San Rafael Work from Home Employees Solutions Support Services

Expanding your telecommuter workforce can have a significant effect on IT infrastructure, security, and company processes. Progent has two decades of background assisting SMBs to plan, deploy, administer, tune, and troubleshoot IT environments that incorporate work-from-home employees. Progent can assist your San Rafael company to pick the right technologies and follow leading practices in building and operating a safe virtual office solution for teleworkers that facilitates collaboration and returns top value. Progent can provide support services ranging from on demand guidance for helping you over challenging IT roadblocks to full project management to help you carry out business-critical tasks.

Progent's consultants can help San Rafael, California organizations to succeed with any facet of creating a high-performing telecommuting environment by providing network infrastructure configuration services, IP voice expertise, voice/video conferencing support, collaboration platform customization and training, public cloud connectivity, helpdesk outsourcing, data security, backup/restore solutions, and centralized management.

Infrastructure for an At-Home Workforce
Integrating the network infrastructure needed to support an at-home work environment can be especially challenging if you must accommodate a combination of personal hardware such as desktop computers and laptops, Internet routers, and Wi-Fi APs from various manufacturers and with a mix of OS software and firmware releases. Progent's experience delivering remote help for both outdated as well as current technologies in virtual office venues enables you to make efficient use of your available infrastructure and offers fast access to top-tire consultants for making essential upgrades. Support services available from Progent to assist your company to implement a high-functioning work-at-home infrastructure include:

• Virtual Private Network connectivity allows you to create a safe connection for authenticated at-home workers to use IT resources situated at your corporate datacenter or in the cloud. Progent can help your company to configure and maintain VPN access between your at-home workforce and your key IT resources by providing remote VPN configuration consulting. For organizations using Cisco's ASA security appliances, Progent's Cisco-certified ASA Firewall consultants can help your telecommuters to utilize Cisco's popular AnyConnect client software for safe VPN tunneling for a broad selection of devices such as Windows, Mac, iOS, Linux, and Google Android.
• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure products allow a telecommuter to see and interact with a data center PC's desktop. This technology gives network managers more control over the computing environment of at-home employees and ensures them a consistent and more productive experience. Progent's VDI services include Windows Remote Desktop support and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops expertise.
• Routers connect home computer networks to the Internet and support VPN tunnels, home Wi-Fi connectivity, and firewalls. Progent offers top-tier online support for setting up home routers from a range of vendors. See router integration services from Cisco-certified consultants.
• Home Wireless networks, typically supporting an entire household and guests, are commonly utilized by at-home employees to connect to their router for work. This can create throughput as well as cybersecurity problems. Progent can assist you to mitigate these issues by delivering services like Aironet configuration consulting, Cisco Meraki WiFi installation expertise, and Ubiquiti Unifi wireless access point integration assistance.
• Internet access solutions affect the speed and availability of connections between telecommuters and the corporate data center. Mission-critical processes may require redundant Internet access in the event the normal connection fails. Progent can provide guidance for identifying Internet service providers, selecting appropriate service packages, and integrating fault-tolerant Internet connections. Refer to Internet access solutions.

VoIP Integration for Teleworkers
Extending the corporate phone environment to include teleworkers is critical to supporting an effective work-at-home solution. A variety of cloud-centric VoIP platforms are popular with SMBs to support telecommuters. Many larger organizations depend on Cisco's modern or older products for VoIP management. Progent can help businesses of all sizes to plan or tune a telecommuter IP voice environment that provides the flexibility, convenience and protection needed for telecommuters. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE Voice consultants offer advanced support to help organizations optimize their current Cisco IP voice systems to handle a growing remote workforce.

• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM) extends advanced telephony capabilities to devices like IP phones, media processing products, VoIP gateways, and mixed media applications used throughout the network. Unified Communications Manager supports additional combined media services like unified messaging, voice/video conferencing, and customer collaboration networks. For more information about Progent's Unified Communications Manager expertise, refer to CUCM expertise.
• CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing software and has been replaced by Cisco Unified CM or CUCM. Progent's consultants can assist your company to maintain your existing CallManager environment or upgrade efficiently to Cisco's modern IP telephony solutions. To learn about Progent's support services for Cisco CallManager and Cisco's other early VoIP products, refer to CallManager expertise.
• Cisco IP Gateways enable connectivity with PSTN networks and with clients working beyond the corporate perimeter such as telecommuters. Progent can provide expert support for Cisco's legacy IP gateways such as the UC520, UC540 and UC560 products as well as for modern Cisco SIP gateways. See Cisco SIP gateway configuration consulting.
• Additional VoIP Products supported by Progent's consultants include Vonage, RingCentral and 8x8. Progent can help you to enhance your WAN infrastructure to support these VoIP solutions and deliver online configuration and troubleshooting expertise.

Voice/Video Conferencing for At-Home Workers
A wide range of voice/video conferencing platforms from leading technology companies enable online meetings, video and voice conferencing, chat, and screen/content sharing for both local users and at-home workers. Many companies utilize multiple conferencing products to accommodate their various partners and customers. Progent's communications experts can assist your organization to maintain your existing voice/video conferencing ecosystem and optimize the engagement of your at-home employees.

• Skype for Business is Microsoft's popular communications platform that enables presence, instant messaging, voice and video conferencing as well as the transparent integration of these functions within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 applications such as PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook. Progent can provide the expertise of Microsoft-certified specialists who can assist you to set up and maintain Skype for Business client software to support your at-home workforce. To learn more about Progent's consulting expertise for Skype for Business, refer to Skype for Business consulting experts.
• FaceTime is Apple's multiuser video calling app for iOS and macOS computers and smartphones. FaceTime works on Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Later editions of FaceTime allow as many as 32 concurrent users for voice/video calls. For details about Progent's consulting services for Apple FaceTime, see Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
• Webex Meeting Center supports online conferencing for virtually all computing devices. Delivered via Cisco's Webex Cloud platform, Webex services include sharing discrete content or screens, presentations that incorporate rich media including Microsoft PowerPoint and Flash videos, network-based capture, plus editing and playback for training. To learn more about Progent's consulting expertise for Cisco Webex as well as for other 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 conferencing, contacts, and content with capabilities that include voice/video calling, persistent chat, plus file sharing. For details about Progent's support expertise for Teams and for other Microsoft 365 apps, see Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
• Additional Conferencing Platforms supported by Progent's conferencing experts include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can deliver configuration and debugging services for these conferencing platforms and assist you to optimize your network infrastructure to run them.

Microsoft Collaboration Software for Remote and Hybrid Workers
Microsoft's collaboration products are closely integrated with Microsoft's popular Office and Microsoft 365 suites, providing a powerful environment of productivity apps that create a cohesive user interface for exchanging data and ideas throughout multiple sites and on a broad range of endpoints. Progent has provided online consulting support for Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange Server since their first publication and can help your company 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 with Microsoft 365 and integrates with third-party cloud services to provide real-time collaboration. Designed as a substitute for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium can enable chat, audio/video meetings with screen sharing, phone calls, cloud voicemail, group email, as well as file and application sharing. Teams is tightly integrated with Microsoft 365 and depends on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Microsoft Entra (formerly called Azure Active Directory) for supporting its complete range of features. For additional information about Progent's support services for Microsoft Teams, see planning and configuration expertise for Microsoft Teams.

SharePoint utilizes web entities to facilitate collaboration and information delivery by providing policy-driven access to data, business processes, and tools for looking through enterprise-wide information silos. SharePoint permits you to create protected portals that enables at-home workers to view and update consolidated business intelligence via Intranets (Wikis), Blogs, social sites, and Web Parts. For information about Progent's SharePoint consulting services, go to SharePoint configuration and application 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 learn about Progent's Exchange consulting expertise, refer to deployment consulting for Exchange.

