Completely Changing the Way Your Network Runs

Before you get into the meat of this blog, I encourage you to take a peek at Cisco’s newest video for Cisco DNA Center Assurance. Yes, it’s an ad, but trust me this one is definitely worth your time:

When Cisco makes a new product announcement, it’s usually a big splash in the industry – things that shake up how you view your wireless network. I’m sure that you’ve already heard about our recent announcement but if you haven’t, it is going to change the way you interact with your network and-without any hyperbole-it’s going to completely change the whole way you do your job.

But first, a bit of background.

IT pros are asked, “How do you really spend your day?” you’re bound to get a few joke responses. But once things turn serious, most people say that they spend a lot of their time troubleshooting. And they aren’t talking about the interesting, forensic, “Oh-man-this-is-a-gigantic-problem-and-only-I-can-solve-it”, kind of troubleshooting. They’re talking the simple, run-of-the-mill stuff that any recent college grad can figure out.

Not only does this sort of work disrupt a productive day, but it also takes away from the important, forward thinking stuff. They’re resigned to troubleshooting and almost always say the same thing, “It’s a part of my job and there’s not much that I can do about it.”

Trouble shooting may sound benign, but it’s a serious drag on resources. Our Cisco DNA customer study found that Network IT spends 43% of their time troubleshooting. Almost half of those people (47%) say it takes 30 minutes to figure out the problem and nearly as many (41%) said it takes another 30 minutes to solve it-and if you’re talking Wi-Fi, half of the issues take more than 30 minutes to resolve.

Cisco has taken a huge step in creating a truly intuitive network by moving beyond data and analytics and providing full context. What does this mean? It means that the days of elementary trouble-shooting your network are drawing to a close.

What are we announcing? The following:

Cisco DNA Center Assurance: last year we introduced Cisco DNA Center with SD-Access and it added scale, simplified segmentation and provided powerful threat detection. This new version of DNA Center automatically monitors and alerts you when network conditions need your attention. Not only that, but you can now time-travel (See? I told you that this was a big announcement). With DNA Analytics and Assurance, you can go back 14 days and get full network snapshots. Weren’t around when Steve from Accounting pulled an all-nighter and couldn’t connect last Thursday night? To make matters worse, he’s telling you about it the following Monday and can’t replicate the issue. Not a problem, you can go through the Network Time Travel and see what the issue was.

It can also oversee apps and notifies you when IT requirement quality dips. Network health, status and security are also scanned when you integrate it with Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and Cisco Stealthwatch.

Cisco Operational Insights: with everything in your office connected via your network, Operational Insights is the cloud-based software that allows your business to identify, monitor and update all of your valuable assets. In other words, it helps business improve on their operations and brings you closer to your business goals.

Wi-Fi Analytics for iOS: thanks to Cisco’s partnership with Apple, we now have the client point of view of the network, what the access point sees and the user experience. With a single dashboard, you’re now able to view this consolidated network and if there’s an issue, quickly figure out the root cause. The next time you tell a user, “It’s not the network’s fault” you will have the data to back you up.

Cisco Aironet Active Sensor: ever been in a situation where you knew your Wi-Fi was going to be slammed by extra devices, but since there wasn’t a very accurate tool to replicate that crush, you just crossed your fingers and hoped for the best? We’ve all done that. With the Cisco Aironet Active Sensor, that is a problem of the past. All you need to do is plug the device into any electrical outlet and it will simulate the client experience. And since it’s on the floor level (and not on the ceiling with the AP) you’re going to get a more accurate reading.

Cisco started this journey last year when introduced Cisco DNA Center with SD-Access and it was the first step in building an end-to-end Intent-based network. As we continue with the steps toward this new network, we hope that you will come along with us. Your network is going to be more evolved and better!

Still not convinced? Click below to hear what IT Administrators from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles have to say about Cisco DNA Assurance. Spoiler alert: they’ve used it and they love it.

To learn more, go here.