Cisco Certified Expert Network Consulting and Support

Network management platforms help companies to implement network infrastructure effectively, access user information rapidly, monitor system operation, troubleshoot issues, defend against and respond to cyber attacks, and maximize responsiveness. Network management systems can help detect inefficient or improper uses of network resources such as streaming multimedia or peer-to-peer file sharing that can waste bandwidth, lower employee productivity or enable data leaks. A prudently planned network management environment can also help organizations to make smart network enhancement decisions by surfacing trends in network usage for different times or types of jos.

Cisco offers a diverse and expanding catalog of network management solutions that allow centralized management for local, cloud-based, or hybrid network models. With Cisco's newer security, switching, and wireless networking products, you can run Meraki, Cisco DNA Center, or CLI management platforms for network management. For example, you can interface the latest Catalyst or Meraki switches and Catalyst or Meraki WiFi 6/6E access points to the Meraki dashboard to monitor and manage vital components of your network infrastructure from the cloud. Progent's Catalyst WiFi AP consultants, Meraki Wi-Fi access point consulting experts, Catalyst switches experts, and Cisco Meraki switches experts can help you to design, deploy and optimize a modern solution for network infrastructure management.

Legacy Network Management Tools from Cisco and Others
A wealth of network management utilities from Cisco and third-party suppliers underscores the importance and complexity of maintaining networks. Progent's seasoned network management consultants are experienced at helping companies design management strategies based on Simple Network Management Protocol, SYSLOG services, and Cisco Netflow protocols to build powerful tools for tracking network bandwidth usage and network latency, monitoring important router and switch performance metrics, and identifying traffic patterns, applications, and appliances utilizing network services.

Progent can help customers to utilize a broad selection of free and license-based management products to manage a Cisco network. Tools familiar to Progent's consultants include MRTG, Cacti, Nagios, PRTG, Cisco Cisco Adaptive Security Device Manager, Cisco Network Assistant, CiscoWorks, Cisco Security Manager, OpenView, AlterPoint DeviceAuthority, Adventnet Netflow and Firewall Analyzer, Big Brother, Solarwinds Orion, and NetMRI.

Network management platforms can help IT administrators to be aware of existing system usage and intelligently prepare for future capacity increases. Network management tools can also be used to identify inefficient or improper utilization of network resources, for example streaming audio and video, peer-to-peer file exchange, etc. that can use up valuable or limited network bandwidth. A carefully planned network management plan can also aid organizations to arrive at informed choices on network upgrades after they understand how much network resources really needed at any one time.

Having an effective network management system in operation beforehand is vital to avoid severe disruptions that can result from DoS attacks and malicious viruses. Such events can render the network unusable and in the absence of proper tools it can be time consuming, and sometimes practically impossible, to find the source of the trouble.

Network Management Solutions from Cisco
Cisco has developed an array of effective tools that should be the foundation for any network management solution. Utilized in conjunction with appropriate outside vendor applications, Cisco's network management offerings can improve the competitive value of network infrastructures for companies of all sizes by dealing with important areas such as resource utilization, throughput, resilience, security, troubleshooting, and capacity planning. Cisco's top network management tools include:

Cisco Adaptive Security Device Manager is a browser-based utility that permits you configure and operate the software built into network devices. Adaptive Security Device Manager is loaded by the adaptive security appliance, and enables you to set up, monitor, and manage the unit.

Monitor Manager is a management solution intended to handle the needs of small and medium-sized organizations. Cisco Monitor Manager actively checks important device processes on voice and data environments used by 5 to 250 users and with as many as 250 IP phones. The application provides:

• Real-time scanning of important appliance parameters on small and midsize business-class routers, switches, and voice gateways, Unified Communications Manager Express, Unity Express, security devices, wireless access points, and VoIP phones
• Support for the Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series for organizations with up to 50 users

• Voice and data network discovery and physical topology
• Device and process looks at Unified Communications implementation
• Networkwide device identification logging and documentation
• Highly secure and dependable operation
• Device operations monitoring
• VoIP Telephony monitoring
• Interface status and traffic tracking
• Real-time alerts and event notification
• Reports
• Setup archive

Cisco Network Assistant is a desktop-based network management application optimized for wired and wireless LANs (WLANs) for expanding organizations that have as many as 40 switches and routers. By using Cisco's Smartports technology, Cisco Network Assistant simplifies setup, deployment, and continuing management and maintenance of Cisco-powered environments. Network Assistant provides a unified system view and allows network managers to employ its functions among switches, routers, and access points.

