San Diego UCSD Remote Workers Connectivity Consulting Experts

Expanding your telecommuter workforce may have a significant effect on network architecture, security, and company culture. Progent has 20 years of experience assisting small and mid-size businesses to design, deploy, administer, optimize, and troubleshoot IT environments that incorporate work-from-home employees. Progent can assist your San Diego UCSD organization to select the appropriate tools and follow leading practices in building and maintaining a secure virtual ecosystem for teleworkers that facilitates teamwork and returns maximum value. Progent offers services that go from on demand expertise for helping you past challenging IT bottlenecks to comprehensive project management or co-management to help you carry out mission-critical tasks.

Progent can help San Diego UCSD, California organizations to succeed with any aspect of creating a high-performing telecommuting ecosystem by delivering infrastructure configuration services, IP voice troubleshooting, voice/video conferencing integration, collaboration platform selection and deployment, cloud integration, Call Desk outsourcing, security monitoring, backup/restore solutions, and unified management.

Network Infrastructure for a Remote Workforce
Configuring the network infrastructure required to support an at-home workforce can be especially complex if you have to manage a mix of worker-owned hardware like PCs and laptops, Internet routers, and wireless appliances from different vendors and with a variety of operating systems and firmware levels. Progent's background providing remote support for both outdated as well as current IT products in virtual office venues allows you to make cost-effective use of your existing infrastructure and provides you with fast access to expertise for implement necessary updates. Support services available from Progent to help you to create a productive work-at-home ecosystem include:

• Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology makes it possible to establish a secure connection for authorized at-home workers to access IT assets situated at your company datacenter or in a public cloud. Progent can assist your company to configure and maintain VPN connections between your teleworkers and your various network resources by providing online VPN configuration support. For businesses with Cisco's ASA firewalls, Progent's Cisco ASA experts can assist your telecommuters to utilize Cisco's popular AnyConnect software for safe VPN connections for a broad selection of endpoint devices including Microsoft Windows, macOS, iOS, Linux, and Android.
• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure platforms enable a telecommuter to view and use a data center PC's desktop. This technology gives network managers significant control over the computing ecosystem of at-home employees and offers them a consistent and more productive experience. Progent's VDI consulting services include Windows Remote Desktop support and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI consulting.
• Routers connect home computer networks to the Internet and support VPN tunnels, local Wi-Fi networks, and firewalls. Progent offers expert remote support for configuring home routers from all major vendors. See router configuration support from Cisco-certified consultants.
• Home Wireless networks, often supporting the whole family and visitors, are commonly used by at-home employees to access their Internet router for work. This can create performance as well as security problems. Progent can assist businesses to mitigate these problems by delivering expertise like Cisco Aironet integration consulting, Cisco Meraki wireless deployment expertise, and Ubiquiti Unifi wireless access point setup assistance.
• Internet connectivity solutions affect the performance and reliability of connections between telecommuters and the company data center. Vital applications might demand backup Internet connections in case the normal connection breaks. Progent can provide expertise for picking Internet service providers, selecting appropriate bandwidth and data volume bundles, and setting up fault-tolerant Internet connections. See Internet access integration services.

VoIP Solutions for Teleworkers
Expanding the company PBX environment to include telecommuters is critical to supporting a productive at-home workforce. A variety of cloud-centric digital PBX products are used by small and mid-size businesses to server remote users. Many enterprises depend on Cisco's current or legacy products for VoIP management. Progent can assist businesses of any size to plan or tune a remote IP voice service that provides the flexibility, convenience and protection required for teleworkers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice experts offer high-level support to assist businesses optimize their existing Cisco IP voice environments to handle a growing remote workforce.

• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM) extends high-end telephony capabilities to devices such as VoIP phones, media processing products, VoIP gateways, and mixed media software deployed across the network. Unified Communications Manager supports other combined media services like messaging, voice/video conferencing, and team interaction networks. For more information about Progent's Unified Communications Manager expertise, refer to CUCM consulting services.
• CallManager is Cisco's earlier call-processing software and has been replaced by CUCM. Progent can help you to support your existing CallManager environment or migrate smoothly to Cisco's current IP telephony products. For details about Progent's support services for Cisco CallManager and Cisco's other legacy IP voice products, visit Cisco CallManager consulting services.
• Cisco IP Gateways enable integration with public telephony networks and with users operating beyond the corporate firewall such as telecommuters. Progent can provide consulting expertise for Cisco's earlier generation IP gateways such as the UC520, UC540 and UC560 product lines and for current Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco SIP gateway integration consulting.
• Additional VoIP Platforms supported by Progent's consultants include Vonage, Intermedia Unite and 8x8. Progent can assist you to enhance your wide area network architecture to support these solutions and deliver on-demand configuration and debugging expertise.

Voice/Video Conferencing for At-Home Workers
A broad range of voice/video conferencing products from leading vendors enable virtual discussions, video conferencing, chat sessions, and screen sharing for both onsite workers and teleworkers. Many companies use a mix of products to accommodate their various partners and clients. Progent's communications experts can help your organization to maintain your current conferencing environment and enhance the productivity of your at-home employees.

• Skype for Business is Microsoft's leading unified communications platform that supports presence, IM, voice and video calling and conferencing plus the seamless integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 applications including PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook. Progent offers the skills of Microsoft-certified consultants who can assist your company to deploy and manage Skype for Business client software to accommodate your at-home workforce. To learn more about Progent's consulting expertise for Skype for Business, visit Skype for Business consulting services.
• FaceTime is Apple's group video calling platform for compatible iOS, iPadOS, iPod and macOS devices. FaceTime works over Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Current versions of FaceTime support up to 32 simultaneous users for video sessions. To learn more about Progent's consulting expertise for Apple FaceTime, see Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
• Webex Meeting Center supports online conferencing for virtually all computing devices. Delivered through Cisco's Webex Cloud platform, Webex services include sharing granular content or screens, presentations that incorporate rich media including Microsoft PowerPoint, session capture, plus revision and playback for training. To learn more about Progent's consulting expertise for Webex and for other IP video products from Cisco, see Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
• Teams is Microsoft's next-generation replacement for Skype for Business. Teams provides a portal for conferencing, contacts, and information with capabilities such as voice/video calling, persistent chat, plus data sharing. For details about Progent's support expertise for Teams and for additional Microsoft 365 products, see Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
• Other Voice/Video Conferencing Platforms supported by Progent include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can deliver integration and troubleshooting services for these products and assist your business to tune your network architecture to host them.

Microsoft Collaboration Software for Remote Workers
Microsoft's collaboration products are closely integrated with Microsoft's popular Office families, offering a powerful environment of productivity apps that create a consistent user interface for exchanging data and ideas across a corporate network and on a broad selection of endpoints. Progent has delivered online consulting support for Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange Server since their first publication and can assist your company to configure these critical collaboration products to maximize the productivity of your at-home 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 deliver real-time collaboration and communication. Designed as a replacement for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium 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 depends on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Azure Entra (previously called Azure Active Directory) for delivering its complete range of features. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft Teams, see planning and configuration consulting for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium.

SharePoint uses web entities to facilitate collaboration and information delivery by offering policy-based access to data, workflow, and tools for searching through enterprise-wide information silos. SharePoint permits you to build protected web portals that allows at-home workers to see and update consolidated corporate intelligence via Wikis, Blogs, social sites, and Web Parts. For details about Progent's SharePoint support services, go 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 expertise, refer to deployment consulting for Exchange Server.

OneDrive is Microsoft�s collaborative cloud-based storage service, comparable to GoogleDrive. Remote workers can save files to the OneDrive service, and colleagues can access them safely through a browser. Provided with Office 365, OneDrive enables remote employees to co-author files. Edits made offline are automatically synced when you reconnect to the Internet. To learn about Progent's support services for OneDrive, go to Microsoft Onedrive configuration experts.

