Cisco Certified Network Consultants

Network management systems assist companies to deploy infrastructure effectively, look up client information rapidly, monitor network health, debug problems, protect against and respond to threats, and optimize performance. Network management tools can help detect inefficient or improper uses of network services like streaming multimedia or peer-to-peer file sharing that can waste bandwidth, reduce worker output or enable data leakage. A well crafted network management environment can also assist companies to make smart capacity planning moves by surfacing tendencies in resource usage for various periods or types of tasks.

Cisco offers a rich and growing catalog of network management platforms that support unified management for local, cloud-based, or hybrid network architectures. With Cisco's later generation of security, switching, and Wi-Fi infrastructure products, you can run Meraki, Cisco DNA Center, or CLI management platforms for network monitoring and management. For example, you can interface the latest Catalyst or Meraki switches and Catalyst or Meraki Wi-Fi access points to the Meraki dashboard to manage critical components of your corporate infrastructure from the cloud. Progent's Cisco Catalyst WiFi access point consulting experts, Meraki WiFi AP experts, Catalyst switches integration experts, and Cisco Meraki switches experts can assist you to design, implement and tune a modern environment for network infrastructure management.

Traditional Network Management Platforms from Cisco and Others
An abundance of network management tools from Cisco and other vendors highlights the value and complexity of network management. Progent's Cisco qualified network management engineers are experienced at helping companies develop management strategies based on SNMP, Syslog, and Cisco Netflow protocols to create effective tools for understanding network bandwidth usage and network latency, monitoring key router and switch performance metrics, and recognizing traffic profiles, applications, and appliances utilizing network resources.

Progent can assist businesses to deploy a rich range of open source and license-based monitoring and management utilities to manage Cisco infrastructure. Utilities familiar to Progent's engineers include MRTG, Cacti, Nagios, PRTG, Cisco Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM), Cisco Network Assistant, CiscoWorks, Cisco Security Manager, OpenView, AlterPoint DeviceAuthority, Adventnet Netflow, Big Brother, and Necordia NetMRI.

Network management tools can allow organizations to be aware of current system usage and intelligently plan for downstream capacity increases. Network management tools can also be used to identify poor or inappropriate uses of network resources, for example streaming multimedia, peer-to-peer file sharing, etc. that can use up valuable and limited network resources. A carefully designed network management strategy can also aid organizations to make intelligent decisions on wide and local area network enhancements after they understand the amount of network resources actually needed at any one time.

Putting an effective network management system in place in advance is critical to prevent severe disruptions that can result from Denial Of Service (DoS) attacks and dangerous viruses/Trojans. These assaults can render the network unusable and in the absence of appropriate tools it can be difficult, and in some cases practically impossible, to identify the source of the problem.

Network Management Tools from Cisco
Cisco has created a selection of powerful tools that should form the foundation for any network management strategy. Used in conjunction with the top outside vendor products, Cisco's network management software can enhance the competitive value of network infrastructures for organizations of all sizes by addressing important areas such as resource utilization, performance, resilience, security, repair, and capacity planning. Cisco's top network management tools include:

Cisco ASDM is a browser-based Java applet that permits you configure and monitor the software on security devices. Cisco Adaptive Security Device Manager is installed by the network device, and enables you to set up, monitor, and control the unit.

Monitor Manager is a management solution designed to address the requirements of small and midsize organizations. Monitor Manager actively scans key device parameters on voice/data environments serving 5 to 250 workers and equipped with as many as 250 VoIP phones. Monitor Manager provides:

• Real-time tracking of important appliance parameters on Cisco SMB-class routers, switches, and voice gateways, Communications Manager Express, Unity Express, security appliances, WAPs, and IP phones
• Ability to manage the Cisco Unified Communications 500 communications appliance for businesses with as many as 50 workers

• Voice and data network discovery and physical topology
• Physical and process looks at Cisco Unified Communications deployment
• System wide inventory collection and reporting
• Highly secure and dependable operation
• Device performance monitoring
• VoIP Telephony monitoring
• Interface status and traffic tracking
• Real-time alerts and event notification
• Reports
• Configuration log

Cisco Network Assistant is a PC-hosted management application optimized for wired and wireless LANs (WLANs) for growing companies with as many as 40 switches and routers. By using Smartports, Network Assistant streamlines configuration, installation, and ongoing management and support of Cisco-based networks. The application provides a unified system view and allows network managers to employ its features among Cisco switches, routers, and WAPs.

Security Manager is a feature-rich but easy-to-use application for centrally provisioning all aspects of device set up and policies for firewalls, VPNs, and Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS). Cisco Security Manager effectively manages even small environments consisting of fewer than ten appliances, but also scales to manage enterprise systems with thousands of devices. Expansion is achieved through intelligent policy-driven control techniques that can streamline administrative overhead. Key features of Security Manager are:

• Supports provisioning for Cisco routers configured with a Cisco IOS security software image, ASA 5500 family firewalls, Cisco PIX firewalls, IPS 4200 family inline security appliances, and Catalyst 6500 security services modules
• Respond more quickly to attacks: specify and apply new security policies to thousands of devices in a few easy steps
• Intuitive graphical user interface provides superior ease-of-use
• Multiple looks that offer flexible ways to control appliances and policies such as the capability to manage the security network graphically on a system topology map
• Comprehensive video help for the novice operator to reduce training time
• Globally call out which policies are shared and inherited by new appliances to ensure corporate policies are configured regularly, at the same time offering sufficient versatility to customize policies at the individual appliance level
• Ability to build a single firewall rule database for Cisco platforms with smart analysis of firewall policies to determine conflicts in the rule base
• Easily configure site-to-site, hub-and-spoke, full mesh, or extranet Virtual Private Network connections by means of a VPN wizard
• Compatibility with Cisco ACS for granular role based access control to appliances and management functions
• Integration with Cisco security MARS to associate events against related firewall rules to enable quicker decision making and enhanced system up time
• Capability to assign particular jobs to each manager in the course of the deployment of a rule, with formal change management and logging; permits the security and systems operations staff to work together as a cohesive group with effective teamwork

Progent can also assist you to utilize network management utilities to analyze and classify system data to enable traffic shaping, which permits you to configure Cisco routers to impose different throughput restrictions on certain classes of processes according to the importance you specify. By storing and sorting data packets above your contracted volume, and by assigning priority to critical processes, traffic shaping can keep service provider excess usage penalties from spinning out of control and/or eliminate gaps in worker productivity resulting from brute force enforcement of your network bandwidth limits during periods of heavy demand.

Progent's CISM and CISSP security professionals can assist you to create an end-to-end security plan that incorporates your network management solution, and Progent's remote and in person network experts and Cisco CCIE-certified engineers can utilize the latest network management technology to isolate and remediate trouble quickly to keep your network in business.

For additional information concerning Progent's professional assistance for Cisco technology, select a subject:

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