Computer Network Consulting Services for Mid-size Firms

Microsoft 365 (formerly called Office 365) is Microsoft's growing line of client productivity software and cloud services offered on a subscription basis. Microsoft 365 applications and Azure services are available in a variety of product bundles, called subscription plans, aimed at markets ranging from students and households to global enterprises.

The most popular Microsoft 365 applications can be installed on a variety of computers including PCs, Apple Macs, iPads, and iPhones and Android smartphones. These multi-device apps include versions of Office Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Outlook. PC-only apps include Access and Microsoft Publisher. To address users who have multiple computing devices, many Microsoft 365 bundles permit you to run Microsoft 365 apps on more than one device. For example, Microsoft 365 Business and ProPlus packages permit each Office app to be installed on as many as five customer devices.

Progent offers quick and affordable remote access to consultants with expertise in Microsoft, Mac, iOS, and Google Android software. Progent can help you to understand the numerous subscription plans offered with Microsoft 365 and configure your information system with Microsoft 365 so it delivers the highest possible competitive value. Progent can help you manage cross-platform networks that include Windows, macOS or OS X, and Linux based products. Progent can also assist you to create and maintain hybrid environments that seamlessly integrate local and cloud resources.

Microsoft 365 Apps and Cloud-based Services
Microsoft 365 plans are designed for a broad selection of users such as businesses, education, state and local government, and home. Some packages, like Microsoft 365 Business Essentials, includes no applications but only cloud services. Others, such as Microsoft 365 Business, includes apps but provides only the OneDrive cloud service. The top-of-the-line Microsoft 365 Enterprise E5 bundle includes seven apps and seven cloud services. Progent can help you to pick an Microsoft 365 bundle that's right for your situation, help you to migrate from legacy editions of Office apps, and show you how to unify the management of Microsoft 365 and other system resources to build a cost-effective, secure and reliable IT environment.

Key Microsoft 365 Apps
The most obvious difference between Microsoft 365 apps and their corresponding Office versions is that Microsoft 365 apps are rented instead of sold. Also, traditionally licensed Office apps are allowed to be installed on only a single device at a time and are not updated automatically or upgraded for free when a major version is released. As an example, upgrading from Word 2013 to Word 2019 requires that you purchase a new copy of Word. Incremental releases of Office applications are provided Microsoft 365 users sooner than to users of permanently licensed editions. Also, Office suites purchased with a permanent license do not come with the cloud services included with Microsoft 365.

Client applications available with different Microsoft 365 plans include:

Microsoft 365 Word offers the ability to edit and review Office documents across Microsoft Windows, Google Android, Mac, and iOS computers while maintaining a common look and feel. Users can also collaborate on Office documents, find out which team members are editing shared documents, and observe changes made by team members as they happen. As with Microsoft 365 Excel and PowerPoint, you can easily share from within your documents. Additionally, you can review who has permission to access a specific document and who is currently working on it. For your own documents, you can easily modify edit rights. Find out about Progent's Microsoft 365 Word consulting services.

Microsoft 365 Excel permits you to use the industry-standard Exponential Smoothing (ETS) algorithm to create forecasts for projecting future trends based on historical data. New data types that are tied to online sources include Stock and Geography. The Stock data type downloads the current stock price, change in price, and other equities data. The Geography data type enables you to select a region and retrieve specified demographic or economic information like population or gas costs. As in the case of Microsoft 365 Word and PowerPoint, Microsoft 365 Excel also supports Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) images. These can be turned, colored, and resized instantaneously without any deterioration in quality. Learn about Progent's Microsoft 365 Excel consulting and training services.

Microsoft 365 PowerPoint supports 3D objects and provides an enhanced library of animation effects such as swinging and rotating. As with Office Excel and Office Word, Microsoft 365 PowerPoint enables you to transform drawings into standard shapes for charts, diagrams, and various other objects. Microsoft 365 PowerPoint for Mac adds the ability to incorporate and format movies from within PowerPoint. PowerPoint's Media Browser utility provides convenient access to a wide range of media sources such as iPhoto albums, iTunes playlists, and iMovie libraries plus standard shapes, Clip Art, and other graphics.

