Cisco Extends NAC Line Into Midmarket

Cisco Systems recently expanded its line of Network Admission Control (NAC) offerings with Clean Access Commercial, a security policy enforcement appliance aimed at the midmarket.

An extension of the Clean Access family, the new Commercial version offers the same technology as the Enterprise version but with new licensing options that make the product a better fit for businesses with 250 to 750 users, said Rohit Khetrapal, director of the Clean Access product line at Cisco, San Jose, Calif.

The Commercial version offers scanning, blocking, quarantine and remediation capabilities that prevent devices from accessing the network unless they comply with established security policies. “Its job here is to protect the LAN itself as well as remote users,” Khetrapal said.

Up to this point, Clean Access was priced out of reach for most midsize customers, said Jack Brahce, director of security services at Analysts International, a Cisco Gold partner in Minneapolis. “This gives us policy enforcement capabilities that are affordable,” he said.

Previously only available via an unlimited license, the Commercial option offers licensing schemes for as few as 100 users. Pricing starts at $6,000.

Clean Access Commercial is a welcome addition to the NAC portfolio, particularly because wireless users and remote users have become so ubiquitous among midsize customers, Brahce said.

“Probably the No. 1 most requested [security solution] is endpoint security,” Brahce said. “A lot of organizations have deployed wireless over the last several years and secured it, but now they’re finding that, like the wired side, they still have to have security on those end point devices,” he said.

Concerns over end point security crop up for IT departments because they often don’t control or even own the devices trying to gain access to their networks as more and more businesses extend their networks to guest users, Brahce said.

The new pricing also now enables Cisco to be more competitive in the midmarket against Check Point Software Technologies’ Integrity line of endpoint security products, a product it couldn’t really compete with on price in the past, Brahce said.

Cisco picked up the Clean Access line via its acquisition of Perfigo last year.