Tacoma Offsite Workforce Solutions Support Services

Enlarging your at-home workforce may have a major impact on network infrastructure, security/compliance, and corporate culture. Progent has 20 years of experience assisting small and mid-size businesses to design, deploy, administer, tune, and debug IT networks that support a remote workforce. Progent can help your Tacoma organization to pick the right technologies and follow leading practices in creating and operating a safe virtual solution for teleworkers that facilitates collaboration and delivers maximum business value. Progent can provide support services that go from as-needed expertise for helping you past occasional technical bottlenecks to comprehensive project management to help you successfully complete mission-critical tasks.

Progent's consultants can assist Tacoma, Washington businesses to succeed with any aspect of building a high-performing telecommuting environment by delivering infrastructure configuration services, VoIP PBX troubleshooting, voice/video conferencing integration, collaboration platform selection and deployment, public cloud integration, Help Desk augmentation, cybersecurity, data protection solutions, and unified management.

Infrastructure for Telecommuters
Setting up the network infrastructure needed to support an at-home work environment can be particularly complicated if you have to accommodate a mix of personal equipment such as desktop computers and laptops, Internet routers, and wireless appliances from an assortment of vendors and with a mix of OS software and firmware releases. Progent's background delivering remote support for both legacy as well as modern IT products in virtual office solutions allows you to make efficient use of your existing infrastructure and offers ready access to top-tire consultants for implement essential updates. Support services available from Progent to help you to create a productive telecommuting ecosystem include:

• Virtual Private Network connectivity allows you to create a safe connection for authorized remote employees to use IT assets situated at your company datacenter or in the cloud. Progent can assist you to deploy and maintain VPN connections between your at-home workforce and your key network resources by providing remote VPN integration support. For organizations with Cisco's ASA firewalls, Progent's Cisco ASA experts can assist your remote workers to utilize Cisco's popular AnyConnect client software for secure VPN connections for a wide range of devices such as Microsoft Windows, Mac, iOS, Linux, and Google Android.
• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure platforms allow an at-home worker to see and interact with a data center PC's desktop. This technology gives IT managers substantial control over the computing environment of at-home employees and offers them a consistent and more productive experience. Progent's VDI services include Windows Remote Desktop support and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI solutions.
• Routers connect at-home networks to the Internet and typically support VPN tunnels, home Wi-Fi connectivity, and firewall services. Progent offers top-tier remote consulting for integrating routers from a range of vendors. See router integration services from Cisco-certified consultants.
• Home Wireless networks, typically supporting the whole family and visitors, are frequently used by at-home employees to connect to their Internet router for work. This can cause performance as well as security issues. Progent can assist you to mitigate these problems by providing expertise like Cisco Aironet integration consulting, Cisco-certified Meraki wireless deployment consulting, and Ubiquiti Unifi WiFi access point integration help.
• Internet connectivity solutions impact the speed and reliability of connections between telecommuters and the company network. Business-critical processes may require redundant Internet access in the event the normal connection fails. Progent can provide guidance for picking Internet service providers, choosing appropriate service offerings, and setting up fault-tolerant Internet connections. Refer to Internet connectivity solutions.

IP Voice Integration for an At-Home Workforce
Extending the company PBX environment to accommodate teleworkers is critical to maintaining an effective at-home workforce. A variety of cloud-centric IP voice products are used by SMBs to support teleworkers. Many larger organizations rely on Cisco's current or older products for VoIP management. Progent can help businesses of all sizes to design or maintain a remote VoIP environment that delivers the flexibility, convenience and protection required for teleworkers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE Voice experts can provide advanced support to assist businesses tune their current Cisco VoIP systems to handle an expanding remote workforce.

• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM) delivers advanced IP telephony capabilities to devices such as VoIP phones, media processing products, VoIP gateways, and mixed media apps deployed across the network. Unified Communications Manager manages other combined media services such as unified messaging, voice/video conferencing, and team collaboration networks. For more information about Progent's Cisco Unified CM or CUCM expertise, see Cisco Unified Communications Manager consulting services.
• CallManager is Cisco's earlier call-processing agent and has been superseded by CUCM. Progent can help your company to support your existing CallManager environment or migrate efficiently to Cisco's current IP telephony solutions. To learn about Progent's expertise for Cisco CallManager and Cisco's other legacy IP voice platforms, visit CallManager consulting.
• Cisco IP Gateways enable integration with public telephony networks and with users operating beyond the corporate firewall such as at-home workers. Progent can provide consulting expertise for Cisco's earlier generation IP gateways including the UC520, UC540 and UC560 products as well as for current Cisco SIP gateways. See Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateway integration expertise.
• Additional VoIP Products supported by Progent's consultants include Vonage, RingCentral and 8x8. Progent can help you to update your wide area network architecture to work with these VoIP solutions and provide on-demand configuration and troubleshooting expertise.

Voice/Video Conferencing for Remote Workers
A broad selection of voice/video conferencing products from major technology companies support virtual meetings, video conferencing, chat, and content sharing for both onsite workers and at-home workers. Many companies use multiple conferencing products to accommodate their various partners and clients. Progent can assist you to maintain your existing voice/video conferencing environment and enhance the engagement of your remote employees.

• Skype for Business is Microsoft's leading communications product that supports presence, instant messaging, voice and video calling and conferencing plus the transparent integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 applications including PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook. Progent offers the skills of Microsoft-certified specialists who can assist you to set up and maintain Skype for Business clients to support your at-home workforce. To learn more about Progent's support expertise for Skype for Business, visit Skype for Business integration services.
• FaceTime is Apple's group video phone platform for iOS, iPadOS, iPod and macOS devices. FaceTime works on Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Later editions of FaceTime allow as many as 32 simultaneous users for video sessions. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Apple FaceTime, visit 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 discrete content or computer screens, presentations that incorporate rich media such as Microsoft PowerPoint and Flash videos, session recording, plus editing and playback for future reference. For details about Progent's consulting services for Webex as well as for other video conferencing solutions from Cisco, see Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
• Teams is Microsoft's next-generation replacement for Skype for Business. Teams acts as a hub for conferencing, contacts, and information with features such as IP voice and video calling, threaded chat, plus data sharing. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft Teams and for additional Microsoft 365 products, visit Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
• Other Conferencing Apps supported by Progent include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can deliver integration and troubleshooting services for these products and assist your business to tune your WAN infrastructure to host them.

Microsoft Collaboration Platforms for Teleworkers
Microsoft's collaboration platforms are tightly integrated with Microsoft's familiar Office and Microsoft 365 families, providing a rich ecosystem of applications that create a cohesive user experience for sharing data and ideas across multiple sites and on a wide range of endpoint computers. Progent has delivered online consulting services for SharePoint and Exchange since their original releases and can assist your company to configure these flagship collaboration products to optimize the productivity of your remote workforce.

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

Microsoft Teams works on top of Microsoft 365 and supports third-party cloud services to deliver real-time collaboration and communication. Designed as a replacement for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams can support chat, audio/video meetings that include screen sharing, calling, cloud voicemail, group email, as well as file and app sharing. Teams is closely integrated with Microsoft 365 and relies on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Azure Entra (previously called Azure Active Directory) for delivering its full range of capabilities. For additional information about Progent's support services for Microsoft Teams, visit solution design and deployment consulting for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium.

SharePoint uses web entities to allow collaboration and knowledge delivery by offering policy-driven access to data, business processes, and tools for searching through company-wide information silos. SharePoint allows you to create secure web portals that allows remote workforce to see and update consolidated corporate intelligence by means of Intranets (Wikis), Blogs, social web sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). For details about Progent's SharePoint expertise, refer to SharePoint integration and development expertise.