OneDrive is Microsoft�s collaborative cloud-based file hosting and synchronization service, comparable to GoogleDrive. At-home users can store files to the OneDrive service, and co-workers can retrieve them securely via a web browser. Included with Microsoft 365, OneDrive enables at-home employees to co-edit files. Revisions made offline are synced when you reconnect to the Internet. For information about Progent's consulting expertise for OneDrive, refer to Microsoft Onedrive configuration consulting.

Public Cloud Integration for Telecommuters
Progent can provide advanced remote support for helping businesses to build, manage and repair cohesive hybrid network models that incorporate physical data centers, remote workers, branch offices, plus public cloud resources. Progent offers expertise for all modes of cloud service such as Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service. Progent can help at-home workers fix issues with public cloud access, identity, and cybersecurity.

Microsoft Azure is a leading family of cloud services that allows you to utilize IT infrastructure, servers, and key apps hosted on Microsoft's massive cloud. Azure includes over one hundred cloud-based services including hosting for Windows and Linux-based virtual machines, on-demand cloud storage, email and messaging, application development with Visual Studio, and backup/restore. Progent can assist you to set up virtual machines on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate cloud-based storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity control with Azure AD, and plan data backup and recovery solutions with Azure Backup. Progent's cloud experts can also show you how to establish secure connections to Azure services for at-home workers by configuring and debugging firewall appliances and VPN tunnels. For information about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft Azure, refer to Azure consulting.

Microsoft 365, formerly branded Office 365, is Microsoft's popular family of business productivity applications and cloud services available on a subscription basis. Microsoft apps and services are provided in a variety of plans designed for customers ranging from individuals and households to large corporations. Progent can provide quick and easy online access to experts familiar with Microsoft 365-compatible devices based on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android technology. Progent's experts can assist you to evaluate the numerous subscription plans available for Microsoft 365 and configure 365 apps for your at-home workers to achieve maximum business value. To learn about Progent's support services for Microsoft 365, visit Microsoft 365 consulting support.

Exchange Online is one of the most popular applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product line. Exchange Online provides the benefits of lower costs for data center infrastructure, simplified management, dynamic scaling, high reliability, and other advantages associated with cloud computing. Microsoft has engineered Microsoft 365 Exchange Online to run smoothly with local Exchange environments, allowing customers to build hybrid networks. Progent's certified Exchange consultants can provide as-needed help to guide you through challenging IT roadblocks and can also provide comprehensive project management outsourcing to make sure your teleworkers have easy and secure access to your Microsoft 365 Exchange Online environment. To learn Progent's consulting expertise for Exchange Online, go to Exchange Online integration and troubleshooting expertise.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a pioneer in the public cloud computing arena and is the industry's leading provider of cloud services. Progent can provide quick and economical online contact with cloud connectivity consultants who can help your organization to plan, implement, manage, and troubleshoot hybrid IT networks that integrate Amazon AWS cloud services with local data centers and with other popular cloud platforms like Microsoft Azure. Progent also offers access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to assist your company to create a high-availability network model to make sure your users have a productive computing experience whether they are working from your headquarters, a remote branch, at home, or on the road. For information about Progent's consulting expertise for Amazon AWS, refer to Amazon AWS integration support.

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is a leading set of public cloud services that offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco consulting experts can help your business to expand your existing IT assets with the Google Cloud, and Progent's DBA experts can show you how to make your mission-critical apps cloud friendly so your teleworkers can take full advantage of Google Cloud Platform services. Progent can help your business to set up virtual machines on Google Cloud Compute Engine, design an efficient storage solution with Google Cloud Storage services, and simplify identity control for at-home workers with Google Cloud Identity services. Progent can also assist your organization to use GCP's management technology to control and monitor your Google Cloud ecosystem. To find out, go to Google Cloud Platform integration services.