Microsoft 365 Outlook provides important improvements to previous releases of the Outlook email and calendar app by adding features such as audio cues, automatic downloading of OneDrive cloud attachments, visibility of replies to a meeting invitation for people who are not conference organizers, streamlined email sorting, plus more intuitive group creation and shared calendars. Additionally, Microsoft 365 Outlook subscribers can hear their messages read out loud as the segments being read are visibly highlighted. Microsoft's Office intelligent services, when enabled, also allows Microsoft 365 Outlook clients to dictate messages. Microsoft 365 Outlook for Mac includes push email, online archiving, the ability to propose an alternative meeting time in answer to a meeting invitation, and multiple calendar visibility. Full Screen Mode allows multiple open emails and permits users to run two Outlook instances in split-screen. Find out about Progent's Microsoft 365 Outlook and Outlook on the web consulting expertise.

Microsoft 365 OneNote for Windows 10 is incorporated in most Microsoft 365 product bundles, pre-installed in Windows 10, and available for download as a free mobile app. The older OneNote 2016 release, which has some functions not at first available in OneNote for Windows 10 likes Record Video, is still available at no cost but is no longer being updated with new features. OneNote for Windows 10 sports a new customizable GUI consistent for Windows 10, Apple Mac, iOS, Google Android, and Web. Other functionality available exclusively on OneNote for Windows 10 include improved ink-to-text, a notification center that indicates changes in your open and recent notebooks, automatic transformation of drawings into standardized shapes, and a digital ruler to draw straight lines and measure distance.

Microsoft 365 Access, offered exclusively for PCs, allows you to use Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) and a rich library of templates to streamline business processes and create modern-looking forms and reports. Microsoft 365 Access comes with the connector library to integrate data from a wide range of popular business apps and data sources for generating aggregated reports from within the time-tested Access environment. The ability to store Access data in both SQL Server and Azure SQL provides an enterprise-class back end and SQL syntax for Access apps deployed either on premises or in the Microsoft Azure cloud. Microsoft Access 365 now includes an enhanced Linked Table Manager, lets you add new charts and management reports, and enables you to link or import data from Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics 365. Learn about Progent's Microsoft 365 Access development and troubleshooting services.

Microsoft 365 Publisher, available only on PCs, is a leading do-your-own desktop publishing tool that takes advantage of the familiar Office interface to deliver an easy-to-use program for developing and sharing modern-looking documents such as fliers and white papers that require exact object placement. Since documents can be saved to the cloud, you can distribute a document simply by providing a link. Publisher's wide use and simplicity make it possible to meet deadlines on time-critical jobs without needing rely on instant access to a desktop publishing guru for making eleventh-hour changes.

Microsoft 365 Cloud Services
Microsoft 365 cloud services enable organizations to take advantage of Microsoft's extensive cloud resources to host mission-critical servers such as Exchange, Teams and Skype for Business. This provides high levels of availability and protection while reducing the substantial upfront costs and management effort associated with setting up and maintaining complex on-premises computer facilities. For situations that require some systems to be kept on-premises for regulatory compliance, throughput, or other reasons, the majority of Microsoft 365 virtual server platforms can be deployed using hybrid network models that transparently support on-premises and cloud-hosted infrastructure.

Microsoft 365 Exchange Online offers email hosting and allows user mailbox sizes ranging from 50 Gbytes to unlimited. Important features include custom email domain addresses, shared calendars and contact lists, the Outlook Web app, single-click archiving, and simple-to-create collaboration groups. The web-accessible Exchange admin center lets you control email configurations for your company and gives you full control over critical areas including user rights, security and compliance, mail flow, creating mailboxes and defining limits, team work, address books, Unified Messaging, monitoring, and backup. Learn about Progent's Microsoft 365 Exchange Online configuration and administration consulting.

Microsoft 365 OneDrive is Microsoft's popular file sync and share platform. Microsoft 365 packages usually come with 1 TB of OneDrive cloud storage, enabling you to store, access, and share files across Windows, Mac, or iOS and Android devices. By transparently synchronizing your files to your desktop, OneDrive allows you to modify documents even when you are not connected to the Internet. OneDrive facilitates sharing and collaboration, keeping track all changes to avoid consistency problems. You can start a team project on any device and move smoothly to another computer at any time. For enhanced collaboration, an array of tools allow you to annotate and highlight documents. Powerful search tools help you to locate files quickly, and analysis tools offer insights like how many people saw or shared a document.

Microsoft 365 Skype for Business Online provides cloud-hosted IP voice, video, and conferencing. Skype's Online Plan 1 offers IM, presence, VoIP, and HD video, plus federation and directory search. Online Plan 2 adds pre-scheduled and on-demand conferencing with A/V calling as well as screen and app sharing on Apple iOS and Android devices, Windows PCs, and Mac computers. For hybrid environments that integrate an on-premises Skype for Business Server with Skype for Business Online cloud services, you can deploy a seamless solution via a Split Domain implementation. Learn about Progent's Microsoft 365 Skype for Business solution design and configuration consulting.

