Ok, well it’s not necessarily a resurgence as such, but what with the ASA 5500 series being successful we haven’t seen any major changes for Cisco in this space.  Cisco has always had a healthy presence, but of late peoples’ eyes are being turned by the likes of Juniper and Check Point, with their newer shinier toys for the IT Estate.  Not that they are necessarily better, cheaper or more efficient, but maybe that the lights flash brighter and the drum is being banged louder.  We often find that heads are easily turned but to get people to march is much harder.

But with the launch of the Cisco ASA 5500 – X we are seeing IPS as a software feature, Botnet traffic filter analysis and dashboard.  If we add to this Scansafe as a software item on the device we are not choosing between our type of security and protection from attack but we are able to use the best of both worlds. 

With Social media going from strength to strength and coupled with Bring your own device (BYOD) web security is equally as important to all businesses.  By using the Anyconnect Secure client we can enable our business to be global ‚responsive and to work from anywhere whilst not sacrificing security.  IT must work to enable the business and to offer the same level of protection.  This can be a major headache for IT departments, as the message from the top is strong. But with the ASA5500 – X series I think we may see some of the pains start to fade away; and coupled with ISE really does enable the business to go and do what is needed.