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

OneDrive is Microsoft�s collaborative cloud storage service, comparable to GoogleDrive. Remote workers can save files to the OneDrive service, and colleagues anywhere can share them securely via a web browser. Included with Office 365, OneDrive allows at-home workers to co-edit documents. Revisions created offline are synced when you reconnect to the Internet. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for OneDrive, see Microsoft Onedrive configuration experts.

Public Cloud Integration for At-Home Workers
Progent offers advanced online support for enabling organizations to create, maintain and optimize cohesive hybrid network models that combine physical data centers, telecommuters, branches, plus cloud resources. Progent offers expertise for all modes of public cloud service including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service. Progent can help telecommuters fix problems with public cloud connectivity, authentication, and security.

Azure is a leading family of public cloud services that enables you to use infrastructure, virtual servers, and key applications hosted on Microsoft's extensive cloud. Microsoft Azure includes over one hundred services services such as the ability to host Windows and Linux-based virtual machines, scalable cloud storage, email and messaging, application development with Visual Studio, and data protection. Progent can assist your organization to deploy virtual machines on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity control with Azure AD, and plan data backup and recovery solutions with Azure Backup. Progent can also show you how to create protected connections to Azure for telecommuters by configuring and debugging firewalls and VPN IPsec tunnels. For information about Progent's expertise for Microsoft Azure, refer to Azure expertise.

Microsoft 365, previously called Office 365, is Microsoft's growing family of client productivity applications and cloud-based services offered on a subscription basis. Office applications and cloud services are provided in a variety of bundles intended for users ranging from students and households to large enterprises. Progent offers quick and affordable online contact with experts familiar with Microsoft 365-compatible endpoints running Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android technology. Progent can assist you to assess the various subscription plans offered with Microsoft 365 and configure 365 apps for your at-home workers to achieve top business value. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft 365, visit Microsoft 365 integration services.

Microsoft 365 Exchange Online is one of the most popular cloud-based applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product suite. Microsoft 365 Exchange Online offers the benefits of reduced spending for physical infrastructure, easier management, dynamic scaling, high reliability, and additional advantages inherent with public clouds. Microsoft has engineered Exchange Online to operate seamlessly with on-premises Exchange environments, enabling customers to create hybrid networks. Progent's Exchange experts are available for occasional help to get you past challenging IT bottlenecks and can also provide comprehensive project management services to ensure your remote workers have easy and secure access to your Exchange Online environment. To find out Progent's expertise for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, refer to Exchange Online configuration and troubleshooting expertise.

Amazon AWS is a trailblazer in the public cloud computing market and is the industry's biggest source of cloud services. Progent can provide quick and affordable online contact with cloud connectivity consultants who can help your business to design, implement, maintain, and debug hybrid IT networks that integrate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with on-premises data centers and with other popular cloud platforms like Azure. Progent also offers access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to assist your company to create a high-uptime network model so your employees have a consistent computing experience regardless of whether they are working from your headquarters, a remote branch, from home, or on the road. For details about Progent's expertise for Amazon AWS, visit Amazon AWS consulting services.

Google Cloud Platform is a popular suite of cloud computing services that provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products. Progent's certified Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco consulting experts can help you to extend your current IT resources with the Google Cloud Platform, and Progent's database experts can show you how to make your mission-critical apps cloud friendly so your teleworkers can take full advantage of Google Cloud services. Progent can help your organization to set up VMs on GCP Compute Engine, design an efficient storage system with GCP Storage, and simplify identity management for remote workers with Google Cloud Identity services. Progent's experts can also help your organization to utilize GCP's management tools to control and monitor your GCP environment. For details, see Google Cloud Platform (GCP) consulting services.

Help Desk Call Center Support for Remote Workers
A sudden, company-wide changeover to a from-home workforce, which might be driven by a pandemic or as an element of a disaster recovery/business continuity plan, can overstretch even the most efficient in-house Call Desk. Progent's Help Desk Call Center services allow organizations of any size to outsource or supplement their Support Desk by using Progent's online Technical Response Center team.