Microsoft 365 SharePoint Online combines content management with internal web publishing to enable organizations to distribute and share information and to promote teamwork. SharePoint's admin center has been enhanced with interactive usage analysis, Message Center updates, and a Service Health dashboard intended to simplify management. Also, you can link current team sites to Microsoft 365 Groups, enhancing SharePoint sites with shared conversations, schedules, and Planner. Innovative capabilities to support cloud coexistence now include hybrid taxonomy and hybrid auditing plus an enhanced client-side development model for creating SharePoint environments on-premises, in hybrid deployments, and in Microsoft 365. Find out about Progent's Microsoft 365 SharePoint Online configuration and development services.

Microsoft Teams is the future of Skype for Business, offering a unified hub for discussions, contacts, and content with persistent chat, file sharing, and integrated IP voice and video conferencing. Microsoft has built the cloud environment supporting Teams so it can provide faster meeting join speeds than Skype for Business and to allow integration with Microsoft Cognitive Services such as text-to-voice, language translation, speech recognition, and machine learning. Progent can help you to test Microsoft 365 Teams to assess the advantages of deploying this innovative collaboration platform. Learn about Progent's Microsoft Teams migration services.

Microsoft 365 Yammer is a social network product intended to be used inside an organization and limited to users with a verified company email address. Postings can be files, links, videos, PowerPoint shows, and SharePoint content. The Discovery connection helps you locate content relevant to your work or interests as shown by the groups you belong to, conversations you participate in, and colleagues you correspond with. You can locate discussions, files, groups, participants, and other items associated with a particular colleague. Group Insights inform you how events such as publishing, viewing, and liking are trending historically. Notifications tell you about pertinent events like updates in your groups, input to your conversations, and new participants.

Microsoft 365 Power BI is a stack of cloud services integrated with Microsoft 365 that enables businesses to create and share dashboards and custom reports that offer up-to-date insights into vital facets of your business. Microsoft 365 Power BI dashboards can aggregate data from multiple internal and external sources like Excel, in-house SQL Server Analysis Service, Azure, or popular databases such as Zendesk, Google Analytics and Salesforce. Dashboards and reports created by Power BI can be updated continually via data streaming. You can save and share your dashboards in the cloud using Microsoft 365 OneDrive. Power BI mobile apps are offered for Windows computers plus Apple iOS and Google Android smartphones. Learn about Progent's Microsoft 365 Power BI Online design and development consulting services.

Key Planning Activities for Microsoft 365 Migration
Progent offers the support of a Microsoft Cloud Solutions Architect to help you to plan an efficient move to Microsoft 365 tailored to your IT environment. Prior to proposing this migration project, Progent's cloud consultant will conduct a series of information gathering tasks that include running tools such as IdFix, the Exchange Best Practices Analyzer (ExBPA), and specialized scripts for viewing your AD, messaging, and Mobile Device Management (MDM) environment. Critical information that cannot be found with these techniques will be determined via interviews with your IT team.

Key activities performed by Progent in developing an optimal Microsoft 365 migration plan can include:

• Hold a Project Kickoff discussion with your IT team to define project goals, services to be utilized, customer and contractor responsibilities, schedules, etc.
• Develop a Risk and Issue Tracking document.
• Develop an Exchange Hybrid migration plan explaining how new services and required modifications to the IT environment will be implemented.
• Examine the current Azure AD Connect Identity Management configurations and uncover any gaps.
• Identify and develop a plan for mail-enabled applications such as multifunction printers, monitoring systems, and other systems that currently submit SMTP messages.
• Create end-user alerts to be published by your Service Desk.
• Determine existing Exchange mailbox volume and item counts to inform plan for email migrations.
• Examine your network bandwidth reports to verify you have sufficient bandwidth and nominal latency to support Microsoft 365.
• Assess your existing Mobile Device Management solution to make sure it will operate with the Microsoft 365 services and features.
• Run Microsoft's IdFix Tool to identify potential Active Directory issues and uncover duplicate SMTP addresses and UPNs, invalid characters and formatting for object attributes, and UPNs with non-routable domains.
• Conduct an Architecture Review meeting with your IT staff to identify problems that might block a successful migration.
• Create a way to allow mail to be sent to Dynamic Distribution Groups.
• Compile a list of ports and IP ranges for firewall rules.
• Work with you to identify any mailboxes that have been given elevated rights to another mailbox.
• Develop an implementation plan that details the processes associated with migrating to Microsoft 365.

