Ontario Remote Workforce Configuration Support Partner

Expanding your remote workforce may have a major impact on network infrastructure, security/compliance, and company processes. Progent has two decades of background assisting small and mid-size businesses to design, configure, manage, optimize, and debug IT networks that support a remote workforce. Progent can help your Ontario organization to pick the right tools and follow best practices in creating and maintaining a secure virtual office solution for telecommuters that promotes collaboration and returns maximum business value. Progent can provide support services ranging from on demand expertise for getting you over occasional IT roadblocks to full project management to help you carry out business-critical tasks.

Progent can help Ontario, California companies to succeed with any aspect of creating a high-functioning remote work environment by delivering infrastructure configuration services, IP voice expertise, voice/video conferencing integration, collaboration platform customization and training, cloud integration, helpdesk augmentation, security monitoring, data protection solutions, and streamlined management.

Network Infrastructure for a Remote Workforce
Integrating the physical and software infrastructure required for an at-home workforce can be particularly complex if you must manage a combination of worker-owned hardware such as desktop computers and laptops, Internet routers, and wireless APs from various manufacturers and with a variety of operating systems and firmware levels. Progent's experience delivering remote help for both outdated as well as modern IT products in virtual office solutions enables you to make cost-effective use of your existing infrastructure and offers fast access to top-tire consultants for making necessary updates. Services offered by Progent to help you to create a productive telecommuting ecosystem include:

• Virtual Private Network technology allows you to establish a safe connection for authorized remote workers to access IT resources situated at your corporate datacenter or in the cloud. Progent can help your company to deploy and manage VPN access between your teleworkers and your various network resources by providing remote VPN integration support. For businesses with Cisco's ASA security appliances, Progent's Cisco-certified ASA Firewall experts can help your at-home workers to utilize Cisco's AnyConnect software to provide secure VPN tunneling for a wide range of endpoint devices including Microsoft Windows, Mac, iOS, Linux, and Google Android.
• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure platforms enable a telecommuter to see and use a remote PC's desktop. This gives IT managers more control over the digital ecosystem of at-home employees and offers them a consistent and more productive experience. Progent's virtual desktop consulting services include Windows Remote Desktop support and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI consulting.
• Routers attach at-home computer networks to the Internet and support VPN tunnels, home wireless networks, and firewall services. Progent can provide top-tier online support for setting up home routers from all major manufacturers. See router integration services from Cisco-certified consultants.
• Home Wi-Fi networks, typically supporting the whole family and visitors, are commonly used by at-home employees to connect to their router for work. This can create throughput as well as cybersecurity issues. Progent can help businesses to resolve these issues by delivering expertise like Aironet configuration expertise, Cisco-certified Meraki WiFi installation consulting, and Ubiquiti wireless AP integration help.
• Internet connectivity solutions affect the speed and reliability of connections between at-home workers and the company network. Business-critical processes might demand redundant Internet connections in case the normal connection breaks. Progent offers guidance for identifying Internet service providers, choosing appropriate bandwidth and data volume offerings, and setting up high-availability Internet connections. Refer to Internet access integration services.

VoIP Integration for Remote Workers
Expanding the business PBX environment to include teleworkers is critical to maintaining a productive at-home workforce. A broad range of cloud-centric digital PBX products are used by SMBs to support teleworkers. Many enterprises rely on Cisco's modern or older platforms for VoIP solutions. Progent can help businesses of any size to design or tune a remote VoIP service that delivers the versatility, convenience and protection required for teleworkers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE Voice experts offer high-level support to help organizations optimize their current Cisco IP voice environments to handle an expanding remote workforce.

• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM) extends enterprise telephony capabilities to devices like VoIP phones, media processing platforms, Voice over IP gateways, and multimedia applications deployed across the network. CUCM manages other mixed media services like messaging, voice/video conferencing, and customer collaboration networks. For more information about Progent's Cisco Unified CM or CUCM support, refer to Cisco Unified Communications Manager consultants.
• Cisco CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing agent and has been superseded by Cisco Unified CM or CUCM. Progent's consultants can help you to support your existing CallManager deployment or upgrade efficiently to Cisco's modern IP telephony solutions. To learn about Progent's expertise for CallManager and Cisco's other early IP voice products, refer to CallManager expertise.
• Cisco IP Gateways provide integration with public telephony networks and with clients working outside the corporate perimeter such as telecommuters. Progent offers expert support for Cisco's legacy IP gateways like the UC520, UC540 and UC560 product lines as well as for modern Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco SIP gateway integration expertise.
• Additional VoIP Products supported by Progent include Vonage, RingCentral and 8x8. Progent can assist you to enhance your WAN architecture to support these VoIP solutions and deliver as-needed integration and debugging services.

