Desktop Consulting and Support Services

Enlarging your remote workforce may have a significant effect on network infrastructure, security/compliance, and corporate culture. Progent has two decades of background helping businesses of all sizes to plan, deploy, administer, tune, and debug IT environments that incorporate work-from-home employees. Progent can assist your organization to pick the appropriate tools and adhere to best practices in creating and operating a secure virtual ecosystem for teleworkers that promotes collaboration and returns top business value. Progent can provide support services that go from on demand expertise for helping you past occasional technical roadblocks to full project management or co-management to help you carry out mission-critical tasks.

Progent can assist you to succeed with any facet of building a high-functioning telecommuting ecosystem by providing network infrastructure configuration services, VoIP PBX troubleshooting, video conferencing support, collaboration platform customization and training, cloud integration, helpdesk augmentation, endpoint security, backup/restore solutions, and streamlined management.

Infrastructure for Teleworkers
Setting up the network infrastructure required to support a remote workforce can be especially challenging if you must manage a combination of personal equipment like desktop computers and laptops, routers, and Wi-Fi APs from various manufacturers and with a mix of OS software and firmware levels. Progent's experience delivering remote support for both legacy and modern IT products in virtual office venues allows you to make efficient use of your existing infrastructure and provides you with fast access to expertise for making essential upgrades. Support services available from Progent to help you to create a high-functioning work-at-home infrastructure include:

• VPN connectivity allows you to establish a secure connection for authorized remote employees to access IT resources located at your corporate datacenter or in a public cloud. Progent can help you to deploy and maintain VPN connections between your at-home workforce and your key network resources by providing online VPN integration consulting. For businesses using Cisco's ASA security appliances, Progent's Cisco-certified ASA Firewall consultants can assist your at-home workers to utilize Cisco's AnyConnect client software to provide secure VPN tunneling for a wide range of endpoint devices such as Windows, Mac, iOS, Linux, and Android.
• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) products enable a telecommuter to see and interact with a data center computer's desktop. This gives network managers more control over the computing environment of telecommuters and ensures remote users a familiar work experience. Progent's virtual desktop consulting services include Windows Remote Desktop integration and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI solutions.
• Routers attach at-home computer networks to the Internet and typically support VPN connections, home wireless networks, and firewall services. Progent offers top-tier online support for configuring home routers from all major manufacturers. See router configuration services from Cisco-certified experts.
• Home Wireless networks, typically supporting an entire household and visitors, are frequently used by at-home employees to access their router for work. This can cause throughput as well as security problems. Progent can assist you to mitigate these issues by providing services like Cisco Aironet configuration expertise, Cisco-certified Meraki WiFi deployment expertise, and Ubiquiti wireless access point setup help.
• Internet connectivity solutions affect the speed and reliability of connections between at-home workers and the corporate network. Line-of-business applications might demand redundant Internet access in the event the primary connection breaks. Progent offers guidance for selecting ISPs, choosing appropriate service offerings, and integrating redundant Internet access. See Internet connectivity solutions.

IP Voice Solutions for Remote Workers
Extending the business PBX system to include teleworkers is critical to maintaining an effective work-at-home solution. A variety of cloud-centric IP voice products are used by small and mid-size businesses to server teleworkers. Many larger organizations rely on Cisco's current or legacy products for VoIP management. Progent can assist organizations of any size to plan or maintain a remote VoIP service that provides the versatility, convenience and security needed for telecommuters. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE Voice experts can provide advanced support to assist businesses optimize their existing Cisco IP voice environments to support an expanding at-home workforce.

• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM) extends high-end IP telephony capabilities to devices such as VoIP phones, media processing platforms, VoIP gateways, and mixed media applications deployed across the network. Unified Communications Manager manages other combined media services such as messaging, video conferencing, and team collaboration networks. For more information about Progent's Cisco Unified CM or CUCM support, visit Cisco Unified CM consultants.
• CallManager is Cisco's earlier call-processing software and has been replaced by Cisco Unified CM. Progent's consultants can assist you to maintain your current CallManager environment or upgrade efficiently to Cisco's modern IP telephony solutions. For details about Progent's support services for Cisco CallManager and Cisco's other early VoIP platforms, visit CallManager expertise.
• Cisco IP Gateways enable connectivity with public telephony networks and with users working outside the corporate perimeter like at-home workers. Progent offers expert support for Cisco's legacy IP gateways including the UC520, UC540 and UC560 series as well as for current Cisco SIP gateways. See Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateway integration consulting.
• Other VoIP Platforms supported by Progent include Vonage, RingCentral and 8x8. Progent can assist you to expand your WAN architecture to work with these solutions and deliver online configuration and debugging services.

