When Cisco integrated our Identity Services Engine (ISE) platform with leading mobile device management (MDM) systems, it was clear from the start that we had struck a chord among IT administrators trying to wrestle with the onslaught of employee-owned mobile devices accessing their networks. First and foremost for IT organizations was gaining visibility to all mobile devices — rogue or authorized — that were present on the wireless network. Cisco ISE delivered that capability, providing IT staff with a detailed view of what types of mobile devices were on the network. Coupling that with ISE’s native BYOD enrollment capabilities or the active management capabilities of MDM platforms — as well as network intelligence from the Cisco Wireless Network — was key to gaining full control over this Wild West of mobile devices

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Tags: AirWatch, byod, Citrix (Zenprise), Fiberlink, Good technology, Identify Service Engine, ISE, MAM, MCMS, MDM, MobileIron, mobility, SAP Afaria, secure BYOD, security

Employees, and many business, want to allow personal devices to be used at work, and potentially for work. However, balancing that with corporate policies for information security, clear rights-of-use, liability, and then bounding it within an acceptable IT cost structure is no small feat. Cisco joined forces with leading MDM vendors to link together a solution that starts at day zero – when an employee first buys a new device and tries to use it at work. It includes self-service onboarding to the network, offering a choice of using a device as a guest or work asset, and forced enrollment in (and compliance with) MDM when business policy must be enforced.

Citrix recently acquired Zenprise to add top-tier MDM to their mobile workspace and application management solution. The good news is Zenprise is an early MDM partner with Cisco, and Citrix inherits the integration work. The tight linkage of Cisco’s Unified Access Solution, and the Cisco Identity Services Engine, to what is now Citrix XenMobile MDM, is a powerful combination for customers to deploy since it brings quite a bit more to the table than standalone MDM.

Tags: citrix, Identity Services Engine, ISE, MDM, Mobile Device Management, mobile device security, mobile devices, unified access, Zenprise

Secure access continues to be paramount for a connected world. People connect to the Internet for business and for personal use, from wired, wireless or mobile devices—locally and remotely. The Internet is a global system of interconnected networks. User devices, the Internet, and all computer networks are the target of a growing number of increasingly complex security threats. Let’s take a look at some recent trends from the Cisco Connected World Technology Report that speaks to the need for secure access:

• Three devices is the average per end user with the desire or mandate to work anywhere and anytime—how do we ensure control of all these devices?
• 71 percent of the next generation workforce will not obey the policies—how do we enforce policy?
• 60 percent will not be responsible for protecting corporate information and devices—how do we protect sensitive data?
• Mobile malware is growing; Android malware grew over 2000% from 2012 but is only 1% of the web malware encounter—how do we ensure secure connection from your mobile device and with web intensive users   Read More »

Tags: cisco annual security report, Cisco Identity Service Engine (ISE), cisco live london 2013, Gartner Magic Quadrant, ISE, MDM, NAC, secure BYOD, security policy

Today, Cisco announced the latest additions to our Unified Access portfolio to enable One Network for wired and wireless access. I’m personally excited about this because it is finally closing a loop we started a year ago when we introduced Cisco Unified Access with One Policy, One Management, One Network. Now Cisco and partners can offer a truly converged wired and wireless experience.

Let’s take a look at what’s new and how these solutions present an excellent opportunity for you to help meet your customers’ needs.

What is being launched? Read More »

Tags: Borderless Networks, byod, Catalyst 3850, Cisco, Cisco 5760 Wireless LAN Controller, cisco prime, ISE, New Cisco Switch, partner, unified access, WLC

In this blog, let us take a look at how Catalyst access switches profile the various connected devices and make the information available to various network services.

Many devices like laptops, IP phones, cameras etc. are connected to the network and need to be managed by IT for asset management, device onboarding, switch configuration, policy management & device energy management. Traditionally, IT administrators manually added each device for each service. This consumes unnecessary overhead and is an inefficient use of IT’s time. Read More »

Tags: Access Switches, byod, catalyst, Connecting IP Phones, Demystifying the Catalyst, Identity Services Engine, IOS, IOS Device Sensor, ISE, QoS, switch