Enlarging your remote workforce may have a major impact on IT infrastructure, cybersecurity, and company processes. Progent has two decades of background assisting businesses of all sizes to design, configure, manage, tune, and troubleshoot IT networks that incorporate work-from-home employees. Progent can help your Palo Alto company to select the appropriate tools and follow best practices in building and operating a safe virtual ecosystem for teleworkers that facilitates teamwork and delivers top value. Progent offers support services ranging from as-needed expertise for helping you over challenging technical bottlenecks to full project management to help you carry out mission-critical tasks.

Progent can help Palo Alto, California businesses to with any aspect of creating a high-functioning telecommuting environment by delivering infrastructure configuration services, VoIP PBX expertise, voice/video conferencing support, collaboration platform customization and training, public cloud connectivity, Help Desk augmentation, data security, backup/restore solutions, and unified management.

Network Infrastructure for Telecommuters
Configuring the network infrastructure needed to support an at-home work environment can be especially complex if you have to manage a mix of worker-owned hardware like PCs and notebooks, Internet routers, and Wi-Fi appliances from different manufacturers and with a variety of operating systems and firmware levels. Progent's experience providing online support for both outdated as well as modern IT products in remote office solutions allows you to make efficient use of your available network infrastructure and provides you with fast access to top-tire consultants for implement essential updates. Services available from Progent to assist you to create a high-functioning work-at-home ecosystem include:

  • VPN connectivity makes it possible to establish a safe tunnel for authorized remote workers to use IT resources located at your company datacenter or in the cloud. Progent can help you to deploy and maintain VPN access between your teleworkers and your key IT resources by providing online VPN configuration support. For businesses using Cisco's ASA security appliances, Progent's Cisco ASA experts can help your telecommuters to set up Cisco's AnyConnect client software for secure VPN tunneling for a wide selection of endpoint devices such as Windows, Mac, Apple iOS, Linux, and Google Android.
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure products allow a telecommuter to see and use a data center PC's desktop. This gives network managers significant control over the digital environment of telecommuters and offers remote users a consistent and more productive experience. Progent's virtual desktop consulting services include Windows Remote Desktop integration and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops expertise.
  • Routers connect home networks to the Internet and support VPN connections, local Wi-Fi connectivity, and firewall services. Progent can provide expert remote support for deploying home routers from a variety of manufacturers. See router configuration support from Cisco-certified consultants.
  • Home Wi-Fi networks, often shared by an entire household and visitors, are frequently utilized by at-home employees to connect to their Internet router for work. This can cause throughput as well as cybersecurity problems. Progent can assist you to mitigate these issues by delivering services like Cisco Aironet configuration expertise, Cisco Meraki wireless installation consulting, and Ubiquiti Unifi WiFi AP integration help.
  • Internet connectivity solutions affect the performance and reliability of connections between telecommuters and the company data center. Line-of-business applications might require backup Internet access in case the normal connection fails. Progent offers expertise for picking service providers, choosing appropriate service offerings, and configuring high-availability Internet access. See Internet access solutions.

IP Voice Solutions for Remote Workers
Extending the business PBX system to accommodate teleworkers is vital to supporting a productive at-home workforce. A variety of cloud-based IP voice platforms are used by SMBs to server remote users. Many enterprises depend on Cisco's modern or legacy platforms for IP voice management. Progent can assist businesses of any size to design or tune a remote IP voice service that provides the flexibility, transparency and security needed for remote users. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice consultants can provide high-level support to assist businesses optimize their current Cisco IP voice systems to support an expanding at-home workforce.

  • Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM) delivers advanced IP telephony capabilities to devices such as IP phones, media processing platforms, Voice over IP gateways, and multimedia applications used throughout the network. CUCM supports additional combined media services such as messaging, video conferencing, and customer collaboration networks. For more information about Progent's CUCM support, see Cisco Unified CM consultants.
  • CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing agent and has been superseded by Cisco Unified CM. Progent's consultants can assist you to support your existing CallManager environment or upgrade smoothly to Cisco's modern IP telephony products. For details about Progent's support services for CallManager and Cisco's other legacy IP voice products, visit CallManager consulting.
  • Cisco IP Gateways enable connectivity with PSTN networks and with users operating beyond the corporate firewall like at-home workers. Progent offers expert support for Cisco's earlier generation IP gateways such as the UC520, UC540 and UC560 series and for modern Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco SIP gateway configuration consulting.
  • Other VoIP Products supported by Progent include Vonage, RingCentral and 8x8. Progent can help you to update your wide area network architecture to work with these solutions and provide online deployment and debugging services.

Video Conferencing for Telecommuters
A wide range of video conferencing products from major vendors support virtual meetings, video conferencing, chat sessions, and content sharing for both onsite workers and telecommuters. Many companies use a mix of products to meet the needs of their various partners and clients. Progent can assist you to manage your current voice/video conferencing environment and optimize the productivity of your remote workforce.

  • Skype for Business is Microsoft's popular unified communications platform that enables real-time presence, instant messaging, voice and video conferencing as well as the transparent integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 applications including PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. Progent can provide the skills of Microsoft-certified specialists who can assist you to deploy and manage Skype for Business clients to accommodate your remote workforce. To learn more about Progent's support expertise for Skype for Business, see Skype for Business integration services.
  • FaceTime is Apple's multiuser video phone platform for compatible iOS, iPadOS, iPod and macOS computers and smartphones. FaceTime works over Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Later versions of FaceTime support up to 32 simultaneous users for voice/video sessions. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for FaceTime, visit Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
  • Webex Meeting Center supports remote conferencing for most computing devices. Offered through Cisco's Webex Cloud, Webex services include sharing granular content or computer screens, presentations that embed rich media such as Microsoft PowerPoint, session recording, plus editing and playback for future reference. To learn more about Progent's consulting expertise for Cisco Webex as well as for additional IP video products from Cisco, refer to Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
  • Teams is Microsoft's next-generation replacement for Skype for Business. Teams acts as a hub for conferencing, contacts, and content with capabilities such as voice/video conferencing, persistent threaded chat, plus file sharing. For details about Progent's support services for Microsoft Teams as well as for additional Microsoft 365 apps, see Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
  • Additional Conferencing Platforms supported by Progent's conferencing experts include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can provide integration and troubleshooting expertise for these products and help you to tune your network architecture to run them.

Microsoft Integrated Collaboration Software for At-Home Workers
Microsoft's collaboration platforms are closely integrated with Microsoft's popular Office suites, offering a powerful environment of productivity apps that deliver a cohesive user interface for exchanging information across multiple sites and on a wide selection of endpoint devices. Progent has delivered online consulting services for SharePoint and Exchange Server since their original releases and can assist your company to deploy these flagship collaboration platforms 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 and Teams Premium Integration Consultants for At-Home WorkersMicrosoft 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 that include screen sharing, calling, cloud voicemail, group email, plus file and app sharing. Teams is closely integrated with Microsoft 365 and relies on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Microsoft Entra (previously called Azure Active Directory) for supporting its full range of features. For details about Progent's support services for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium, see planning and deployment expertise for Microsoft Teams.

SharePoint Server Configuration Experts for Remote WorkersSharePoint utilizes web entities to enable collaboration and information delivery by providing policy-based access to data, workflow, and tools for looking through company-wide business data. SharePoint enables you to build protected web portals that enables remote workers to view and edit consolidated corporate intelligence via Wikis, Blogs, social networking sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). To learn about Progent's SharePoint support services, refer to SharePoint configuration and development consulting.

Exchange Deployment Consultants for At-Home WorkersExchange 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 expertise for Exchange Server.

Onedrive Integration Consultants for Remote WorkersOneDrive is Microsoft�s shared cloud storage service, similar to GoogleDrive. Remote users can save files to OneDrive, and colleagues can share them safely through a browser. Included with Microsoft 365, OneDrive enables home workers to jointly author documents. Edits made offline are automatically uploaded when you reconnect to the Internet. For details about Progent's consulting services for OneDrive, go to Microsoft Onedrive configuration consulting.