Security Manager is a powerful but easy-to-use solution for centrally provisioning all aspects of device configuration and policies for Cisco firewalls, VPNs, and Intrusion Prevention Systems. Security Manager efficiently handles even small environments consisting of fewer than ten devices, but also scales to control large-scale systems composed of thousands of Cisco routers, security appliances, and switch services modules. Expansion is achieved via intelligent policy-driven control procedures that can simplify administrative overhead. Key features of Security Manager are:

• Supports provisioning for Cisco routers running an IOS security image, ASA 5500 Series security appliances, PIX security appliances, Cisco IPS 4200 sensors, and Cisco Catalyst 6500 security services modules
• Reacts faster. more rapidly to attacks: define and apply new security policies to thousands of appliances in a few easy steps
• Intuitive graphical user interface offers superior ease-of-use
• A variety of views that provide flexible methods to control appliances and security policies such as the capability to manage the security network visually on a topology image
• Comprehensive video help for the first-time user to accelerate training time
• Globally specify which policies are common and inherited by additional devices to make sure company-wide policies are configured regularly, while offering optional versatility to customize policies at the individual appliance level
• Ability to create a single rule table for Cisco firewalls with intelligent analysis of firewall policies to detect anomalies within the rule base
• Easily set up site-to-site, hub-spoke, full-mesh IPsec, or extranet VPN interfaces with a VPN wizard
• Integration with Cisco ACS for low-level role based access management to appliances and management services
• Operation with Cisco security MARS to associate events with related security appliance rules to support quicker decision making and increased system availability
• Ability to assign specific tasks to every administrator during the deployment of a rule, with structured change control and tracking; allows the security and systems operations staff to work in sync as a cohesive group with effective teamwork

Progent can also show you how to use network management tools to analyze and categorize system data to enable traffic shaping, which permits you to set up routers to enforce a variety of bandwidth constraints on designated types of activity based on the priorities you specify. By storing and queuing data packets above your contracted volume, and by giving priority to critical applications, traffic shaping can keep ISP overage charges from spinning out of reach and/or eliminate gaps in worker productivity caused by brute force enforcement of your network traffic volume restrictions during peak demand.

Progent's CISM, CISSP, and ISSAP security consultants can show you how to develop a comprehensive security plan that incorporates your network management solution, and Progent's remote and in person support specialists and Cisco CCIE and CNA qualified engineers can use the latest network management technology to identify and remediate problems rapidly to keep your IT system productive.

To find out more information about Progent's engineering help for Cisco solutions, select a topic:

• Introduction to Cisco Expertise
• Fast and Affordable Online Assistance from a CCIE Engineer
• Cisco Firepower NGFW Series Firewalls: Integration and Management Support
• Cisco ASA 5500-X Series Firewall with Firepower Services: Integration and Troubleshooting Expertise
• Cisco ASA 5500 Firewall Integration Expertise
• Cisco PIX 500 Series Firewall Upgrade. Migration Expertise
• Cisco Routers Consulting Services
• Cisco Wireless Engineering Help
• Cisco Aironet Access Points Design Services
• Cisco Small Business 100, 300 and 500 Wireless Access Points Engineering Support
• Catalyst Wi-Fi 6/6E Wireless Access Points Planning, Deployment and Troubleshooting Services
• Cisco Wireless Controllers Consulting
• Meraki Wireless Access Points Design Expertise
• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM or Unified CM) and Cisco CallManager Configuration and Troubleshooting
• Cisco Voice over IP Phones and IP Video Phones Consulting Services and Wireless VoIP Phone Solutions
• Cisco Jabber Configuration and Troubleshooting Expertise
• Cisco Catalyst Switches Deployment Expertise
• Nexus Switches Support and Troubleshooting Expertise
• Meraki MS Switches Consulting and Support Expertise
• Cisco VPN and Security Integration Help
• SIP and CUBE Infrastructure Solutions: SIP PSTN Trunks and Cisco CUBE Integration Consulting
• Cisco Duo MFA Two-factor Authentication (2FA) Services for Telecommuters
• Design and Support for Cisco-based Datacenters
• Infrastructure Design Consulting for ISPs