothly to Cisco's modern IP telephony solutions. For details about Progent's expertise for CallManager and Cisco's other early IP voice platforms, see Cisco CallManager consulting.
• Cisco IP Gateways enable integration with PSTN networks and with users working outside the corporate perimeter like telecommuters. Progent offers consulting expertise for Cisco's earlier generation IP gateways including the UC520, UC540 and UC560 series as well as for current Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco SIP gateway integration consulting.
• Additional VoIP Products supported by Progent's consultants include Vonage, Intermedia Unite and 8x8. Progent can assist you to update your WAN architecture to work with these VoIP solutions and provide online integration and troubleshooting expertise.

Voice/Video Conferencing for an At-Home Workforce
A broad selection of video conferencing products from major vendors support online discussions, video conferencing, chat sessions, and content sharing for both local users and teleworkers. Many companies utilize a mix of conferencing products to accommodate their various partners and customers. Progent can assist you to manage your current voice/video conferencing environment and enhance the experience of your remote workforce.

• Skype for Business is Microsoft's leading communications product that supports real-time presence, IM, audio and video conferencing as well as the seamless integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 applications including PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. Progent can provide the expertise of Microsoft-certified consultants who can help your company to configure and maintain Skype for Business client software to accommodate your at-home employees. For details about Progent's support expertise for Skype for Business, visit Skype for Business consulting services.
• FaceTime is Apple's group video phone platform for compatible iOS and Mac computers and smartphones. FaceTime works on Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Current editions of FaceTime support up to 32 simultaneous users for voice/video calls. To learn more about Progent's support services for Apple FaceTime, refer to Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
• Webex Meeting Center provides remote conferencing for most desktop or mobile devices. Offered via Cisco's Webex Cloud platform, Webex capabilities include sharing granular content or screens, presentations that incorporate rich media such as Microsoft PowerPoint, network-based recording, plus editing and playback for future reference and training. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Cisco Webex as well as for additional video conferencing products from Cisco, see 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 features that include voice/video calling, threaded chat, plus file sharing. For details about Progent's support expertise for Microsoft Teams as well as for additional Microsoft 365 apps, visit 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 services for these products and help you to optimize your network architecture to host them.

Microsoft Collaboration Software for At-Home Workers
Microsoft's collaboration products are tightly integrated with Microsoft's familiar Office and Microsoft 365 suites, offering a rich environment of applications that create a consistent user interface for exchanging data and ideas throughout multiple sites and on a wide range of endpoint computers. Progent has delivered remote consulting support for SharePoint and Exchange Server since their first releases and can help businesses to tune these flagship collaboration products to maximize the effectiveness of your remote workers.

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

Microsoft Teams works on top of Microsoft 365 and supports third-party cloud services to provide real-time collaboration and communication. Designed as a replacement for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams can enable chat, audio/video meetings that include screen sharing, phone calls, cloud voicemail, group email, plus file and app sharing. Teams is tightly integrated with Microsoft 365 and depends on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Microsoft Entra (previously called Azure Active Directory) for supporting its complete range of features. For details about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium, see planning and configuration consulting for Microsoft Teams.

SharePoint utilizes web sites to facilitate collaboration and knowledge delivery by providing policy-driven access to data, workflow, and utilities for searching through enterprise-wide information silos. SharePoint allows you to build protected portals that enables remote workforce to see and edit consolidated business intelligence by means of Intranets (Wikis), Blogs, social networking sites, and Web Parts. For details about Progent's SharePoint consulting services, go to 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. To find out about Progent's Exchange consulting expertise, see planning and configuration consulting for Microsoft Exchange.

OneDrive is Microsoft�s shared cloud-based storage service, similar to GoogleDrive. At-home workers can store files to OneDrive, and colleagues can retrieve them securely via a browser. Included with Office 365, OneDrive enables home employees to co-edit documents. Revisions made offline are uploaded when you reconnect to the Internet. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft OneDrive, see Microsoft Onedrive configuration consulting.

Cloud Integration Services for Remote Workers
Progent offers affordable online assistance for helping businesses to create, manage and troubleshoot integrated network models that combine physical data centers, teleworkers, branches, plus public cloud services. Progent offers expertise for all modes of cloud service delivery including Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help telecommuters fix issues with public cloud access, identity, and cybersecurity.

Azure is a popular family of public cloud services that allows you to use IT infrastructure, virtual servers, and key applications hosted on Microsoft's massive cloud. Microsoft Azure offers over 100 cloud-based services such as hosting for Windows and Linux-based VMs, on-demand cloud storage, email and messaging, application development with Visual Studio, and backup/restore. Progent can assist you to deploy virtual machines on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate cloud-based storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity control with Azure Active Directory, and plan data backup and restore systems with Azure Backup. Progent can also help you establish secure access to Azure services for teleworkers by setting up and debugging firewalls and VPN tunnels. To find out about Progent's consulting services for Azure, refer to Microsoft Azure consulting.

