How to sell Cisco ISE.

[darrenj]

Hi all. I have always had challenges trying to 'prove' the importance of 802.1x and some of the advanced functionality provided by Cisco ISE. The OG150 (www.og150.com) is an automated penetration testing drop box. Once plugged into the network, it will automatically dial home (establish a reverse SSH tunnel) and performs a penetration test with a security report of the penetration test results emailed to you. This is ALL automated upon connection to the network, and takes about 7 minutes.

I will be using this box to demonstrate to customers the benefits of using 802.1x with Cisco ISE.                  

[Saurav Lodh]

 802.1X offers the following benefits:

•Visibility—802.1X provides greater visibility into the network because the authentication process provides a way to link a username with an IP address, MAC address, switch, and port. This visibility is useful for security audits, network forensics, network use statistics, and troubleshooting.

•Security—802.1X is the strongest method for authentication and should be used for managed assets that support an 802.1X supplicant. 802.1X acts at Layer 2 in the network, allowing you to control network access at the access edge.

•Identity-based services—802.1X enables you to leverage an authenticated identity to dynamically deliver customized services. For example, a user might be authorized into a specific VLAN or assigned a unique access list that grants appropriate access for that user.

•Transparency—In many cases, 802.1X can be deployed in a way that is transparent to the end user.

•User and device authentication—802.1X can be used to authenticate devices and users.