• Progent's Standard Support Desk support services utilize Progent's nationwide network of online technical support specialists along with enterprise-class ticketing and tracking technology to provide an affordable, modern Support Desk. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services offer a comprehensive solution that addresses all aspects of online Level 1 PC technical support from initial help requests to trouble ticket creation, desktop sharing, issue resolution, and incident reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal allows at-home employees to check or revise the status of their current trouble tickets, add details, and upload screen captures or relevant files. Support services are delivered at a significant discount off Progent's ordinary Level 1 technical support rates, and Progent offers the option of rapid hand-off to Level 2 and Level 3 IT specialists to deal with complex problems. To learn more, go to Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services for small and mid-size businesses.
• Progent's Help Desk Call Center Augmentation Service enables your business to augment your existing Call Center staff by sharing responsibilities for Call Desk services transparently between your in-house support organization and Progent's nationwide pool of desktop support engineers and subject matter experts. Progent's shared Support Desk service is based on a co-sourcing support model based on the number one professional services automation platform for handling help requests and ticketing, assigning responsibility, monitoring progress, and producing management reports. To find out how Progent's Call Desk Supplementation Services can enable your company to deliver best-in-class desktop support to your from-home workers, visit Progent's Help Desk supplementation Services.

Security and Compliance for Teleworkers
Work-from-Home employees typically utilize their own computing devices and usually operate in a poorly secured physical area. This multiplies their vulnerability to cyber attacks and calls for judicious configuration of firewalls, anti-malware tools, multi-factor authentication, remote monitoring, extensive end-user training, and the development of security policies based on best practices. Progent's seasoned roster of IT security solutions consultants can assist your business to plan, implement and maintain a compliant security solution that protects vital information assets in environments that incorporate telecommuters.

Firewalls enable companies to create a network environment that can be safely utilized by local users as well as by an at-home workforce, mobile employees, suppliers, customers, and the public. Next-generation firewall appliances permit you to assign and manage different permissions to different classes of users and to scale your IT network and modify your security profile as your company evolves and as cyber threats grow more sophisticated. Progent supports both current and legacy firewall appliances from all major manufacturers including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, WatchGuard, Juniper, and Fortinet. To learn more about Progent's firewall support services, go to firewall configuration and support services.

Remote Endpoint Monitoring makes it easy to track the various computers used by teleworkers and either reject or identify and mitigate modern threats like ransomware. With Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) services, a lightweight software agent is put on each secured endpoint, monitoring all activity and utilizing state-of-the-art behavioral threat analysis from SentinelOne to identify new threats at inception. When an attack is spotted, ProSight ASM immediately isolates the infected endpoint from the network to contain the malware. Since the ProSight Active Security Monitoring agent is autonomous, endpoints remain protected even if they are offline. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. For more information about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, go to remote endpoint monitoring for telecommuters.

Progent's Duo MFA Managed Services incorporate Cisco's Duo cloud technology to protect against stolen passwords by using two-factor authentication. Duo enables single-tap identity confirmation with Apple iOS, Android, and other personal devices. Using 2FA, when you log into a secured application and enter your password you are requested to confirm your identity via a device that only you have and that uses a different ("out-of-band") network channel. A broad range of devices can be utilized for this second form of authentication including an iPhone or Android or watch, a hardware token, a landline phone, etc. You may register multiple verification devices. For more information about ProSight Duo two-factor identity validation services, visit Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for telecommuters.

Security Audits can evaluate the exposure of your information system to all classes of outside and internal security attacks for an environment that incorporates telecommuters. Progent can run remote, automated cybersecurity analysis software for quickly and economically detecting a broad range of security gaps that can be surfaced via the Internet. Progent's endpoint security assessment consulting services, which can be provided by data security experts with top credentials including CISM, ISSAP, and GIAC, can assist your company to evaluate your operations and policies and assess your IT infrastructure to enable you to design the highest level of protection for your remote workers.