Video Conferencing for Telecommuters
A wide range of video conferencing products from major technology companies enable virtual discussions, video and voice conferencing, chat, and screen sharing for both onsite users and at-home workers. Many organizations utilize a mix of products to accommodate their different partners and clients. Progent's communications experts can help you to maintain your existing conferencing ecosystem and enhance the productivity of your at-home employees.

• Skype for Business is Microsoft's popular unified communications platform that enables presence, instant messaging, audio and video calling and conferencing as well as the transparent integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 applications such as PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. Progent offers the skills of Microsoft-certified specialists who can help you to set up and manage Skype for Business clients to support your remote workforce. For details about Progent's support services for Skype for Business, see Skype for Business integration experts.
• FaceTime is Apple's multiuser video calling platform for compatible iOS, iPadOS, iPod and Mac computers and smartphones. FaceTime works over Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Later versions of FaceTime support 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 online conferencing for virtually all desktop or mobile devices. Offered via Cisco's Webex Cloud, Webex capabilities include sharing specific content or computer screens, presentations that embed rich media such as Microsoft PowerPoint and Flash videos, network-based capture, plus revision and playback for future reference. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Webex and for additional IP video solutions from Cisco, refer to 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 capabilities that include video conferencing, threaded chat, plus data sharing. To learn more about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft Teams and for additional Microsoft 365 apps, see Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
• Additional Conferencing Platforms supported by Progent include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can deliver integration and troubleshooting services for these conferencing platforms and help you to optimize your network architecture to run them.

Microsoft Collaboration Software for At-Home Workers
Microsoft's collaboration platforms are tightly integrated with Microsoft's popular Office and Microsoft 365 families, providing a powerful environment of productivity apps that create a consistent user experience for exchanging data and ideas across a corporate network and on a broad range of endpoint computers. Progent has provided online consulting support for Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange since their original publication and can assist your company to configure these flagship collaboration platforms to optimize the effectiveness of your at-home 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 provide real-time collaboration. Designed as a substitute for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium can support chat, video meetings that include screen sharing, calling, 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 (formerly called Azure Active Directory) for delivering its full range of capabilities. For additional information about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft Teams, see solution design and configuration consulting for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium.

SharePoint utilizes web entities to enable collaboration and knowledge sharing by offering policy-driven access to content, workflow, and tools for searching through company-wide business data. SharePoint enables you to create secure portals that allows at-home workers to view and update consolidated business intelligence via Intranets (Wikis), Blogs, social networking web sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). For details about Progent's SharePoint expertise, refer 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 support services, go to deployment expertise for Exchange.

OneDrive is Microsoft�s shared cloud-based storage service, comparable to GoogleDrive. At-home workers can save files to OneDrive, and colleagues can retrieve them safely through a browser. Included with Office 365, OneDrive allows at-home workers to co-author files. Edits created offline are synced when you go back online. For details about Progent's support services for Microsoft OneDrive, go to Onedrive integration experts.

Cloud Integration Services for At-Home Workers
Progent can provide advanced remote assistance for helping organizations to create, maintain and repair cohesive hybrid network models that combine internal data centers, teleworkers, branches, and cloud services. Progent can provide expertise for all modes of public cloud service delivery including Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service. Progent can help at-home workers fix problems with cloud connectivity, identity, and cybersecurity.

Azure is a popular platform for cloud services that enables you to use IT infrastructure, virtual servers, and key applications running on Microsoft's massive cloud. Azure offers more than 100 cloud-based services such as hosting for Windows and Linux-powered virtual machines, scalable cloud storage, messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and data protection. Progent can assist your organization to deploy VMs on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate cloud-based storage on Azure Storage services, streamline identity control with Azure AD, and plan data backup and restore solutions with Azure Backup. Progent can also help you create protected access to Azure services for remote workers by configuring and troubleshooting firewalls and VPN tunnels. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Azure, visit Microsoft Azure expertise.

Microsoft 365, formerly branded Office 365, is Microsoft's growing family of client productivity software and cloud-based services offered by subscription. Office applications and services are provided in a selection of plans intended for users ranging from individuals and households to large corporations. Progent can provide quick and affordable online access to experts familiar with Microsoft 365-compatible devices running Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android technology. Progent's experts can assist your business to assess 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 consulting services for Microsoft 365, refer to Microsoft 365 integration services.