Cloud Integration Services for Remote Workers
Progent can provide affordable online assistance for enabling businesses to create, manage and optimize integrated network architectures that include physical data centers, at-home workers, branches, and public cloud resources. Progent offers top-tier consultant for all types of public cloud service including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service. Progent can help telecommuters fix issues with public cloud connectivity, identity, and security.

Azure Integration Services for Remote WorkersMicrosoft Azure is a popular platform for cloud services that enables you to use infrastructure, servers, and key apps hosted on Microsoft's extensive cloud. Microsoft Azure includes more than one hundred cloud-based services including hosting for Windows and Linux-powered virtual machines, scalable cloud storage, email and messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and backup/restore. Progent can help you to set up VMs on Azure Virtual Machines, configure storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity control with Azure Active Directory, and design data backup and restore solutions with Azure Backup. Progent's cloud experts can also show you how to establish secure connections to Azure for telecommuters by configuring and debugging firewalls and VPN tunnels. To find out about Progent's consulting services for Azure, visit Azure expertise.

Microsoft 365 Integration for Remote WorkersMicrosoft 365, formerly branded Office 365, is Microsoft's popular suite of business productivity applications and cloud-based services available on a subscription basis. Office apps and cloud services are marketed in a variety of bundles designed for users ranging from students and small offices to large corporations. Progent can provide fast and easy online contact with experts familiar with Microsoft 365-compatible devices based on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android technology. Progent's experts can help you to evaluate the numerous subscription bundles available for Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 apps for your remote workers to achieve top business value. To learn about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft 365, visit Microsoft 365 consulting expertise.

Exchange Online Integration Services for Remote WorkersMicrosoft 365 Exchange Online is one of the most widely used cloud-based applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product line. Microsoft 365 Exchange Online provides the benefits of reduced costs for data center infrastructure, easier management, on-demand scaling, high reliability, and other benefits inherent with cloud computing. Microsoft has engineered Exchange Online to run seamlessly with local Exchange environments, allowing you to create hybrid networks. Progent's Exchange experts can provide occasional help to guide you past tough IT bottlenecks and also offer comprehensive project management outsourcing to make sure your telecommuters have convenient and safe access to your Microsoft 365 Exchange Online environment. For information Progent's expertise for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, refer to Microsoft 365 Exchange Online configuration and support expertise.

Amazon AWS Integration Services for Remote WorkersAmazon AWS is a trailblazer in the public cloud computing arena and is the industry's biggest source of cloud-based services. Progent can provide fast and affordable online access to cloud integration consultants who can help your organization to design, deploy, maintain, and debug hybrid IT networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud services with on-premises data centers and with other public clouds like Azure. Progent also offers access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking consultants to assist you to create a high-availability network architecture so your employees have a consistent computing environment regardless of whether they are working from your headquarters, a remote branch, from home, or on the move. To find out about Progent's consulting expertise for Amazon AWS, go to Amazon AWS consulting services.

Google Cloud Platform Integration for TeleworkersGoogle Cloud (GCP) is a leading collection of cloud services that provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco consulting experts can help your organization to expand your existing IT resources with the Google Cloud Platform, and Progent's DBA consultants can help you make your key applications cloud friendly so your teleworkers can benefit fully from Google Cloud services. Progent can assist your business to deploy VMs on Google Cloud Compute Engine, design an efficient storage solution with GCP Storage, and simplify access control for teleworkers with GCP Cloud Identity services. Progent can also help your business to utilize GCP's unified management technology to administer and track your Google Cloud ecosystem. To learn, refer to Google Cloud Platform (GCP) consulting services.

Help Desk Call Center Services for Remote Workers
A fast, company-wide transition to a from-home business model, which could be motivated by an epidemic or as part of a disaster recovery process, can overwhelm even the most efficient internal Help Desk. Progent's Help Desk Call Center services allow organizations of any size to outsource or expand their Call Desk by using Progent's online Technical Response Center (TRC) services.