Video Conferencing for Teleworkers
A wide range of video conferencing products from leading technology companies enable virtual meetings, video conferencing, chat sessions, and screen sharing for both onsite workers and telecommuters. Many companies utilize a mix of products to meet the needs of their different partners and customers. Progent can help you to manage your current voice/video conferencing environment and enhance the productivity of your remote employees.

• Skype for Business is Microsoft's popular communications product that supports presence, IM, voice and video calling and conferencing plus the transparent integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 productivity software such as PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook. Progent can provide the skills of Microsoft-certified consultants who can help you to configure and manage Skype for Business client software to support your remote employees. To learn more about Progent's consulting expertise for Skype for Business, refer to Skype for Business integration experts.
• FaceTime is Apple's group video calling platform for iOS and macOS devices. FaceTime runs over Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Newer editions of FaceTime support as many as 32 simultaneous users for voice/video sessions. To learn more about Progent's consulting expertise for Apple FaceTime, refer to Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
• Webex Meeting Center provides remote conferencing for virtually all computing devices. Delivered through Cisco's Webex Cloud, Webex services include sharing specific content or computer screens, presentations that incorporate rich media such as Microsoft PowerPoint and Flash videos, network-based capture, plus editing and playback for future reference. For details about Progent's support services for Webex as well as for additional IP video solutions from Cisco, see Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
• Teams is Microsoft's follow-up for Skype for Business. Teams provides a portal for conferencing, contacts, and information with features that include voice/video calling, threaded chat, plus file sharing. To learn more about Progent's support services for Teams and for other Microsoft 365 apps, refer to 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 provide configuration and debugging services for these products and help your business to optimize your WAN infrastructure to run them.

Microsoft Collaboration Platforms for Remote and Hybrid Workers
Microsoft's collaboration platforms are closely integrated with Microsoft's familiar Office and Microsoft 365 suites, providing a powerful ecosystem of applications that deliver a consistent user interface for exchanging data and ideas across a corporate network and on a wide range of endpoint computers. Progent has provided remote consulting services for SharePoint and Exchange since their first publication and can help businesses to tune these flagship collaboration products to optimize the effectiveness 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 provide real-time collaboration and communication. Developed as a replacement 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 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.

SharePoint uses web sites to promote collaboration and information delivery by offering policy-based access to content, workflow, and tools for looking through enterprise-wide business data. SharePoint permits you to create secure web portals that allows remote workforce to see and edit aggregated business intelligence by means of Wikis, Blogs, social networking sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). For details about Progent's SharePoint consulting services, refer to SharePoint integration 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. For details about Progent's Exchange support services, go to deployment consulting services for Microsoft Exchange Server.

OneDrive is Microsoft�s shared cloud-based storage service, similar to GoogleDrive. Remote users can store files to OneDrive, and colleagues can access them safely through a browser. Included with Office 365, OneDrive allows home employees to jointly author documents. Edits made offline are automatically synced when you go back online. To find out about Progent's support services for Microsoft OneDrive, see Microsoft Onedrive integration experts.

Public Cloud Integration for At-Home Workers
Progent can provide fast and affordable remote support for helping organizations to create, maintain and troubleshoot integrated hybrid network models that incorporate internal data centers, at-home workers, branch offices, and public cloud resources. Progent can provide expertise for all modes of cloud service delivery including Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service. Progent can help at-home workers fix issues with public cloud access, identity, and cybersecurity.

Microsoft Azure is a popular platform for cloud services that allows you to utilize IT infrastructure, virtual servers, and key apps running on Microsoft's massive cloud. Microsoft Azure includes over one hundred cloud-based services including the ability to host Windows and Linux-based VMs, on-demand cloud storage, messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and data backup. Progent can help you to set up VMs on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate cloud-based storage on Azure Storage services, streamline identity control with Azure Active Directory, and design backup and recovery systems with Azure Backup. Progent can also help you establish protected connections to Azure for at-home workers by configuring and troubleshooting firewalls and VPN IPsec tunnels. To find out about Progent's support services for Azure, visit Azure expertise.

Microsoft 365, formerly called Office 365, is Microsoft's popular family of client productivity software and cloud-based services offered by subscription. Office apps and services are marketed in a selection of bundles designed for customers ranging from students and households to major enterprises. Progent offers fast and affordable online contact with experts familiar with Microsoft 365-compatible clients based on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android technology. Progent's experts can help you to assess the numerous subscription plans available for Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 applications for your teleworkers to achieve maximum business value. For details about Progent's support services for Microsoft 365, go to Microsoft 365 consulting support.

