Cloud Integration Consulting

Progent offers fast and economical access to cloud connectivity consultants to help your organization to plan, configure, maintain, and troubleshoot hybrid information networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud products and services with local datacenters as well as with additional public clouds like Microsoft Azure.

Progent's experts can help you evaluate the advantages and drawbacks of Amazon AWS cloud services relative to competing cloud platforms, migrate applications to Amazon AWS, design disaster recovery strategies that utilize Amazon AWS cloud storage services, and troubleshoot firewall and VPN configuration issues. Progent offers access to Cisco-certified CCIE network experts to assist you build a high-availability network architecture so your users have a consistent computing environment regardless of whether they are working from your main office, a branch office, from home, or on the road.

Amazon is a pioneer in the public cloud computing market and is the industry's leading vendor of cloud computing services. Amazon AWS can provide a broad selection of cloud-based services including Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) for on-demand compute capacity for virtual servers, Amazon Simple Storage Service for instantly scalable high-performance cloud storage, and Amazon Glacier for value-priced long-term backup. These Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) solutions enable organizations of any size to move some or all of their network infrastructure to the Amazon cloud, using a pay-for-use approach to minimize capital investments while reducing management overhead and cutting the time required to roll out new applications.

Hybrid Cloud Solutions
For the majority of organizations, utilizing public cloud products and services is assumed. The only issue is how to achieve the best balance between cloud and on-premises resources. Many businesses run legacy mission-critical apps which are difficult to migrate to a cloud environment. Performance-sensitive transaction processing applications may require local hardware configurations to provided the highest possible throughput. In addition, corporate policies or government and industry regulations could require more direct control over certain IT resources than can be achieved with public clouds. Consequently, hybrid architectures, which integrate local and cloud-based infrastructure, are commonly selected as the best network model.

To make things even more complicated, Amazon AWS is in competition with other vendors of public cloud services such as Microsoft, whose Azure offerings include Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) options as well as a Platform-as-a-Service model specially tuned for Windows-based applications. Simply put, careful evaluation is required for any business to select the right cloud environment.

Progent's seasoned solution architects can help you to define and configure a hybrid cloud ecosystem that incorporates Amazon AWS in a way that optimizes business value. Progent can help your IT team with every phase of Amazon AWS migration and troubleshooting including requirements analysis, readiness assessment, architectural design and review, pilot testing, configuration, administration, performance tuning, software license management, disaster recovery mechanisms, and security. Progent can provide advanced expertise with firewalls and VPN connections and can help you deploy all-cloud or hybrid cloud environments that seamlessly incorporate Amazon AWS resources. Progent offers occasional consulting or deliver end-to-end project management outsourcing services to help you migrate smoothly to the Amazon AWS platform.

Key Amazon AWS Services
The Amazon AWS family of cloud services includes dozens of infrastructure options that cover computing, primary and archival storage, databases, Business Information (BI), mobility, application development, administration, Internet of Things (IoT), and security, Amazon AWS services popular with businesses of any size and for which Progent offers comprehensive expertise include:

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, called Amazon EC2, is a virtual machine hosting product that lets you provision, expand, and manage cloud-based virtual servers, referred to as EC2 instances. Subscribers can commission any quantity of instances and you pay just for the resources you use. You can control the individual VM as well as cluster-level features of a selection of OS platforms, add your hosted applications, and control network access permissions. You also administer your company's own software licenses based on a Bring-Your-Own-License policy. You can utilize a standard Amazon Machine Image template and deploy a virtual server instantly or you can build your own image that incorporates your apps, libraries, data, and setup information. Amazon EC2 can scale compute resources on demand to accommodate up or down spikes in usage, eliminating the hassle of sophisticated capacity management. You also can request separate geographic sites for improved resilience and you can request fixed IP addresses to work with your application requirements.

Amazon Simple Storage Service, called Amazon S3, is a cloud-hosted storage service that offers high-performance storage for any volume of data. Amazon S3 scales dynamically and you pay only for the storage you use. Amazon S3 is often implemented as remote storage for disaster recovery but is also suited for high-demand applications, most prominently Amazon's vast commercial web. Amazon S3's interface can handle a range of storage classes intended for different use cases. These include Amazon S3 Standard for storage of frequently accessed data, Amazon S3 Standard-Infrequent Access for long-lived but rarely accessed data, and Amazon Glacier for long-term archives. You can also specify your own lifecycle policies so your S3 data automatically and seamlessly migrates to another storage category without forcing you to make modifications to your applications. Amazon S3 can be used with Amazon EC2 VM hosting or as a standalone cloud service.

Amazon Glacier is a cloud-based storage service intended to provide affordable data archiving and long-term storage for data that is seldomly retrieved. Glacier does not deliver the performance of Amazon S3 storage and is not appropriate for real-time applications. But restore time is glacially slow and can take hours, storage costs are less than one cent per gigabyte per month, which is less expensive than local storage. In addition, you can cut overall storage expense by defining lifecycle rules to migrate sets of Amazon S3 objects automatically to Glacier. Amazon Glacier can also assist companies to comply with regulatory requirements for archival data by offering highly-dependable remote backup with features that include periodic, systematic integrity audits and self-healing capability.