Exchange Online is among the most widely used applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product line. Microsoft 365 Exchange Online provides the advantages of reduced spending for data center infrastructure, easier management, dynamic scaling, high availability, and other benefits inherent with public clouds. Microsoft has engineered Exchange Online to run smoothly with on-premises deployments of Exchange, allowing customers to create hybrid cloud/onsite information systems. Progent's Exchange consultants are available for as-needed help to get you through challenging IT bottlenecks and also offer end-to-end project management outsourcing to ensure your remote workers have convenient and safe access to your Exchange Online environment. To find out Progent's support services for Exchange Online, see Microsoft 365 Exchange Online configuration and support expertise.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a trailblazer in the public cloud computing market and is the world's biggest provider of cloud services. Progent offers quick and affordable online access to cloud integration consultants who can help your organization to design, deploy, maintain, and troubleshoot hybrid information networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with local resources and with other public clouds such as Azure. Progent also offers access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking consultants to help your company to build a high-uptime network model to make sure your users have a productive computing environment whether they are working from your main office, a branch office, at home, or on the move. For information about Progent's support services for Amazon AWS, see Amazon AWS integration services.

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is a popular set of public cloud services that provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products. Progent's certified Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco experts can help you to scale your existing IT assets with the Google Cloud, and Progent's DBA experts can help you make your key applications cloud friendly so your teleworkers can take full advantage of Google Cloud services. Progent's consultants can assist you to deploy VMs on Google Cloud Compute Engine, design a cost-effective storage system with GCP Storage, and streamline identity control for at-home workers with GCP Cloud Identity services. Progent's experts can also assist your business to use GCP's management tools to control and track your Google Cloud environment. For details, refer to Google Cloud Platform integration expertise.

Help Desk Services for Telecommuters
A sudden, company-wide switchover to a from-home business model, which could be the result of an epidemic or as part of a disaster recovery preparedness plan, can overstretch even a high-performing internal Support Desk. Progent's Call Center services make it possible for organizations of any size to outsource or expand their Help Desk with Progent's remote Technical Response Center team.

• Progent's Standard Help Desk services leverage Progent's extensive network of remote technical support specialists along with world-class ticketing and follow-up technology to provide an affordable, state-of-the-art Help Desk. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services provide a comprehensive solution that handles all facets of remote Level 1 PC support from initial help requests through ticket creation, desktop sharing, issue resolution, and reporting. A browser-based User's Service Portal enables teleworkers to monitor or update their active tickets, enter details, and upload screen captures or relevant files. Desktop support services are provided at a significant price reduction off Progent's normal Level 1 desktop support rates, and Progent offers optional rapid hand-off to Level 2 and Level 3 IT experts to deal with complex issues. For more information, go to Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services for small and mid-size companies.
• Progent's Help Desk Supplemental Service enables you to augment your current Support Desk organization by splitting delivery of Call Center services transparently between your in-house support staff and Progent's nationwide roster of desktop support engineers and subject matter specialists. Progent's shared Support Desk service uses a co-sourcing support solution based on the leading professional services automation platform for handling service requests and ticketing, assigning ownership, monitoring progress, and generating reports. To learn how Progent's Support Desk Augmentation Services can help your company to provide best-in-class technical support to your teleworkers, visit Progent's Support Desk supplementation Services.

Cybersecurity for Telecommuters
Work-from-Home employees commonly use their personal devices and usually work in a poorly secured physical space. This multiplies their vulnerability to malware attacks and requires careful deployment of firewalls, AV tools, multi-factor authentication, remote endpoint monitoring, extensive user training, and the creation of policies built on best practices. Progent's seasoned team of IT security support consultants can help your business to design, implement and maintain an effective security solution that guards vital IT resources in networks that incorporate remote workers.

Firewalls enable you to build a network that can be safely utilized by on-premises users and by telecommuters, mobile workers, vendors, customers, and the public. Next-generation firewall devices permit you to assign and manage different access rights to various groups of users and to scale your IT network and adjust your security profile as your business evolves and as cyber threats grow more sophisticated. Progent supports both new and legacy firewall appliances from all leading manufacturers including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Juniper, and Fortinet. For more information about Progent's firewall support expertise, see firewall configuration and support services.

Online Endpoint Security Monitoring makes it possible to track the various devices used by teleworkers and either block or spot and respond to modern cyber attacks such as ransomware. With Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) services, a lightweight software agent is put on each secured endpoint, watching all activity and using advanced AI technology from SentinelOne to detect zero-day threats before they can spread. When an attack is discovered, ProSight ASM immediately disconnects the infected device from the network to quarantine the threat. Because the ProSight ASM software agent is self-contained, endpoints remain protected even if they are disconnected from the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. To find out more about ProSight ASM, see remote endpoint security monitoring for an at-home workforce.

