Portland Remote Workforce Connectivity Consultants

Enlarging your at-home workforce may have a major effect on network architecture, security/compliance, and corporate culture. Progent has two decades of background helping SMBs to design, configure, administer, tune, and troubleshoot IT environments that incorporate a remote workforce. Progent can assist your Portland company to pick the appropriate tools and adhere to best practices in creating and operating a secure virtual office solution for telecommuters that facilitates collaboration and delivers top value. Progent offers services that go from as-needed guidance for getting you over occasional technical roadblocks to full project management to help you successfully complete business-critical initiatives.

Progent's consultants can assist Portland, Oregon businesses to succeed with any facet of building a high-functioning work-from-home environment by delivering network infrastructure configuration services, IP voice expertise, voice/video conferencing support, collaboration platform selection and deployment, cloud integration, Help Desk services, data security, data protection solutions, and unified management.

Infrastructure for an At-Home Workforce
Integrating the physical and software infrastructure needed to support a remote work environment can be especially complicated if you have to manage a mix of personal hardware such as desktop computers and notebooks, Internet routers, and wireless appliances from various vendors and with a mix of operating systems and firmware levels. Progent's experience providing online support for both legacy as well as modern IT products in remote office solutions allows you to make cost-effective use of your existing infrastructure and offers fast access to expertise for making necessary updates. Support services offered by Progent to assist you to create a productive telecommuting infrastructure include:

• VPN connectivity allows you to establish a secure connection for authorized at-home employees to use IT resources located at your corporate data center or in the cloud. Progent can help your company to configure and maintain VPN access between your teleworkers and your various network resources by providing online VPN integration consulting. For organizations with Cisco's ASA security appliances, Progent's Cisco ASA Firewall consultants can help your remote workers to utilize Cisco's AnyConnect software to provide safe VPN connections for a wide range of endpoint devices including Windows, Mac, Apple iOS, Linux, and Android.
• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure platforms enable an at-home worker to view and use a data center PC's desktop. This technology gives network managers more control over the computing environment of telecommuters and offers them a familiar work experience. Progent's VDI consulting services include Windows Remote Desktop support and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI expertise.
• Routers attach at-home computer networks to the Internet and typically support VPN tunnels, local wireless connectivity, and firewalls. Progent offers top-tier online support for integrating routers from all major vendors. See router configuration support from Cisco-certified consultants.
• Home Wireless networks, often supporting an entire household and guests, are frequently used by telecommuters to access their router for work. This can cause performance as well as security problems. Progent can assist businesses to resolve these issues by delivering services that include Aironet configuration expertise, Cisco Meraki wireless deployment expertise, and Ubiquiti Unifi wireless AP integration help.
• Internet access solutions impact the speed and availability of connections between at-home workers and the company network. Business-critical processes may demand redundant Internet connections in the event the primary connection breaks. Progent offers guidance for picking Internet service providers, choosing appropriate bandwidth and data volume offerings, and setting up fault-tolerant Internet access. See Internet connectivity solutions.

IP Voice Integration for At-Home Workers
Expanding the company PBX environment to include telecommuters is vital to supporting a productive at-home workforce. A variety of cloud-centric VoIP products are used by SMBs to server telecommuters. Many enterprises rely on Cisco's modern or legacy platforms for IP voice solutions. Progent can help organizations of all sizes to plan or maintain a telecommuter IP voice service that delivers the versatility, transparency and protection required for at-home workers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE Voice experts offer advanced support to assist businesses optimize their current Cisco VoIP environments to support an expanding at-home workforce.

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

Voice/Video Conferencing for Remote Workers
A wide selection of video conferencing products from major vendors support online meetings, video conferencing, chat, and screen sharing for both local users and at-home workers. Many organizations utilize a mix of conferencing products to accommodate their various partners and clients. Progent can assist you to manage your existing voice/video conferencing ecosystem and enhance the engagement of your at-home workforce.