How Progent's Experts Can Help You Integrate Amazon AWS Services
If you are planning to integrate Amazon's AWS cloud services into your business using either a cloud-centric or a hybrid model, Progent can help you evaluate the business benefits of Amazon AWS compared to alternative public cloud solutions. Progent can help with every phase of your cloud integration project including preparedness assessment, solution design, feasibility testing, configuration, administration, performance optimization, software license management, and disaster recovery planning. Progent can also provide access to certified data security consultants to ensure. make sure your system is safe and in compliance with applicable regulations.

Progent can help your business to determine which of your key applications are appropriate for Amazon AWS and help you upgrade legacy applications so they can be moved to the Amazon AWS cloud. Progent can provide affordable remote and on-premises expertise to help you deal with stubborn technical issues, or Progent can provide end-to-end project management outsourcing or co-sourcing to make sure you complete your cloud integration initiative on schedule and within budget.

A common technical issue confronted while integrating your network with Amazon AWS, or with any other cloud, is setting up secure access for various devices located either inside or outside your corporate firewall. Progent offers the skills of Cisco-certified CCIE network consultant or firewall integration experts certified by Symantec, Barracuda, WatchGuard, and others to help you set up and administer firewalls for connecting safely to Amazon AWS services. Progent can also provide the services of iOS technology specialists and Android configuration consultants to assist you to set up mobile endpoints for your Amazon AWS environment.

Examples of remote integration services available from Progent to assist companies interface with Amazon AWS include:

• Plan or analyze the solution architecture for hybrid networks that incorporate Amazon EC2 and Simple Storage Service
• Install and troubleshoot VPN connections to Amazon AWS
• Deploy Cisco AnyConnect and Symantec AWS Gateway Service
• Install and debug firewalls from Barracuda, Symantec, SonicWall, Check Point and others
• Design, deploy, and test backup and recovery solutions integrated with Amazon Simple Storage Service
• Create and verify Amazon Machine Images for Windows or Linux VMs and apps
• Install Java tools for Amazon Machine Images
• Specify, implement and verify security policies
• Troubleshoot dynamic and static IP address issues
• Resolve DNS and load balancing problems
• Configure NATs for headquarters and remote sites
• Create PHP routines for signing AWS requests
• Build AD LDS instances for Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud
• Help with Amazon Simple Queue Service

Additional Cloud Integration Services Available from Progent
Progent offers support for all major public cloud platforms and can provide quick remote access to a public cloud integration consultant. Key cloud platforms and services supported by Proegnt's experts include:

Amazon Marketplace Web Service (Amazon MWS) is an integrated library of APIs that enables Amazon sellers to improve the efficiency of their operations by automating key sales functions including listings, orders, shipments, inbound and outbound fulfillment, and reports. By leveraging Amazon's vast online selling environment and automating their sales, merchants can expand their reach, lower their operating costs, accelerate reaction time to customers, and increase their bottom line. Progent's Amazon Marketplace Web Service developers can collaborate with your development staff and provide application programming, workflow integration, project management support, and mentoring to help you cut development time and costs and speed up your return on investment.

Progent's Azure cloud planning and integration experts can assist you with any phase of Azure cloud integration such as requirements definition, readiness assessment, solution architecture, pilot testing, implementation, automated administration, performance optimization, license management, disaster recovery strategies, security policy enforcement, and compliance assessment. Progent can help your IT staff to configure and troubleshoot firewall appliances and VPN tunnels so your clients can safely access to Azure-based services, and Progent's Microsoft-certified consulting experts can assist you set up key Microsoft platforms to run in Azure including Windows Server, Exchange Server, SQL and SharePoint. Progent can also help you to set up a hybrid ecosystem that seamlessly combines on-premises datacenters with Azure-based resources.

Microsoft allows you to create transparent hybrid environments that combine Microsoft 365 and local Exchange deployments. This allows you to have specific Exchange mailboxes hosted on your on-premises datacenter and other mailboxes resident on Microsoft 365. Progent's Microsoft-certified consulting team can assist you with any phase of designing, integrating and debugging your hybrid Exchange solution. Progent's Exchange specialists can deliver occasional support to help you through challenging technical bottlenecks and also can provide comprehensive project management outsourcing to ensure your hybrid Microsoft 365/Exchange initiative is carried out on time and within budget. For more information about Progent's online consulting services for hybrid Microsoft 365 Exchange and on-prem Exchange environments, refer to Microsoft 365 Exchange Online integration solutions with on-premises Exchange.

Progent's Office and Microsoft 365 experts can assist companies of any size to integrate Microsoft Office desktop and Microsoft 365 applications such as Office Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access, Project and OneNote into a cohesive solution that offers quick ROI and enables improved business results. Progent can help your company to integrate Office or Microsoft 365 apps with one another and with other core Microsoft platforms such as SharePoint Server, Microsoft Exchange Server and Microsoft SQL Server running on-premises or in the cloud. Progent can also help you to fix compatibility problems with different releases of Office and can provide customized online Office and Microsoft 365 training to individuals and groups.

Progent's Google Cloud Platform integration consultants offer affordable remote and onsite consulting to assist businesses to move any portion of their core IT infrastructure to Google Cloud Platform services. This can save management hassle and equipment costs and allow the use of Google's cutting edge AI and machine learning tools. Progent can assist your IT team with every phase of Google Cloud Platform integration including requirements analysis, readiness evaluation, system design and review, testing, configuration, centralized administration, performance optimization, licensing management, backup/restore solutions, and security and compliance.