Cloud Integration for At-Home Workers
Progent can provide affordable online assistance for enabling businesses to create, maintain and troubleshoot integrated hybrid network models that combine physical data centers, remote workers, branch offices, and cloud resources. Progent can provide top-tier consultant for all types of cloud service delivery including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help teleworkers resolve issues with cloud access, authentication, and security.

Microsoft Azure is a leading family of cloud services that allows you to utilize IT infrastructure, virtual servers, and critical apps hosted on Microsoft's extensive cloud. Azure features over one hundred services services including hosting for Windows and Linux-powered virtual machines, on-demand cloud storage, email and messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and data protection. Progent can assist you to set up virtual machines on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate storage on Azure Storage services, streamline identity management with Azure Active Directory, and design backup and recovery systems with Azure Backup. Progent can also help you establish secure access to Azure services for telecommuters by setting up and troubleshooting firewall appliances and VPN IPsec tunnels. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft Azure, see Azure consulting services.

Microsoft 365, previously called Office 365, is Microsoft's growing suite of business productivity software and cloud-based services offered by subscription. Office applications and services are provided in a variety of plans designed for customers ranging from individuals and households to major corporations. Progent offers fast and affordable online contact with experts knowledgeable about Microsoft 365-compatible endpoint devices running Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android operating systems. Progent's experts can help your business to assess the numerous subscription plans available for Microsoft 365 and configure 365 apps for your at-home workers to achieve top business value. To find out about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft 365, refer to Microsoft 365 consulting expertise.

Exchange Online is among the most widely used cloud-based applications in the Microsoft 365 product suite. Exchange Online provides the benefits of reduced costs for data center infrastructure, easier management, dynamic scaling, high reliability, and other advantages inherent with public clouds. Microsoft has designed Exchange Online to operate transparently with on-premises Exchange environments, enabling you to create hybrid networks. Progent's Exchange consultants are available for as-needed help to guide you past tough IT roadblocks and also offer comprehensive project management outsourcing to make sure your teleworkers have convenient and safe access to your Exchange Online environment. To learn Progent's expertise for Exchange Online, see Microsoft 365 Exchange Online integration and troubleshooting consulting.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a pioneer in the public cloud computing arena and is the industry's top provider of cloud services. Progent offers rapid and economical online contact with cloud integration consultants who can help your business to design, implement, maintain, and troubleshoot hybrid information networks that integrate Amazon AWS cloud services with local resources and with other popular cloud platforms like Microsoft Azure. Progent also offers access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking consultants to help you to build a high-availability network architecture to make sure your employees have a productive computing experience whether they are working from your main office, a branch office, at home, or on the move. For details about Progent's support services for Amazon AWS, see Amazon AWS consulting support.

Google Cloud Platform is a leading set of public cloud services that offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products. Progent's certified Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco experts can help you to expand your current IT resources with the Google Cloud, and Progent's database consultants can help you make your key applications cloud ready so your telecommuters can take full advantage of Google Cloud services. Progent's consultants can assist your organization to set up virtual machines on Google Cloud Compute Engine, plan an efficient storage system with GCP Storage services, and simplify access management for at-home workers with Google Cloud Identity. Progent's experts can also help your business to use GCP's management tools to administer and track your Google Cloud ecosystem. To find out, refer to Google Cloud Platform consulting support.

Help Desk Call Center Support for At-Home Workers
A sudden, organization-wide changeover to a from-home workforce, which could be driven by an epidemic or as a component of a disaster recovery plan, can overstretch even the most efficient in-house Call Center. Progent's Help Desk services make it possible for businesses of any size to outsource or supplement their Call Center by using Progent's remote Technical Response Center (TRC) team.