Microsoft 365, previously branded Office 365, is Microsoft's growing family of client productivity applications and cloud-based services available by subscription. Office applications and cloud services are provided in a selection of bundles intended for customers ranging from students and small offices to large corporations. Progent offers quick and affordable remote contact with consultants familiar with Microsoft 365-compatible clients running Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android operating systems. Progent can assist your business to evaluate the various subscription bundles available for Microsoft 365 and configure 365 apps for your remote workers in a way that delivers top business value. To find out about Progent's expertise for Microsoft 365, visit Microsoft 365 consulting services.

Exchange Online is one of the most popular applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product suite. Microsoft 365 Exchange Online offers the benefits of reduced spending for physical infrastructure, simplified management, dynamic scaling, high availability, and additional advantages inherent with cloud computing. Microsoft has engineered Microsoft 365 Exchange Online to run smoothly with on-premises deployments of Exchange, enabling customers to create hybrid information systems. Progent's Exchange consultants are available for occasional help to get you past challenging IT bottlenecks and can also provide comprehensive project management services to ensure your teleworkers have easy and secure access to your Exchange Online environment. For details Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, see Microsoft 365 Exchange Online configuration and troubleshooting consulting.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a trailblazer in the public cloud computing arena and is the industry's biggest source of cloud-based services. Progent can provide rapid and economical online access to cloud integration experts who can assist your organization to design, implement, maintain, 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-uptime network architecture so your users have a productive computing experience whether they are working from your headquarters, a remote branch, at home, or on the move. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Amazon AWS, go to Amazon AWS integration support.

Google Cloud (GCP) is a leading suite of cloud services that offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products. Progent's certified Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco experts can help your organization to extend your current IT assets with the Google Cloud Platform, and Progent's DBA consultants can show you how to make your mission-critical apps cloud ready so your at-home workers can take full advantage of Google Cloud Platform services. Progent can help you to deploy virtual machines on GCP Compute Engine, plan an efficient storage solution with Google Cloud Storage, and simplify access control for telecommuters with Google Cloud Identity. Progent's consultants can also help your business to utilize GCP's unified management technology to control and monitor your Google Cloud environment. To find out, refer to Google Cloud Platform integration expertise.

Help Desk Support for Telecommuters
A rapid, company-wide switchover to a from-home workforce, which could be activated by an epidemic or as an element of a disaster recovery preparedness plan, can overwhelm even a well-staffed in-house Help Desk. Progent's Call Center services make it possible for businesses to outsource or supplement their Call Center with Progent's online Technical Response Center (TRC) services.

• Progent's Standard Support Desk services leverage Progent's extensive team of remote IT support specialists combined with enterprise-class ticketing and follow-up software to provide an affordable, advanced Help Desk Call Center. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services offer a comprehensive solution that addresses all aspects of remote Level 1 desktop technical support from service requests to trouble ticket generation, desktop sharing, problem resolution, and incident reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal enables at-home employees to monitor or revise their active tickets, enter details, and append screen captures or attachments. Technical support services are provided at a significant discount off Progent's normal Level 1 technical support rates, and Progent offers the option of rapid escalation to Level 2 and Level 3 support specialists to resolve complex issues. For details, see Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services outsourcing for small and mid-size companies.
• Progent's Call Center Augmentation Service allows your company to expand your existing Call Desk team by splitting responsibilities for Help Desk Call Center services transparently between your regular IT support staff and Progent's nationwide roster of PC support technicians and subject matter experts. Progent's shared Help Desk service uses a collective support model based on the number one professional services automation platform for handling help requests and trouble tickets, assigning ownership, tracking progress, and generating management reports. To learn how Progent's Support Desk Augmentation Services can enable your company to provide best-in-class desktop support to your at-home workforce, go to Progent's Help Desk supplementation Services.

Security and Compliance for Remote Workers
At-home workers commonly use their own devices and often work in a poorly secured physical environment. This increases their vulnerability to malware threats and calls for judicious configuration of corporate firewalls, anti-malware tools, MFA-based identity verification, remote monitoring, thorough end-user training, and the development of security policies built on leading practices. Progent's seasoned group of IT security support experts can assist your business to plan, configure and maintain a compliant security solution that guards critical IT assets in environments that incorporate at-home workers.

Firewalls allow companies to create a network that can be safely utilized by on-premises users and by at-home workers, mobile users, vendors, customers, and the public. Next-generation firewall appliances permit you to configure and control appropriate permissions to various classes of users and to expand your IT network and modify your security as your company evolves and as cyber threats become more complex. Progent works with both new and legacy security devices from all leading manufacturers including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Juniper, and Fortinet. To learn more about Progent's firewall support expertise, see firewall integration and support expertise.

Online Endpoint Security Monitoring makes it easy to watch over the disparate devices used by telecommuters and either reject or spot and respond to the latest threats such as ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring services, a small-footprint agent is installed on each protected endpoint device, monitoring all activity and using advanced machine learning and full execution context from SentinelOne to identify new threats before they can spread. When an attack is discovered, ProSight ASM instantly isolates the infected endpoint device from the network to contain the threat. Because the ProSight Active Security Monitoring software agent is autonomous, endpoints stay secure even when they are not connected to the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. For details about ProSight ASM, visit remote endpoint security monitoring for telecommuters.