  • Progent's Standard Call Desk support services utilize Progent's extensive network of remote technical support specialists combined with world-class ticketing and follow-up software to provide an economical, state-of-the-art Help Desk Call Center. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services provide an end-to-end solution that addresses all facets of online Level 1 PC support from help requests to ticket generation, screen sharing, problem resolution, and reporting. A browser-based User's Service Portal allows teleworkers to monitor or edit the status of their current tickets, add information, and append screen captures or attachments. Technical support services are delivered at a significant price reduction off Progent's normal Level 1 desktop service rates, and Progent offers optional rapid hand-off to Level 2 and Level 3 support specialists to deal with complex issues. To learn more, see Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services outsourcing for small businesses.
  • Progent's Call Desk Supplemental Service enables you to expand your existing Help Desk Call Center staff by splitting responsibilities for Help Desk Call Center support services transparently between your regular IT support organization and Progent's nationwide team of desktop support engineers and subject matter experts. Progent's co-managed Call Desk service is based on a collective support model utilizing the leading professional services automation (PSA) platform for handling service requests and trouble tickets, establishing ownership, tracking progress, and generating management reports. For details about how Progent's Call Desk Supplementation Services can enable your company to deliver best-in-class IT support to your teleworkers, go to Progent's Call Desk supplementation Services.

Security and Compliance for At-Home Workers
Work-from-Home staff members commonly utilize their personal devices and often operate in an unsecured physical space. This multiplies their susceptibility to cyber attacks and requires judicious deployment of corporate firewalls, AV tools, MFA-based identity verification, remote endpoint monitoring, intensive end-user education, and the creation of security policies based on best practices. Progent's veteran roster of cybersecurity support consultants can help you to design, implement and manage a compliant security solution that protects critical IT assets in networks that include at-home workers.

Firewall Integration Services for At-Home WorkersFirewalls enable you to create a network that can be safely accessed by on-premises users and by teleworkers, mobile employees, vendors, customers, and the public. Next-generation firewall devices allow you to configure and manage appropriate access rights to different groups of users and to scale your network and modify your security profile as your business evolves and as network attacks become more complex. Progent supports both new and older firewall appliances from all major vendors including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, WatchGuard, Juniper, SonicWall and Fortinet. For details about Progent's firewall support expertise, refer to firewall configuration and support services.

Remote Endpoint Monitoring and Management Services for TeleworkersRemote Endpoint Security Monitoring makes it possible to watch over the disparate devices used by telecommuters and either block or spot and respond to the latest threats like ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring services, a small-footprint agent is put on every protected endpoint, watching all activity and using advanced machine learning and full execution context from SentinelOne to identify new attacks before they can spread. When an attack is spotted, ProSight ASM immediately disconnects the targeted device from the network to quarantine the malware. Because the ProSight Active Security Monitoring software agent is autonomous, endpoints remain protected even when they are disconnected from the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. For more information about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, refer to remote endpoint security monitoring for an at-home workforce.

Two-factor Authentication Services for TeleworkersProgent's Duo authentication Service Plans utilize Cisco's Duo technology to defend against stolen passwords by using two-factor authentication. Duo enables single-tap identity confirmation with iOS, Android, and other out-of-band devices. With 2FA, when you log into a protected online account and give your password you are asked to confirm your identity via a unit that only you have and that uses a different network channel. A wide range of out-of-band devices can be utilized as this second means of authentication including an iPhone or Android or wearable, a hardware/software token, a landline telephone, etc. You may register multiple verification devices. To find out more about Duo two-factor identity validation services, refer to Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for telecommuters.

Security Audit Services for At-Home WorkersSecurity Audits can evaluate the exposure of your information system to all types of external and local security attacks for a network that includes an at-home workforce. Progent can run online, automated cybersecurity inventory scanning for quickly and affordably detecting a broad range of security gaps that can be surfaced over the Internet. Progent's security assessment consulting services, which can be provided by network security professionals with top certifications such as CISA, ISSAP, and GIAC, can assist your business to audit your procedures and governance policies and review your network architecture to enable you to implement the highest level of security for your remote workers.