• Skype for Business is Microsoft's popular communications product that supports presence, IM, voice and video calling and conferencing as well as the seamless integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 productivity software including PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook. Progent offers the skills of Microsoft-certified consultants who can assist your company to set up and manage Skype for Business clients to accommodate your remote workforce. To learn more about Progent's support expertise for Skype for Business, see Skype for Business consulting services.
• FaceTime is Apple's multiuser video calling platform for compatible iOS, iPadOS, iPod and Mac computers and smartphones. FaceTime works on Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Later versions of FaceTime allow as many as 32 concurrent users for video calls. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Apple FaceTime, see Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
• Webex Meeting Center supports remote conferencing for virtually all computing devices. Offered via Cisco's Webex Cloud platform, Webex capabilities include sharing specific content or computer screens, presentations that incorporate rich media including Microsoft PowerPoint and Flash videos, session recording, plus revision and playback for future reference and training. To learn more about Progent's support expertise for Webex as well as for additional IP video solutions 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 conversations, contacts, and information with features that include voice/video calling, threaded chat, plus file sharing. For details about Progent's support expertise for Teams and for additional Microsoft 365 products, visit Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
• Additional Conferencing Apps supported by Progent include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can provide integration and debugging expertise for these products and assist you to optimize your network architecture to run them.

Microsoft Collaboration Software for At-Home Workers
Microsoft's collaboration products are closely integrated with Microsoft's popular Office families, providing a rich environment of productivity apps that create a consistent user interface for sharing information across multiple sites and on a broad selection of endpoint computers. Progent has delivered remote consulting support for Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange Server since their first releases and can help businesses to configure these critical collaboration platforms to optimize 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 with Microsoft 365 and integrates with third-party cloud services to provide real-time collaboration and communication. Developed as a substitute 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 application sharing. Teams is closely integrated with Microsoft 365 and relies on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Microsoft Entra (formerly called Azure Active Directory) for supporting its full range of features. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium, visit solution design and configuration expertise for Microsoft Teams.

SharePoint uses web entities to allow collaboration and information sharing by offering policy-driven delivery of data, workflow, and tools for looking through enterprise-wide information silos. SharePoint enables you to create protected web portals that permits at-home workers to see and update consolidated business intelligence via Intranets (Wikis), Blogs, social networking sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). For information about Progent's SharePoint support services, visit SharePoint configuration 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. To find out about Progent's Exchange consulting expertise, visit planning and configuration consulting for Exchange Server.

OneDrive is Microsoft�s shared cloud storage service, comparable to GoogleDrive. At-home users can save files to OneDrive, and colleagues anywhere can retrieve them securely via a browser. Included with Office 365, OneDrive enables home employees to jointly author documents. Edits created offline are automatically synced when you go back online. For information about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft OneDrive, see Onedrive configuration experts.

Public Cloud Integration Services for Telecommuters
Progent offers affordable online assistance for enabling organizations to create, manage and optimize integrated hybrid network models that incorporate physical data centers, remote workers, branch offices, and public cloud services. Progent offers expertise for all types of cloud service delivery such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help telecommuters resolve problems with public cloud access, authentication, and cybersecurity.

Microsoft Azure is a popular family of public cloud software and services that allows you to use infrastructure, virtual servers, and key applications running on Microsoft's massive cloud. Microsoft Azure includes more than one hundred services services including the ability to host Windows and Linux-based VMs, on-demand cloud storage, email and messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and backup/restore. Progent can assist your organization to deploy VMs on Azure Virtual Machines, configure storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity management with Azure Active Directory, and plan backup and restore solutions with Azure Backup. Progent can also show you how to create protected connections to Azure for teleworkers by configuring and troubleshooting firewall appliances and VPN IPsec tunnels. To find out about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft Azure, see Azure expertise.

Microsoft 365, formerly called Office 365, is Microsoft's growing family of client productivity applications and cloud services available on a subscription basis. Microsoft apps and cloud services are provided in a selection of bundles designed for users ranging from students and small offices to major enterprises. Progent can provide quick and affordable online contact with experts knowledgeable about Microsoft 365-compatible endpoints running Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android operating systems. Progent's experts can help you to assess the various subscription bundles offered with Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 apps for your at-home workers in a way that delivers maximum business value. To learn about Progent's expertise for Microsoft 365, see Microsoft 365 integration support.

Exchange Online is one of the most popular applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product line. Microsoft 365 Exchange Online provides the benefits of lower costs for data center infrastructure, simplified management, dynamic scaling, high availability, and additional advantages associated with public clouds. Microsoft has engineered Exchange Online to run seamlessly with on-premises deployments of Exchange, allowing customers to build hybrid information systems. Progent's Exchange experts are available for as-needed assistance to guide you past challenging technical bottlenecks and can also provide end-to-end project management services to make sure your at-home workers have easy and safe access to your Exchange Online environment. To learn Progent's consulting services for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, see Exchange Online integration and troubleshooting expertise.