Help Desk Call Center Services for At-Home Workers
A rapid, enterprise-wide changeover to a from-home workforce, which might be motivated by an epidemic or as part of a disaster recovery preparedness plan, can overwhelm even a well-staffed internal Call Desk. Progent's Help Desk services allow organizations to outsource or augment their Call Center with Progent's remote Technical Response Center (TRC) team.

• Progent's Standard Call Desk support services utilize Progent's nationwide network of remote IT support experts combined with world-class ticketing and follow-up technology to offer an affordable, state-of-the-art Call Desk. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services provide an end-to-end solution that handles all facets of remote Level 1 PC technical support from initial service requests through ticket generation, desktop sharing, problem resolution, and incident reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal allows at-home employees to check or edit their current trouble tickets, add details, and append screenshots and attachments. Technical support services are provided at a significant discount off Progent's normal Level 1 desktop support charges, and Progent makes available the option of fast escalation to Level 2 and Level 3 IT experts to deal with advanced issues. To learn more, go to Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services outsourcing for small and mid-size companies.
• Progent's Support Desk Augmentation Service allows your business to expand your current Help Desk Call Center team by splitting delivery of Call Desk support services seamlessly between your regular IT support organization and Progent's nationwide pool of desktop support engineers and subject matter specialists. Progent's co-managed Call Desk service uses a collective support solution utilizing the leading professional services automation (PSA) tool for managing help requests and ticketing, establishing responsibility, monitoring progress, and producing management reports. To learn how Progent's Call Desk Augmentation Services can help your company to provide best-in-class technical support to your at-home employees, refer to Progent's Support Desk supplementation Services.

Cybersecurity for At-Home Workers
At-home employees typically utilize their personal devices and usually work in a poorly secured physical space. This situation multiplies their vulnerability to cyber attacks and calls for careful deployment of firewalls, AV tools, multi-factor authentication, remote endpoint monitoring, thorough end-user education, and the development of security policies based on best practices. Progent's seasoned roster of IT security solutions consultants can help your business to plan, deploy and manage a compliant cybersecurity solution that protects critical information assets in environments that include at-home workers.

Firewalls allow you to build a network that can be securely accessed by local users as well as by teleworkers, mobile employees, vendors, customers, and the public. Modern firewall appliances allow you to assign and manage appropriate access rights to various groups of users and to scale your IT network and modify your security as your business evolves and as network attacks grow increasingly sophisticated. Progent supports both current and older security appliances from all leading vendors including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, WatchGuard, Juniper, SonicWall and Fortinet. For more information about Progent's firewall configuration services, see firewall integration and support expertise.

Remote Endpoint Monitoring makes it possible to track the various devices used by at-home workers and either reject or identify and mitigate the latest cyber attacks such as ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) services, a small-footprint software agent is installed on each secured endpoint, watching all activity and utilizing advanced AI technology from SentinelOne to identify zero-day attacks at inception. When an attack is discovered, ProSight ASM immediately disconnects the infected device from the network to quarantine the malware. Since the ProSight Active Security Monitoring agent is self-contained, endpoints stay protected even when they are disconnected from the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. For details about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, refer to remote endpoint monitoring for teleworkers.

Progent's Duo MFA Services incorporate Cisco's Duo technology to protect against stolen passwords through the use of two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo enables single-tap identity verification with Apple iOS, Google Android, and other personal devices. Using Duo 2FA, when you sign into a protected application and enter your password you are asked to verify who you are on a device that only you possess and that is accessed using a different network channel. A wide selection of devices can be used for this added means of ID validation such as an iPhone or Android or wearable, a hardware/software token, a landline phone, etc. You can register several validation devices. For details about ProSight Duo identity validation services, go to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for telecommuters.

