With any new product technology that is introduced into an
industry, there will be evangelists and naysayers, highs and lows. Network
Access Control is no different. I think what I find most interesting is the
amount of buzz that has been generated over the last couple of years for the
technology. I have read some articles that equate NAC to a product in search of
a problem. Apparently, they are not speaking to the customers I have come in
contact with.
I typically interact with customers that are pursuing data encryption but when
I segue over to Network Access Control, they inevitably become very interested
in the technology. And why wouldn't they be? If a product can help insure that
devices that are connecting to your network are compliant with the security
policies you have set in place, that seems like a good thing. Not to
oversimplify things here, but companies are being hammered to show due
diligence when it comes to their efforts towards technology security. This
product helps them to that end. As PART OF a comprehensive security solution,
NAC is an essential element.
While there are some organizations that may have had some misses with their
deployments; that seems par for the course of technology. There are misses and
there are hits, those that miss go away and those that hit the home run become
the market leaders. There is going to be a shake up in the market soon. In the
beginning of every release of a product technology, there are a multitude of
players that are trying to stand on each other to be noticed. Then natural
selection kicks in and the weak and unlucky are weeded out.
Critics should stand back and look at the bigger picture and take a peek at the
longer time line and place NAC in its appropriate stage of development and
growth. There is no reason to believe any hype that purports NAC to be the cure
of all ills, nor should industry types overlook the importance of including
Network Access Control into any security solution they provide to their
organizations and/or customers.
Michael Mongold
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