ProSight Remote Management and Monitoring (RMM) Services
Progent provides a selection of budget-friendly, flat-rate services intended to enable small and mid-size businesses to benefit from the same advanced IT solutions used by many of the world's leading corporations. The ProSight suite of network monitoring and management services covers all key aspects of information technology such as email protection, threat defense based on machine leaning, automated backup and disaster recovery, network infrastructure management, virtual server cloud hosting, and IT resources documentation management. Learn more about Progent's remote management and monitoring services.

Get in Touch with Progent for Microsoft 365 Integration and Support
If you are trying to find a Microsoft 365 consultant, call Progent at 800-993-9400 or visit Contact Progent.

Public Cloud Integration Services from Progent
The choices offered for public cloud services are increasing rapidly, making it a serious challenge for information system managers to select the right cloud strategy for their business. Progent has worked extensively helping businesses of all sizes to design, deploy, and manage hybrid environments that combine multiple cloud products and services from major public cloud providers. Progent's cloud integration experts can assist you to evaluate the comparative benefits and shortcomings of competing public cloud options and can help you create a cloud-based or hybrid ecosystem that provides maximum competitive value.

Public cloud products supported by Progent's consultants include:

Progent's Azure cloud integration consultants can assist you with every stage of Azure cloud migration such as requirements definition, prerequisites assessment, solution design, pre-production testing, deployment, automated management, performance tuning, software license management, disaster recovery strategies, security policy enforcement, and compliance assessment. Progent can help your IT staff to configure and troubleshoot firewalls and VPN connections so that your users can safely connect to Azure-based resources, and Progent's Microsoft-certified consulting experts can assist you set up critical Microsoft platforms to work in the cloud including Microsoft Windows Server, Exchange Server, SQL Server and SharePoint. Progent can also assist your organization to create a hybrid environment that seamlessly integrates physical datacenters with Azure services.

Microsoft has made a strong effort to enable transparent hybrid environments that combine Microsoft 365 and on-premises installations of Exchange. This allows you to have some Exchange mailboxes hosted on your physical datacenter or private cloud and other mailboxes resident on Microsoft 365. Progent's Microsoft-certified consultants can assist you with any facet of designing, implementing and troubleshooting your hybrid Microsoft 365/Exchange network. Progent's Exchange consultants can provide as-needed expertise to help you resolve challenging technical problems and also offer extensive project management outsourcing or co-sourcing to ensure your hybrid Exchange solution is completed on schedule and within budget. To find out more about Progent's online consulting expertise for integrating Microsoft 365 Exchange and on-prem Exchange systems, refer to Exchange Online integration with on-premises Exchange.

Progent's Amazon Web Services (AWS) integration experts can provide cost-effective remote consulting to help businesses to integrate Amazon AWS cloud services such as Amazon EC2 for virtual machine hosting, Amazon S3 for expandable cloud storage, and Glacier for low-cost archival storage. Progent can assist you with every aspect of Amazon AWS integration including requirements analysis, readiness assessment, system design, pilot testing, deployment, centralized administration, performance optimization, software license management, disaster recovery solutions, and security strategies. Progent can provide advanced expertise with firewalls and VPN access and can help you create cloud-based or hybrid networking models that efficiently incorporate Amazon AWS services. Progent can provide as-needed consulting or Progent can provide comprehensive project management outsourcing or co-sourcing to help you migrate efficiently to the Amazon AWS cloud.

Amazon Marketplace Web Service (Amazon MWS) is a collection of APIs that allows Amazon sellers to streamline their business processes by automating crucial sales activities including listings, orders, payments, inbound and outbound fulfillment, and reports. By tapping into Amazon's extensive online ecosystem and automating their sales processes, merchants can broaden their reach, lower their cost of sales, accelerate reaction time to customers, and add to their profits. Progent's Amazon Marketplace Web Service consultants can collaborate with your development team and provide application programming, workflow integration, project management support, and mentoring to help you cut development time and speed up your return on investment.

Progent's Google Cloud Platform (GCP) integration consultants offer cost-effective remote and on-premises consulting to help companies of any size to move any part of their critical IT resources to Google Cloud Platform services. This can save time and hardware expense and allow the use of Google's state-of-the-art machine learning tools. Progent can assist you with every aspect of Google Cloud Platform integration including needs analysis, readiness assessment, system design and review, testing, configuration, centralized administration, performance tuning, licensing management, disaster recovery mechanisms, and security and compliance.