Cisco Certified Network Consulting and Support

Network management platforms help companies to deploy infrastructure efficiently, look up user information quickly, monitor system operation, debug problems, protect against and respond to cyber attacks, and maximize performance. Network management systems can help detect inefficient or improper uses of network services like streaming media or peer-to-peer file sharing that can burn up bandwidth, lower employee productivity or leave you vulnerable to data leaks. A prudently crafted network management solution can also assist companies to make informed capacity planning moves by showing tendencies in resource demand for various times or tasks.

Cisco offers a rich and growing catalog of infrastructure management solutions that support centralized management for on-premises, cloud-based, or hybrid network architectures. With Cisco's later security, switching, and Wi-Fi networking products, you can run Meraki, Cisco DNA Center, or CLI management platforms for network management. For instance, you can interface the latest Catalyst or Meraki switches and Catalyst or Meraki WiFi 6/6E APs to the Meraki dashboard to monitor and manage critical layers of your IT infrastructure from the cloud. Progent's Catalyst WiFi AP experts, Meraki Wi-Fi AP consultants, Catalyst switches consulting experts, and Meraki switches consultants can assist your organization to design, deploy and tune an up-to-date environment for network infrastructure monitoring and management.

Legacy Network Management Tools from Cisco and Others
An abundance of network management products from Cisco and third-party vendors highlights the importance and complexity of supporting IT infrastructure. Progent's seasoned network management engineers are experienced at assisting businesses develop network management solutions utilizing on SNMP, Syslog, and NetFlow protocols to create powerful tools for tracking network bandwidth usage and latency, viewing important router and switch operational metrics, and identifying traffic profiles, applications, and devices utilizing available services.

Progent can assist customers to utilize a rich selection of open source and license-based management tools to maintain a Cisco network. Utilities used by Progent's consultants include Cacti, Nagios, Paessler Router Traffic Grapher, Cisco Cisco ASDM, Cisco Monitor Manager, Cisco Security Manager, OpenView, Wireshark/Ethereal, Concord E-Health, Advent and Firewall Analyzer, Big Brother, and NetMRI.

Network management tools can allow IT administrators to understand current network utilization and intelligently plan for downstream capacity increases. Management utilities can also be deployed to highlight poor or improper uses of system resources, such as streaming multimedia, peer-to-peer sharing, etc. that can use up valuable or scarce network bandwidth. A carefully crafted network management strategy can also assist organizations to arrive at intelligent decisions on WAN and LAN enhancements once they appreciate how much network bandwidth really required at various times.

Having an efficient network management platform in place in advance is essential to prevent major problems that can follow Denial Of Service (DoS) attacks and malicious viruses/Trojans. These assaults can leave the network unstable and in the absence of appropriate utilities it can be difficult, and in some cases practically impossible, to discover the source of the trouble.

Network Management Tools from Cisco
Cisco has created an array of powerful utilities that should form the foundation for any network management strategy. Utilized in conjunction with appropriate third-party tools, Cisco's network management offerings can improve the competitive value of network infrastructures for companies of any size by improving important areas such as system utilization, performance, resilience, security, repair, and capacity planning. Cisco's most popular network management products include:

Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM) is a browser-based utility that lets you configure and monitor the management utilities on network appliances. Cisco Adaptive Security Device Manager is installed by the adaptive security appliance, and allows you to configure, track, and control the unit.

Cisco Monitor Manager is a management application developed for the requirements of small and medium-sized businesses. Cisco Monitor Manager actively scans key device processes on voice and data environments used by 5 to 250 users and equipped with up to 250 VoIP phones. The application provides:

• Real-time monitoring of key appliance processes on SMB-class routers, switches, and voice gateways, Unified Communications Manager Express, Cisco Unity Express, security devices, access points, and VoIP phones
• Support for the Cisco Unified Communications 500 appliance for companies with up to 50 users

• Network discovery and topology
• Device and service level looks at Cisco Unified Communications deployment
• System wide inventory collection and documentation
• Highly secure and reliable communication
• Cisco device operations tracking
• Cisco Unified IP Telephony tracking
• Interface status and traffic monitoring
• Real-time alerts and event notification
• Reports
• Setup log

Network Assistant is a desktop-hosted management application designed for for wired and wireless LANs (WLANs) for growing companies that have up to 40 Cisco switches and routers. By using Cisco's Smartports mechanism, Network Assistant streamlines configuration, installation, and ongoing administration and maintenance of Cisco-based networks. Network Assistant offers a centralized system view and permits network administrators to employ its features among switches, routers, and wireless access points.