Microsoft 365 Exchange Online is among the most popular cloud-based applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product line. Microsoft 365 Exchange Online provides the benefits of lower costs for physical infrastructure, simplified management, dynamic scaling, high reliability, and additional advantages associated with public clouds. Microsoft has engineered Exchange Online to run smoothly with local deployments of Exchange, enabling customers to build hybrid cloud/onsite information systems. Progent's Exchange consultants can provide occasional assistance to get you through challenging technical bottlenecks and also offer end-to-end project management services to make sure your telecommuters have easy and secure access to your Microsoft 365 Exchange Online environment. To find out Progent's expertise for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, see Exchange Online integration and support consulting.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a trailblazer in the public cloud arena and is the industry's top provider of cloud-based services. Progent can provide quick and economical online contact with cloud integration experts who can assist your business to design, implement, maintain, and debug hybrid IT networks that integrate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with on-premises data centers and with other public clouds such as Azure. Progent also can provide the skills of Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to assist you to build a high-availability network model so your employees have a productive computing experience whether they are working from your main office, a branch office, at home, or on the move. To learn about Progent's support services for Amazon AWS, go to Amazon AWS consulting services.

Google Cloud Platform is a popular set of cloud computing services that provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco consulting experts can assist you to extend your existing IT resources with the Google Cloud, and Progent's DBA experts can show you how to make your critical apps cloud ready so your teleworkers can take full advantage of Google Cloud Platform services. Progent can help your business to deploy virtual machines on Google Cloud Compute Engine, plan a cost-effective storage system with GCP Storage, and streamline identity control for at-home workers with GCP Cloud Identity services. Progent's consultants can also help your organization to utilize GCP's management tools to administer and monitor your Google Cloud environment. For information, see Google Cloud Platform integration services.

Help Desk Support for Telecommuters
A rapid, company-wide switchover to a teleworker workforce, which might be activated by a pandemic or as a component of a disaster recovery/business continuity preparedness plan, can overwhelm even the most efficient in-house Call Center. Progent's Help Desk Call Center services make it possible for businesses of any size to outsource or augment their Support Desk by using Progent's online Technical Response Center services.

• Progent's Standard Help Desk Call Center support services utilize Progent's nationwide team of remote IT support experts along with world-class ticketing and tracking software to provide an affordable, modern Help Desk Call Center. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services provide an end-to-end solution that handles all aspects of online Level 1 desktop technical support from help requests to ticket generation, desktop sharing, problem resolution, and reporting. A browser-based User's Service Portal enables from-home workers to track or revise the status of their active tickets, add information, and append screen captures and relevant files. Desktop support services are delivered at a significant discount off Progent's normal Level 1 desktop support rates, and Progent offers optional rapid escalation to Level 2 and Level 3 support experts to deal with complex problems. To find out more, visit Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services outsourcing for small and mid-size businesses.
• Progent's Support Desk Augmentation Service allows your company to supplement your current Support Desk team by splitting delivery of Call Center support services transparently between your in-house support organization and Progent's extensive pool of PC support technicians and subject matter experts. Progent's shared Help Desk Call Center service uses a collective support solution based on the number one professional services automation tool for handling service requests and ticketing, assigning responsibility, monitoring progress, and generating reports. To find out how Progent's Support Desk Supplementation Services can enable your company to deliver best-in-class IT support to your at-home workforce, go to Progent's Support Desk supplementation Services.

Security for At-Home Workers
Work-from-Home (WFH) employees commonly use their personal devices and usually work in an unsecured physical space. This multiplies their susceptibility to cyber threats and calls for careful deployment of firewalls, AV tools, MFA-based identity verification, remote endpoint monitoring, thorough user training, and the creation of security policies based on leading practices. Progent's veteran roster of IT security support consultants can help you to design, deploy and maintain a compliant security solution that guards critical information assets in environments that incorporate telecommuters.

Firewalls enable companies to create a network that can be securely accessed by local users as well as by an at-home workforce, mobile employees, vendors, clients, and other stakeholders. Next-generation firewall appliances permit you to assign and control appropriate permissions to various classes of users and to scale your IT network and modify your security as your business evolves and as network attacks grow increasingly complex. Progent works with both new and legacy firewall appliances from all major vendors like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, WatchGuard, Juniper, SonicWall and Fortinet. For details about Progent's firewall support services, visit firewall integration and support expertise.

Online Endpoint Security Monitoring makes it possible to watch over the various computers used by an at-home workforce and either reject or identify and respond to modern threats like ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) services, a small-footprint software agent is installed on every secured endpoint, watching all activity and utilizing advanced AI technology from SentinelOne to identify zero-day threats at inception. When an attack is spotted, ProSight ASM instantly disconnects the infected device from the corporate network to quarantine the threat. Because the ProSight Active Security Monitoring software agent is self-contained, endpoints stay protected even if they are offline. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. For more information about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, refer to remote endpoint monitoring for at-home workers.