Progent's Duo MFA Services utilize Cisco's Duo technology to protect against stolen passwords by using two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo supports one-tap identity confirmation with Apple iOS, Android, and other out-of-band devices. Using 2FA, when you sign into a protected application and enter your password you are asked to confirm your identity on a unit that only you possess and that is accessed using a different network channel. A wide selection of out-of-band devices can be used for this added means of ID validation such as an iPhone or Android or wearable, a hardware token, a landline phone, etc. You can designate multiple validation devices. To find out more about ProSight Duo two-factor identity validation services, refer to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for remote workers.

Security Audits can evaluate the vulnerability of your information system to all classes of outside and local security threats for a network that incorporates at-home workers. Progent can deploy remote, automated cybersecurity inventory software for rapidly and affordably detecting a wide variety of security gaps that can be surfaced via the Internet. Progent's endpoint security assessment experts, which can be managed by security professionals with top credentials such as CISM, CISSP, and GIAC, can help you to evaluate your workflows and governance policies and assess your network architecture to allow you to implement top-level protection for your teleworkers.

Horizon3.ai's NodeZero PEN Testing Platform is a breakthrough penetration test (pentest) product family that can deliver automated testing of your work-from-home connectivity solution as well as your internal and perimeter networks so you can find, prioritize, fix, and confirm cybersecurity vulnerabilities before threat actors can take advantage of them. Progent can help you to deploy NodeZero to perform comprehensive penetration tests of your perimeter and your internal IT infrastructure in order to determine your present security profile. Progent's NodeZero experts can also help you to strengthen your existing network security and can assist you to plan and implement a cohesive cybersecurity strategy that simplifies management and delivers optimum protection for on-prem, multi-cloud, remote, and perimeter IT assets. To learn additional details about Progent's threat analysis services powered by on NodeZero's PEN test platform, see Consulting Services for NodeZero's PEN Test Platform.

Download White Paper: Protecting a Work-From-Home Network
To read or download a white paper about critical things to focus on for securing an IT environment that includes telecommuters, click:
Protecting a Work-From-Home Network White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection for Telecommuters
The field of Data Protection covers saving and recovering vital information in order to prevent data loss and minimize recovery time and effort in the event of storage system problems resulting from equipment issues, software glitches, human mistakes, cyber attack, or any other reason. Dependable data protection solutions can be particularly challenging to architect and maintain in hybrid environments that combine local data centers, cloud resources, and an at-home workforce.

• Backup/Recovery strategies for teleworkers must cover diverse types of personally owned endpoint devices. Progent can provide fast remote help from experts knowledgeable about a wide range of products for backing up Windows, Apple Mac and Linux/UNIX servers and desktops as well as laptops, iPads and handhelds. Popular backup/restore solutions supported by Progent's data protection consultants include Barracuda Backup, Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, Acronis Backup and Recovery, Mozy, and Time Machine. To back up data spread across a wide area network, Progent offers ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a managed backup/recovery service that uses cloud-based storage and includes granular recovery and centralized management capabilities.
• Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity (DR/BC) strategies typically anticipate scenarios that require a temporary 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 plan that includes the process of moving to telecommuting.

Unified Management for Teleworkers
Microsoft has renamed and rebundled its endpoint management platforms under the title Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which encompasses Intune for cloud-based management of remote endpoints and Configuration Manager for managing on-premises computers. Endpoint Manager provides a unified solution for protecting corporate information by controlling on-premises, mobile, and at-home endpoint devices.

Intune
Intune is part of Microsoft's Endpoint Management family that also includes Microsoft Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and protecting remote computers and applications. Managed endpoint computers can be personally owned or company owned. Network admins managing the enrolled endpoint devices of teleworkers can use Intune to deploy and validate apps on managed devices, push patches and certificates, set up rules for permission to access data and networks, manage passwords, establish VPN connections, control how teleworkers share information, set up threat defense, verify compliance, and delete corporate information from lost, stolen or decommissioned endpoint devices. Intune can be used with iOS, Google Android, Windows, and macOS endpoints. To find out about Microsoft Intune and to find out how Progent can help your company to use this platform to administer the endpoint devices of your at-home workforce, go to Intune mobile device management consultants.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is an advanced unified Mobile Device Management platform that allows network administrators to keep off-premises endpoint devices current and secure. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch for unified endpoint administration combined with VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery platform for authorization control, application management, and configuration management of endpoint devices. Workspace ONE operates with devices powered by Windows 10, macOS, iOS, Google Android, Chrome OS, or leading distros 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. Key capabilities of Workspace ONE include fast over-the-air provisioning of out-of-the-box notebooks, quick onboarding of new users, policy setting and enforcement for all classes of endpoints, unifies management reporting and analytics, email encryption, and tight integration with Microsoft applications and cloud-based products. For information about Progent's expertise for VMware Workspace ONE, refer to VMware Workspace ONE mobile endpoint management consultants.

Contact Progent for Remote Workforce Support Services
To contact Progent about building and maintaining an efficient telecommuter environment for your Sydney, New South Wales organization, phone 1-800-993-9400 or visit Contact Progent.