Cisco Security Manager is a powerful but simple to operate solution for centrally provisioning all facets of device configuration and security policies for PIX and ASA firewalls, virtual private networks (VPNs), and Intrusion Prevention Systems. Cisco Security Manager effectively manages even small environments with no more than than ten devices, but also expands to manage large-scale networks with thousands of appliances. Expansion is achieved via smart policy-based control procedures that can streamline administration. Key features of Cisco Security Manager are:

• Allows control of Cisco router platforms configured with an IOS security image, ASA 5500 Series adaptive security appliances, Cisco PIX security appliances, IPS 4200 inline security appliances, and Cisco Catalyst 6500 security modules
• Reacts more quickly to attacks: define and apply updated policies to many hundreds of appliances in a few easy steps
• Rich GUI offers superior ease-of-use
• A variety of looks that offer versatile ways to manage devices and security policies including the capability to administer the security environment graphically on a topology image
• Comprehensive animated help for the novice user to reduce training period
• Globally call out which policies are shared and automatically inherited by additional devices to ensure company-wide policies are configured consistently, while providing optional versatility to modify policies at the individual appliance level
• Capability to create a common rule database for Cisco platforms with intelligent evaluation of firewall policies to determine conflicts within the rule table
• Easily configure site-to-site, hub-spoke, full-mesh IPsec, or extranet VPN links by means of a few mouse clicks
• Compatibility with Cisco ACS for granular role based connection control to devices and management services
• Integration with Cisco security MARS to associate monitored data against related firewall rules to help with faster decision making and increased network availability
• Capability to allocate specific jobs to every manager during the deployment of a policy, with structured change management and logging; permits the security and network operations team to work together as a single group with effective teamwork

Progent can also assist you to use network management utilities to analyze and categorize system data to implement traffic shaping, which allows you to set up Cisco routers to impose different bandwidth constraints on designated classes of activity according to the importance you specify. By buffering and sorting excess packets above your committed volume, and by assigning preference to the most important processes, traffic shaping can keep ISP excess usage penalties from spiraling out of reach and/or eliminate lost worker productivity caused by indiscriminate enforcement of your network bandwidth restrictions during periods of heavy demand.

Progent's CISM, CISSP, and ISSAP security professionals can assist you to develop a comprehensive security strategy that incorporates your network management solution, and Progent's remote and in person support specialists and Cisco CCIE and CNA qualified consultants can utilize advanced network management technology to isolate and remediate problems rapidly to keep your IT system productive.

To learn more details concerning Progent's professional support for Cisco products, choose a topic:

• Overview of Progent's Cisco Engineering Services
• Fast Remote Access to a Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) Engineer
• Cisco Firepower NGFW Series Firewalls: Configuration and Troubleshooting Services
• ASA 5500-X Series Firewall with Firepower: Configuration and Management Services
• Cisco ASA 5500 Firewalls Integration Expertise
• PIX Firewall Management Services
• Cisco Routers Configuration and Troubleshooting Services
• Cisco Wireless Network Design Expertise
• Aironet Access Points Engineering Help
• Cisco Small Business Wireless APs Engineering Expertise
• Cisco Catalyst Wi-Fi 6/6E Wireless Access Points Planning, Configuration and Troubleshooting Expertise
• Cisco WiFi Controllers Support Services
• Meraki APs Consulting Expertise
• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM or Unified CM) and Cisco CallManager Configuration and Troubleshooting
• Cisco Voice over IP Phones and IP Video Desktop Phones Expertise and Cisco Wireless VoIP Phone Configuration
• Cisco Jabber and Management Services
• Catalyst Switches Engineering Services
• Cisco Nexus Switches Support and Troubleshooting Expertise
• Meraki Switches Support and Troubleshooting Expertise
• Cisco VPN and Security Engineering Services
• SIP and CUBE Integration Solutions: SIP PSTN Trunks and CUBE Integration Expertise
• Cisco Duo MFA Two-factor Authentication Services for Teleworkers
• Design Solutions for Cisco-based Datacenters
• Network Design Services for Service Providers