Security Audits can evaluate the exposure of your network to all classes of outside and local security attacks for a network that includes telecommuters. Progent can deploy remote, automated security analysis software for quickly and affordably uncovering a wide variety of security gaps that can be found over the Internet. Progent's endpoint security audit consulting services, which can be provided by network security professionals with advanced credentials such as CISM, ISSAP, and GIAC, can help you to audit your processes and policies and assess your IT architecture to allow you to design the highest level of security 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 environment and your internal and perimeter networks to help you find, rank, fix, and confirm cybersecurity vulnerabilities before threat actors can exploit them. Progent's pentest experts can help you to deploy NodeZero to perform thorough pentests of your network perimeter and your internal IT infrastructure in order to evaluate your present security posture. Progent's NodeZero experts can also assist you to strengthen your existing network security and can assist you to design and implement a cohesive cybersecurity ecosystem that streamlines management and provides maximum protection for on-prem, multi-cloud, at-home, and perimeter IT resources. To learn more information about Progent's vulnerability analysis solutions powered by on NodeZero's pentest platform, see Consulting Support for NodeZero's Pentest Platform.

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

Data Protection Solutions for Remote Workers
The field of Data Protection involves backing up and restoring critical information in order to prevent data loss and reduce restoration time in the event of storage system failures resulting from hardware issues, programming glitches, user error, malware, or other causes. Reliable data protection strategies can be especially difficult to architect and manage in hybrid networks that combine local data centers, cloud resources, and an at-home workforce.

• Backup/Restore strategies for an at-home workforce must cover diverse kinds of personally owned endpoint devices. Progent offers fast online access to experts familiar with a wide array of products for protection Windows, Apple and Linux/UNIX servers and desktop computers as well as laptops, tablets and handhelds. Popular backup/restore products supported by Progent's data protection consultants include Barracuda Backup, Microsoft Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, Acronis Backup and Recovery, Mozy, and Time Machine. To protect resources spread across a wide area network, Progent can provide ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a backup/recovery subscription service that utilizes cloud-based storage and includes granular recovery and unified management capabilities.
• Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity (DR/BC) plans commonly anticipate circumstances that require a temporary switch to telecommuting. Progent's expert disaster recovery planning consultants and business continuity consultants can assist your company to develop, document and validate a DR/BC strategy that includes the process of moving to an at-home workforce.

Unified Management for an At-Home Workforce
Microsoft has renamed and rebundled its endpoint management platforms under the title Endpoint Manager, which includes Intune for cloud management of remote endpoints and Configuration Manager for managing on-premises computers. Endpoint Manager offers a unified environment for protecting critical information by controlling on-premises, mobile, and home-based 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 off-premises devices and software. Managed endpoint devices can be user owned or company owned. Network admins managing the endpoint devices of at-home workers can use Intune to deploy and validate applications on managed devices, push patches and certificates, set up policies for permission to access information and networks, manage passwords, create VPN tunnels, control how home-based workers share data, establish threat defense, verify compliance, and delete sensitive information from lost, stolen or decommissioned endpoint devices. Intune works with iOS/iPadOS, Google Android, Windows, and macOS computers. For details about Intune and how Progent can assist your company to use this platform to administer the endpoint computers of your at-home workforce, see Intune mobile endpoint management consultants.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is an advanced unified Mobile Device Management product that allows network managers to keep off-premises endpoints up to date and protected. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch technology for unified endpoint administration along with VMware's Horizon virtual application delivery technology for authorization control, app management, and setup management of endpoints. Workspace ONE operates with devices powered by Windows 10, macOS, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, or leading distributions of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is offered by subscription as a cloud service or as an on-premises deployment through a one-time purchase. Top features of VMware Workspace ONE include rapid remote deployment of new notebooks, quick onboarding of new employees, policy set up and enforcement for all categories of endpoints, aggregated management reporting and analytics, an email encryption gateway, and integration with Microsoft apps and cloud-based products. For details about Progent's support for VMware Workspace ONE, see VMware Workspace ONE remote device management expertise.

Contact Progent for Remote Workforce Support Services
To get in touch with Progent about creating and maintaining an efficient work-from-home solution for your San Rafael, California business, phone 1-800-993-9400 or go to Contact Progent.