• Progent's Standard Help Desk Call Center support services leverage Progent's nationwide network of online technical support experts combined with world-class ticketing and follow-up technology to provide an economical, modern Help Desk Call Center. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services provide an end-to-end solution that handles all facets of remote Level 1 PC technical support from help requests through ticket generation, desktop sharing, problem resolution, and reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal allows teleworkers to check or revise the status of their current trouble tickets, add details, and upload screenshots or relevant files. Desktop support services are delivered at a substantial price reduction off Progent's normal Level 1 technical support rates, and Progent makes available the option of rapid escalation to Level 2 and Level 3 IT specialists to deal with advanced issues. For more information, go to Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services for small companies.
• Progent's Call Desk Supplemental Service enables your business to supplement your current Support Desk staff by splitting responsibilities for Call Center services transparently between your regular IT support personnel and Progent's nationwide roster of PC support engineers and subject matter specialists. Progent's co-managed Call Center service uses a collective support model based on the leading PSA tool for managing help requests and trouble tickets, assigning responsibility, monitoring progress, and producing management reports. To learn how Progent's Help Desk Call Center Augmentation Services can help your business to deliver best-in-class technical support to your at-home workforce, see Progent's Support Desk augmentation Services.

Cybersecurity for Remote Workers
Work-from-Home (WFH) employees commonly use their personal computing devices and often work in an unsecured physical area. This increases their susceptibility to cyber threats and requires careful configuration of corporate firewalls, anti-malware tools, multi-factor authentication, remote endpoint monitoring, extensive user education, and the development of security policies based on best practices. Progent's seasoned team of cybersecurity solutions experts can assist you to plan, implement and manage a compliant security solution that protects vital information assets in networks that include at-home workers.

Firewalls allow companies to create a network that can be securely utilized by local users and by an at-home workforce, mobile employees, vendors, customers, and the public. Next-generation firewall devices allow you to configure and control appropriate access rights to various classes of users and to expand your IT network and modify your security as your business evolves and as cyber threats grow more sophisticated. Progent supports both current and legacy firewall devices from all leading vendors like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, WatchGuard, Juniper, SonicWall and Fortinet. To find out more about Progent's firewall support expertise, visit firewall configuration and support expertise.

Online Endpoint Monitoring makes it easy to track the disparate devices utilized by an at-home workforce and either block or identify and mitigate the latest cyber attacks such as ransomware. With Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring services, a small-footprint software agent is put on every protected endpoint device, watching all activity and utilizing state-of-the-art AI technology from SentinelOne to detect zero-day threats before they can spread. When an attack is discovered, ProSight ASM instantly disconnects the targeted endpoint device from the corporate network to quarantine the threat. Since the ProSight Active Security Monitoring agent is autonomous, endpoint devices remain protected even when they are not connected to the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. For more information about ProSight ASM, go to remote endpoint monitoring for at-home workers.

Progent's Duo MFA Service Plans utilize Cisco's Duo cloud technology to defend against stolen passwords by using two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo enables single-tap identity verification with iOS, Android, and other personal devices. With Duo 2FA, when you sign into a secured online account and give your password you are requested to confirm who you are on a device that only you have and that is accessed using a different ("out-of-band") network channel. A broad range of devices can be used as this added form of authentication including an iPhone or Android or watch, a hardware token, a landline phone, etc. You can designate several validation devices. For details about Duo identity authentication services, see Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for remote workers.

Security Audits can evaluate the vulnerability of your network to all classes of external and local security attacks for a network that includes telecommuters. Progent can deploy remote, automated security analysis software for quickly and economically detecting a broad range of security gaps that can be surfaced over the Internet. Progent's endpoint security assessment consulting services, which can be managed by data security professionals with advanced certifications including CISM, ISSAP, and GIAC, can assist your company to audit your procedures and governance policies and assess your WAN architecture to enable you to implement top-level security for your remote workers.