Amazon AWS is a pioneer in the public cloud computing market and is the industry's biggest source of cloud-based services. Progent offers fast and affordable online access to cloud connectivity experts who can help your business to plan, deploy, maintain, and debug hybrid information networks that integrate Amazon AWS cloud services with on-premises resources and with other public clouds such as Microsoft Azure. Progent also offers access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to help you to build a high-uptime network architecture so your employees have a consistent computing environment whether they are working from your main office, a branch office, from home, or on the move. For information about Progent's consulting services for Amazon AWS, see Amazon AWS integration services.

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is a popular set of cloud computing services that provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco experts can assist your business to expand your existing IT assets with the Google Cloud, and Progent's DBA experts can show you how to make your key applications cloud friendly so your telecommuters can take full advantage of Google Cloud Platform services. Progent's consultants can assist your business to deploy VMs on Google Cloud Compute Engine, design an efficient storage system with GCP Storage services, and simplify identity control for teleworkers with GCP Cloud Identity. Progent's consultants can also help your organization to use GCP's unified management tools to control and monitor your GCP environment. For details, go to Google Cloud Platform consulting support.

Help Desk Services for Remote Workers
An emergency, enterprise-wide switchover to a teleworker workforce, which might be activated by a pandemic or as part of a disaster recovery preparedness plan, can overwhelm even the most efficient internal Help Desk. Progent's Help Desk services allow businesses of any size to outsource or expand their Help Desk Call Center by using Progent's remote Technical Response Center team.

• Progent's Standard Support Desk support services leverage Progent's extensive network of remote IT support specialists combined with world-class trouble ticketing and tracking technology to offer an affordable, state-of-the-art Support Desk. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services provide an end-to-end solution that addresses all facets of online Level 1 desktop technical support from initial help requests to trouble ticket creation, desktop sharing, problem resolution, and incident reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal allows telecommuters to monitor or revise their active trouble tickets, add information, and append screenshots or relevant files. Support services are provided at a substantial discount off Progent's ordinary Level 1 desktop service rates, and Progent makes available the option of rapid hand-off to Level 2 and Level 3 IT specialists to resolve complex issues. For more information, refer to Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services outsourcing for small and mid-size companies.
• Progent's Call Desk Supplemental Service enables your company to supplement your current Help Desk Call Center organization by splitting responsibilities for Support Desk support services transparently between your regular support organization and Progent's extensive roster of PC support technicians and subject matter specialists. Progent's co-managed Help Desk service is based on a collaborative support model based on the number one professional services automation tool for managing service requests and trouble tickets, assigning ownership, monitoring progress, and generating reports. To find out how Progent's Help Desk Call Center Augmentation Services can help your business to deliver world-class technical support to your from-home workers, see Progent's Support Desk augmentation Services.

Security and Compliance for At-Home Workers
At-home workers typically use their personal computers and often operate in an unsecured physical space. This situation increases their vulnerability to malware threats and requires careful deployment of corporate firewalls, AV tools, MFA-based identity verification, remote monitoring, thorough end-user education, and the creation of security policies based on best practices. Progent's seasoned group of IT security support experts can help your business to plan, deploy and manage a compliant security solution that guards vital IT assets in environments that incorporate telecommuters.

Firewalls allow you to build a network that can be safely accessed by on-premises users and by at-home workers, mobile workers, suppliers, customers, and the public. Next-generation firewall appliances permit you to configure and manage appropriate permissions to different groups of users and to scale your IT network and modify your security profile as your company evolves and as cyber threats become more complex. Progent supports both new and older security appliances from all leading vendors including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, WatchGuard, Juniper, SonicWall and Fortinet. To find out more about Progent's firewall integration expertise, refer to firewall support services.

Online Endpoint Security Monitoring makes it easy to track the various computers utilized by telecommuters and either reject or identify and mitigate modern threats such as ransomware. With Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring services, a lightweight software agent is installed on each secured endpoint device, monitoring all activity and using advanced AI technology from SentinelOne to detect zero-day threats on arrival. When an attack is spotted, ProSight ASM instantly isolates the targeted endpoint from the network to quarantine the malware. Because the ProSight ASM agent is autonomous, endpoint devices remain protected even if they are offline. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. To learn more about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, refer to remote endpoint security monitoring for remote workers.

Progent's Duo authentication Service Plans utilize Cisco's Duo technology to defend against password theft by using two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo supports one-tap identity confirmation on 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 requested to verify who you are on a device that only you possess and that is accessed using a different network channel. A wide range of devices can be used as this added form of ID validation such as a smartphone or watch, a hardware/software token, a landline telephone, etc. You can designate multiple verification devices. To find out more about Duo two-factor identity authentication services, go to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for remote workers.