Progent's Duo MFA Service Plans utilize Cisco's Duo technology to protect against password theft through the use of two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo supports single-tap identity verification on iOS, Google Android, and other out-of-band devices. With 2FA, whenever you log into a protected online account and give your password you are requested to confirm your identity via a device that only you have and that uses a separate network channel. A broad range of devices can be used as this added form of authentication including an iPhone or Android or wearable, a hardware/software token, a landline telephone, etc. You can designate multiple verification devices. For more information about ProSight Duo identity validation services, refer to Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for remote workers.

Security Audits can evaluate the vulnerability of your network to all types of outside and local security threats for an environment that includes telecommuters. Progent can run remote, automated security inventory scanning for rapidly and economically detecting a broad range of security holes that can be found over the Internet. Progent's security audit consulting services, which can be provided by network security professionals with top certifications such as CISM, ISSAP, and GIAC, can help your business to audit your processes and policies and review your WAN infrastructure to enable you to design top-level protection for your an at-home workforce.

Horizon3.ai's NodeZero PEN Testing Platform is a leading-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that can deliver automated threat assessment of your work-from-home environment and your internal and perimeter networks so you can find, prioritize, remediate, and confirm cybersecurity weaknesses before threat actors can exploit them. Progent can assist you to deploy NodeZero to carry out comprehensive pentests of your perimeter and your internal network in order to determine your current security posture. Progent can also assist you to strengthen your existing network security and can help you to plan and implement a cohesive cybersecurity strategy that simplifies management and provides maximum cyber defense for on-premises, cloud-based, at-home, and perimeter IT resources. To find out additional information about Progent's vulnerability assessment solutions powered by on NodeZero's penetration test products, see Consulting Services for NodeZero's Pentest Platform.

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

Data Protection Solutions for Telecommuters
Data Protection covers saving and recovering critical data in order to avoid data loss and reduce restoration time in case of storage system failures due to hardware issues, software hiccups, user error, malware, or other causes. Reliable data protection solutions can be particularly difficult to design and maintain in hybrid networks that combine local data centers, cloud resources, and at-home workers.

• Backup/Restore strategies for telecommuters must cover multiple kinds of user-owned endpoints. Progent can provide fast online help from experts familiar with a wide range of products for protection Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac and Linux/UNIX servers and desktops as well as notebooks, iPads and handhelds. Leading backup/recovery products maintained by Progent's data protection experts include Barracuda Backup, Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, CrashPlan, Retrospect, and Time Machine. To back up resources distributed across a hybrid network, Progent can provide ProSight Data Protection Services, a backup/recovery subscription service that utilizes cloud storage and features granular recovery and centralized management.
• Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity strategies typically envision circumstances that call for a temporary changeover to telecommuting. Progent's senior disaster recovery planning consultants and business continuity consultants can assist you to produce, document and validate a DR/BC plan that addresses the logistics of moving to an at-home workforce.

Unified Management for Teleworkers
Microsoft has rebranded and rebundled its endpoint management platforms under the title Endpoint Manager, which includes Intune for cloud-based management of remote devices and Configuration Manager for managing onsite computers. Microsoft Endpoint Manager offers a unified solution for protecting corporate data by controlling local, mobile, and home-based endpoints.

Microsoft Intune
Intune is part of Microsoft's Endpoint Management suite that also includes Microsoft Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud service for managing and securing remote devices and applications. Remote endpoint computers can be user owned or company owned. IT admins managing the enrolled endpoint devices of teleworkers can use Intune to provision and validate apps on devices, push updates and certificates, configure rules for permission to access information and networks, set passwords, create VPN tunnels, control how home-based workers share information, establish threat defense, verify compliance, and erase sensitive data from missing, stolen or deactivated devices. Microsoft Intune runs with Apple iOS, Google Android, Windows, and macOS devices. To find out about Intune and to find out how Progent can help your company to use Microsoft's Endpoint Management to manage the endpoint computers of your at-home workers, visit Intune remote endpoint management consultants.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich unified Mobile Device Management (MDM) product that allows network managers to keep off-premises endpoint devices current and secure. Workspace ONE uses VMware AirWatch technology for unified endpoint administration plus VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery technology for identity control, application management, and setup management of endpoint devices. Workspace ONE operates with endpoints based on Windows 10, macOS, Apple iOS, Android, Chrome OS, or popular distributions of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is available by subscription as a cloud service or as an on-site deployment through a perpetual license. Top features of Workspace ONE include fast over-the-air deployment of out-of-the-box laptops, immediate onboarding of new users, policy set up and enforcement for all categories of devices, aggregated reporting and performance analytics, email encryption, and integration with Microsoft apps and cloud services. To find out about Progent's support for VMware Workspace ONE, see VMware Workspace ONE mobile device management expertise.

Contact Progent for Remote Workforce Support Services
To get in touch with Progent about creating and managing a productive telecommuter environment, phone 1-800-993-9400 or go to Contact Progent.