NodeZero Pen Testing for At-Home WorkersHorizon3.ai's NodeZero PEN Testing Platform is a breakthrough penetration test (pentest) product family that supports automated threat assessment of your at-home connectivity solution as well as your internal and perimeter networks to help you identify, prioritize, remediate, and confirm cybersecurity vulnerabilities before threat actors can exploit them. Progent can help you to deploy NodeZero to perform thorough pentests of your network perimeter and your internal IT infrastructure in order to evaluate your current security posture. Progent can also help you to strengthen your network security and can help you to design and deploy a cohesive cybersecurity ecosystem that simplifies management and delivers maximum cyber defense for on-prem, cloud-based, at-home, and perimeter IT resources. To learn additional information about Progent's threat analysis services powered by on NodeZero's penetration test platform, refer to Consulting Services for NodeZero's Penetration Test Products.

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

Data Protection for Telecommuters
The field of Data Protection involves backing up and restoring vital data so as to avoid data loss and minimize restoration time and effort in the event of storage system problems resulting from equipment breakdowns, software hiccups, human mistakes, cyber attack, or any other reason. Reliable data protection solutions can be especially difficult to architect and maintain in hybrid environments that combine local data centers, public clouds, and an at-home workforce.

  • Backup/Recovery solutions for telecommuters must address multiple kinds of user-owned endpoints. Progent offers quick online access to consultants knowledgeable about a wide range of platforms for protection Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac and Linux/UNIX powered servers and desktop computers as well as notebooks, iOS and Android tablets and handhelds. Popular backup/restore products supported by Progent's data protection consultants include Barracuda Backup, Microsoft Azure Backup, Symantec Backup Exec, CrashPlan, Mozy, and Time Machine. To back up resources spread throughout a hybrid network, Progent can provide ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a backup/recovery subscription service that uses cloud storage and includes granular recovery and centralized management capabilities.
  • Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity plans typically anticipate circumstances that require a quick switch to an at-home workforce. Progent's expert disaster recovery planning experts and business continuity consultants can help your company to create, document and validate a DR/BC strategy that addresses the logistics of switching to an at-home workforce.

Unified Management for At-Home Workers
Microsoft has renamed and reshuffled its endpoint management products under the name Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which encompasses Intune for cloud management of remote endpoints and Configuration Manager for managing on-premises endpoints. Endpoint Manager offers a centralized solution for safeguarding corporate data by managing onsite, mobile, and at-home endpoint devices.

Intune
Intune is part of Microsoft's Endpoint Management family that also includes Microsoft Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud service for managing and protecting mobile computers and software. Managed endpoint devices can be user owned or business owned. Network administrators managing the enrolled endpoint devices of teleworkers can use Intune to provision and authenticate apps on managed devices, push patches and certificates, set up rules for accessing information and networks, set passwords, create VPN tunnels, control how home-based workers share information, establish threat protection, verify compliance, and erase corporate information from lost, stolen or decommissioned endpoint devices. Intune works with iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X devices. For information about Intune and how Progent can assist your company to use this platform to manage the endpoint devices of your telecommuters, visit Intune telecommuter endpoint management expertise.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich unified MDM product that helps network managers to keep remote endpoint devices up to date and protected. Workspace ONE uses VMware AirWatch technology for unified endpoint administration combined with VMware's Horizon virtual application delivery platform for access control, application management, and setup management of endpoint devices. Workspace ONE operates with endpoints powered by Windows 10, macOS, Apple iOS, Android, Chrome OS, or leading distros of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is offered by subscription as a cloud service or as an on-premises product via a one-time purchase. Key capabilities of Workspace ONE include rapid over-the-air provisioning of new notebooks, immediate onboarding of new users, policy setting and enforcement for all categories of endpoints, aggregated management reporting and analytics, an email encryption gateway, and seamless integration with Microsoft apps and cloud-based products. To find out about Progent's support for VMware Workspace ONE, visit VMware Workspace ONE remote endpoint management expertise.

Contact Progent for Telecommuter Expertise
To get in touch with Progent about creating and managing an efficient telecommuter environment for your Palo Alto, California company, phone 1-800-993-9400 or go to Contact Progent.