Horizon3.ai's NodeZero PEN Testing Platform is a cutting-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that supports automated threat assessment of your work-from-home connectivity solution and your internal and perimeter networks to help you find, prioritize, remediate, and confirm cybersecurity weaknesses before threat actors can exploit them. Progent can assist you to use NodeZero to carry out thorough penetration tests of your network perimeter and your internal IT infrastructure so you can determine your present security profile. Progent's NodeZero experts can also help you to harden your network security and can assist you to plan and implement a unified cybersecurity ecosystem that simplifies management and provides optimum cyber defense for on-premises, multi-cloud, remote, and perimeter IT resources. To learn more information about Progent's vulnerability assessment solutions powered by on NodeZero's PEN test products, refer to Consulting Support for NodeZero's Penetration Test Products.

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

Data Protection for At-Home Workers
Data Protection covers saving and restoring vital information in order to avoid data loss and reduce restoration time and effort in the event of storage system failures resulting from equipment breakdowns, programming glitches, user mistakes, malware, or any other reason. Dependable data protection strategies can be especially challenging to design and maintain in hybrid environments that incorporate private data centers, cloud resources, and an at-home workforce.

• Backup/Recovery solutions for at-home workers must cover diverse types of personally owned endpoint devices. Progent can provide fast online help from consultants familiar with a broad range of products for protection Microsoft Windows, Apple and Linux/UNIX powered servers and desktops as well as laptops, iPads and smartphones. Leading backup/restore solutions supported by Progent's backup/recovery experts include Barracuda Backup, Azure Backup, Symantec Backup Exec, CrashPlan, Mozy, and Time Machine. To protect data spread across a wide area network, Progent can provide ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a backup/recovery subscription service that uses cloud storage and features granular recovery and unified management.
• Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity strategies typically envision scenarios that require a rapid switch to a work-at-home environment. Progent's expert disaster recovery planning consultants and business continuity specialists can assist your company to develop, document and test a DR/BC plan that addresses the process of switching to telecommuting.

Unified Management for Telecommuters
Microsoft has rebranded and rebundled its endpoint management products under the name Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which encompasses Intune for cloud-based management of mobile and remote devices and Configuration Manager for managing local computers. Microsoft Endpoint Manager provides a unified solution for safeguarding corporate information by managing on-premises, mobile, and at-home endpoints.

Intune
Intune is part of Microsoft's Endpoint Management family that also includes Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and protecting mobile computers and software. Remote endpoint computers can be personally owned or business owned. Network admins managing the endpoint devices of telecommuters can utilize Intune to deploy and validate applications on managed devices, push patches and certificates, set up policies for permission to access data and networks, manage passwords, create VPN tunnels, determine how telecommuters share data, set up threat defense, ensure security compliance, and wipe sensitive information from lost, stolen or deactivated devices. Intune runs with iOS, Google Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X endpoints. For information about Microsoft Intune and how Progent can help you to use Microsoft's Endpoint Management to administer the endpoint devices of your at-home workers, go to Intune remote device management experts.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is an advanced unified MDM product that allows network managers to keep off-premises endpoints up to date and protected. Workspace ONE uses VMware AirWatch for unified endpoint management along with VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery technology for identity control, app management, and configuration management of endpoint computers. Workspace ONE operates with devices powered by Windows 10, macOS, Apple iOS, Google Android, Chrome OS, or leading distributions of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is offered by subscription as a cloud service or as an on-site deployment through a one-time purchase. Top features of VMware Workspace ONE include rapid over-the-air deployment of out-of-the-box laptops, quick onboarding of new users, policy setting and enforcement for all classes of endpoints, unifies management reporting and analytics, an email encryption gateway, and tight integration with Microsoft apps and cloud products. To learn about Progent's support services for VMware Workspace ONE, visit VMware Workspace ONE remote device management consultants.

Contact Progent for Remote Workforce Support Services
To get in touch with Progent about building and managing a productive telecommuter environment for your Tacoma, Washington organization, call 1-800-993-9400 or go to Contact Progent.