Progent's Duo MFA Managed Services utilize Cisco's Duo cloud technology to protect against stolen passwords by using two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo supports one-tap identity confirmation with Apple iOS, Google Android, and other out-of-band devices. Using Duo 2FA, whenever you log into a protected application and enter your password you are requested to confirm who you are via a unit that only you have and that uses a different network channel. A broad range of out-of-band devices can be used for this second form of ID validation such as an iPhone or Android or wearable, a hardware token, a landline phone, etc. You can register multiple verification devices. To learn more about Duo two-factor identity authentication services, refer to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for telecommuters.

Security Audits can evaluate the vulnerability of your information system to all types of outside and internal security threats for an environment that incorporates an at-home workforce. Progent can deploy remote, automated cybersecurity analysis software for quickly and affordably detecting a broad range of security holes that can be found over the Internet. Progent's security assessment consulting services, which can be managed by security professionals with top certifications such as CISA, CISSP, and GIAC, can assist your business to audit your workflows and policies and review your network architecture to enable you to design top-level security for your telecommuters.

Horizon3.ai's NodeZero Pentest Platform is a cutting-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that can deliver automated testing of your at-home environment and your internal and perimeter networks so you can identify, prioritize, fix, and verify security weaknesses before threat actors can take advantage of them. Progent's pentest experts can help you to use NodeZero to perform comprehensive penetration tests of your network perimeter and your internal IT infrastructure so you can evaluate your current security profile. Progent can also assist you to strengthen your network security and can assist you to plan and deploy a cohesive cybersecurity ecosystem that simplifies management and provides maximum protection for on-premises, cloud-based, remote, and perimeter IT resources. To find out additional information about Progent's vulnerability analysis solutions powered by on NodeZero's pentest products, refer to Consulting Support for NodeZero's Penetration Test Platform.

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

Data Protection for Remote Workers
Data Protection covers backing up and recovering critical information so as to prevent data loss and minimize restoration time and effort in the event of storage failures resulting from equipment breakdowns, software hiccups, user mistakes, cyber attack, or any other reason. Dependable data protection strategies can be particularly challenging to architect and manage in hybrid environments that combine in-house data centers, public clouds, and at-home workers.

• Backup/Restore solutions for at-home workers must address multiple kinds of personally owned endpoints. Progent can provide quick online access to consultants familiar with a broad range of products for protection Windows, Apple Mac and Linux/UNIX servers and desktops as well as laptops, tablets and handhelds. Popular backup/recovery products supported by Progent's backup/recovery consultants include Barracuda Backup, Microsoft Azure Backup, Symantec Backup Exec, Acronis Backup and Recovery, Retrospect, and Time Machine. To back up resources spread throughout a wide area network, Progent offers ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a managed backup/recovery service that uses cloud-based storage and features granular recovery and unified management.
• Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity (DR/BC) strategies typically anticipate scenarios that call for a temporary changeover to an at-home workforce. Progent's expert disaster recovery preparedness consultants and business continuity consultants can help your business to produce, document and validate a DR/BC strategy that includes the process of switching to telecommuting.

Unified Management for At-Home Workers
Microsoft has rebranded and rebundled its endpoint management platforms under the name Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which includes Intune for cloud management of mobile and remote endpoints and Configuration Manager for managing local endpoints. Microsoft Endpoint Manager provides a unified solution for safeguarding corporate data by managing local, mobile, and at-home endpoint devices.

Microsoft Intune
Intune is part of Microsoft's Endpoint Management suite that also includes Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and securing mobile computers and applications. Managed endpoint computers can be personally owned or company owned. IT administrators managing the endpoint devices of at-home workers can utilize Intune to deploy and authenticate applications on devices, push updates and certificates, set up rules for accessing information and resources, set passwords, establish VPN tunnels, control how teleworkers share data, establish threat defense, verify compliance, and wipe corporate data from missing, stolen or decommissioned devices. Intune works with iOS, Google Android, Windows, and macOS endpoints. For information about Intune and to find out how Progent can help your company to use Microsoft's Endpoint Management to administer the endpoint computers of your at-home workforce, see Intune remote endpoint management consultants.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich centralized MDM platform that allows network managers to keep offsite endpoints current and protected. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch technology for unified endpoint management along with VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery technology for access control, application management, and configuration management of endpoint computers. Workspace ONE runs with endpoints based on 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 perpetual license. Top features of VMware Workspace ONE include rapid remote deployment of new notebooks, quick onboarding of new users, policy setting and enforcement for all classes of devices, unifies management reporting and performance analytics, email encryption, and tight integration with Microsoft apps and cloud-based products. To find out about Progent's support for VMware Workspace ONE, visit VMware Workspace ONE mobile endpoint management expertise.

Contact Progent for At-Home Worker Support Services
To contact Progent about building and managing a productive work-from-home environment for your Ontario, California business, call 1-800-993-9400 or refer to Contact Progent.