Security Audits can evaluate the vulnerability of your network to all classes of outside and internal security attacks for an environment that incorporates at-home workers. Progent can deploy online, automated security inventory software for rapidly and economically uncovering a broad range of security gaps that can be found over the Internet. Progent's security assessment experts, which can be provided by security experts with advanced credentials including CISM, ISSAP, and GIAC, can help your company to evaluate your operations and governance policies and assess your WAN infrastructure to allow you to implement the highest level of protection for your an at-home workforce.

Horizon3.ai's NodeZero PEN Testing Platform is a leading-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that supports automated testing of your at-home connectivity solution as well as your internal and perimeter networks so you can identify, prioritize, remediate, and confirm security weaknesses before malicious hackers can take advantage of them. Progent's pentest experts can assist you to deploy NodeZero to perform comprehensive penetration tests of your perimeter and your internal IT infrastructure in order to determine your current security posture. Progent 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 delivers optimum cyber defense for on-premises, cloud-based, remote, and perimeter IT assets. To find out additional details about Progent's threat assessment solutions based on on NodeZero's PEN test platform, see Consulting Support for NodeZero's Penetration Test Products.

Download White Paper: Securing a Work-From-Home (WFH) Environment
To view or download a white paper about key areas to focus on for securing a network that includes work-from-home staff, click:
Securing a Work-From-Home Network White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection Solutions for Teleworkers
The field of Data Protection covers saving and restoring vital data in order to prevent data loss and reduce restoration time and effort in the event of storage system failures due to hardware issues, software hiccups, human error, malware, or other causes. Reliable data protection solutions can be especially challenging to design and maintain in hybrid environments that incorporate in-house data centers, cloud resources, and an at-home workforce.

• Backup/Recovery strategies for telecommuters must cover diverse kinds of user-owned endpoints. Progent offers quick remote access to consultants knowledgeable about a broad range of platforms for protection Windows, Apple Mac and Linux/UNIX servers and desktops as well as notebooks, iOS and Android tablets and smartphones. Leading backup/recovery products maintained by Progent's data protection consultants include Barracuda Backup, Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, Acronis Backup and Recovery, Retrospect, and Time Machine. To back up data spread throughout a hybrid network, Progent can provide ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a backup/recovery service that utilizes cloud-based storage and features granular restore and unified management.
• Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity strategies commonly anticipate scenarios that call for a rapid changeover to an at-home workforce. Progent's expert disaster recovery preparedness consultants and business continuity planning consultants can help you to create, document and validate a DR/BC strategy that includes the logistics of switching to an at-home workforce.

Unified Management for an At-Home Workforce
Microsoft has rebranded and reshuffled its endpoint management products under the name Endpoint Manager, which encompasses Intune for cloud management of remote devices and Configuration Manager for managing onsite computers. Microsoft Endpoint Manager features a centralized solution for protecting critical information by controlling local, mobile, and home-based endpoint devices.

Microsoft Intune
Intune is a component of Microsoft's Endpoint Management family that also includes Microsoft Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and protecting remote devices and applications. Managed endpoint devices can be personally owned or company owned. Network administrators managing the endpoint devices of teleworkers can utilize Intune to deploy and authenticate apps on devices, push patches and certificates, configure rules for permission to access information and networks, manage passwords, establish VPN connections, control how teleworkers share data, set up threat defense, verify security compliance, and wipe corporate information from missing, stolen or decommissioned devices. Microsoft Intune works with Apple iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS devices. For information about Intune and to find out how Progent can assist your company to use this platform to administer the devices of your telecommuters, see Intune mobile device management experts.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich centralized Mobile Device Management product that helps network managers to keep off-premises endpoints current and protected. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch for centralized endpoint administration combined with VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery platform for access control, app management, and configuration management of endpoint computers. Workspace ONE runs with devices powered by Windows 10, macOS, iOS, Google Android, Chrome OS, or popular distros of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is offered by subscription as a cloud service or as an on-site deployment via a one-time purchase. Key capabilities of VMware Workspace ONE include fast remote provisioning of new notebooks, immediate onboarding of new users, policy setting and enforcement for all classes of devices, unifies reporting and analytics, email encryption, and seamless integration with Microsoft apps and cloud services. For information about Progent's support for VMware Workspace ONE, visit VMware Workspace ONE remote endpoint management expertise.

Contact Progent for At-Home Worker Expertise
To get in touch with Progent about creating and maintaining a productive telecommuter environment for your Portland, Oregon business, call 1-800-993-9400 or refer to Contact Progent.