Horizon3.ai's NodeZero Pentest Platform is a breakthrough penetration test (pentest) product family that can deliver automated testing of your at-home environment as well as your internal and perimeter networks to help you identify, rank, remediate, and confirm cybersecurity vulnerabilities before malicious hackers can take advantage of them. Progent's pentest experts can assist you to deploy NodeZero to perform thorough penetration tests of your network perimeter and your internal network in order to evaluate your current security posture. Progent can also help you to harden your network security and can help you to design and implement a cohesive cybersecurity strategy that streamlines management and delivers optimum protection for on-premises, cloud-based, at-home, and perimeter IT resources. To find out more information about Progent's threat analysis solutions powered by on NodeZero's PEN test platform, refer to Consulting Support for NodeZero's Pentest Products.

Download White Paper: Securing a Work-From-Home (WFH) Environment
To read or download a white paper describing critical areas to concentrate on for securing a network that includes work-from-home staff, click:
Protecting a Work-From-Home (WFH) Environment White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection Solutions for Remote Workers
Data Protection covers saving and restoring critical information in order to avoid data loss and minimize restoration time in case of storage system problems resulting from hardware issues, software glitches, human error, cyber attack, or any other reason. Dependable data protection strategies can be particularly challenging to design and maintain in hybrid environments that incorporate local data centers, cloud resources, and an at-home workforce.

• Backup/Recovery strategies for telecommuters must address diverse types of user-owned endpoint devices. Progent can provide fast remote access to consultants familiar with a wide range of platforms for backing up Microsoft Windows, Apple and Linux/UNIX powered servers and desktop computers as well as notebooks, tablets and handhelds. Popular backup/recovery products supported by Progent's data protection experts include Barracuda Backup, Microsoft Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, CrashPlan, Retrospect, and Time Machine. To back up resources spread throughout a hybrid network, Progent can provide ProSight Data Protection Services, a managed backup/recovery service that uses cloud-based storage and includes fine-grained restore and centralized management capabilities.
• Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity plans often anticipate circumstances that call for a rapid switch to telecommuting. Progent's expert disaster recovery preparedness consultants and business continuity planning specialists can help your business to produce, document and validate a DR/BC plan that includes the process of switching to an at-home workforce.

Unified Management for Teleworkers
Microsoft has rebranded and rebundled its endpoint management platforms under the name Endpoint Manager, which encompasses Intune for cloud management of remote endpoints and Configuration Manager for managing onsite computers. Microsoft Endpoint Manager provides a centralized platform for protecting corporate data by controlling on-premises, mobile, and at-home endpoint devices.

Intune
Intune is part of Microsoft's Endpoint Management family that also features Microsoft Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and protecting remote computers and software. Managed endpoint devices can be personally owned or company owned. IT administrators managing the endpoint computers of telecommuters can utilize Intune to provision and authenticate apps on devices, push patches and certificates, configure policies for permission to access information and resources, manage passwords, establish VPN tunnels, determine how telecommuters share information, establish threat protection, ensure security compliance, and erase sensitive data from missing, stolen or decommissioned devices. Microsoft Intune can be used with iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X computers. To find out about Intune and how Progent can assist your company to use Microsoft's Endpoint Management to administer the endpoint computers of your teleworkers, see Intune remote endpoint management expertise.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich centralized Mobile Device Management platform that helps network managers to keep offsite endpoints up to date and protected. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch for centralized endpoint management combined with VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery platform for authorization control, app management, and setup management of endpoints. Workspace ONE runs with endpoints based on Windows 10, macOS, Apple iOS, Android, Chrome OS, or popular distributions of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is offered by subscription as a cloud-based service or as an on-premises product through a perpetual license. Key capabilities of Workspace ONE include rapid over-the-air provisioning of new laptops, quick onboarding of new employees, policy setting and enforcement for all classes of devices, unifies reporting and performance analytics, an email encryption gateway, and tight integration with Microsoft applications and cloud services. To find out about Progent's support services for VMware Workspace ONE, refer to VMware Workspace ONE remote device management consultants.

Contact Progent for Remote Workforce Support Services
To contact Progent about building and managing a productive telecommuter environment for your San Diego UCSD, California company, phone 1-800-993-9400 or refer to Contact Progent.