Who's really on your network?
Why network access control is essential, why it so often stalls, and how to get it enforced without building it yourself.
- The four questions NAC asks of every device before it gets on your network
- Six reasons NAC projects stall before they ever protect anything
- What running Cisco ISE really costs after it's installed
- A side-by-side comparison of doing it yourself versus managed ISE
- A two-minute checklist to find out whether your network is exposed today
Eighteen pages, written for IT managers and the business owners they report to. No vendor fluff and no sales pitch until the last page.
Your guide is ready
Open the guideEighteen pages. Read chapter nine first if you want the two-minute checklist.
Want to talk it through? Book a 30-minute intro call or call (833) 879-7274.
What's inside
Nine short chapters. Read it in twenty minutes, or skip to the chapter that matches where you are.
- The question few networks can answerDevices on your network that no one can name, and why that is the whole problem.
- What network access control isThe four questions NAC asks of every connection, and how it enforces the answers.
- Why your network needs itDevice sprawl, lateral movement, Zero Trust, and what auditors and insurers now ask.
- Why Cisco ISE for NACWhat the platform does, capability by capability, and why the platform is not the hard part.
- Why NAC projects stallSix implementation traps, from PKI to switch configuration, and what each one costs you.
- Day 2 never endsCertificate expirations, upgrades, policy drift, and the Monday morning every NAC team fears.
- Doing it yourself vs. managed ISEA side-by-side cost comparison across expertise, time to value, outage risk, and support load.
- Managed Cisco ISE as a serviceWhat we deliver, who does what, and how to start whether you already own ISE or not.
- Is your network at risk?A two-minute checklist. Two or more checked and your access control is likely costing more than it protects.
Who this guide is for
IT managers and network leads
You know NAC matters and may already own the licenses. This guide names the specific traps that keep deployments in monitor mode and what it takes to get past them.
Business owners and executives
You've been asked by an auditor, an insurer, or your own IT team about network access. This explains what the question means and what a real answer costs.
Compliance and risk owners
HIPAA, PCI DSS, CMMC, and NIST SP 800-171 all touch device and access control. This shows how NAC produces the evidence those frameworks ask for.
You might be thinking…
Sixteen of the eighteen pages are about NAC, Cisco ISE, and why deployments stall. The last two describe what we offer. You'll know more about your own network after reading it whether or not you ever call us.
No. You get the guide, then one email asking whether it was useful. Reply or don't. That's the whole sequence.
It's written for the IT manager and the owner they report to, in that order. The tables and checklists are meant to be handed up the chain, and the first six pages need no networking background at all.
Chapters five through seven are specifically about ISE deployments that never reached enforcement, what day-two operations really cost, and a side-by-side of running it yourself versus having it run for you.
Already running Cisco ISE?
We offer an ISE health and readiness review: an independent look at your deployment, your enforcement status stated plainly, and a practical path to a closed, segmented network. The findings are yours to keep whether or not you hire us to run it.