The promise (or threat, whichever way you want to look at it) of Cisco's Microsoft-compatible NAC gear, which the network giant says will be ready in about a month, will mean that startup NAC vendors will have to step up their games to stay ahead of Cisco and Microsoft in the features they offer, according to Tim Greene's Network World NAC newsletter.

Cisco NAC being compatible with Microsoft network access protection (NAP) means users can deploy NAC without having to also deploy a NAC client. Instead, endpoints using Microsoft Vista can use the built-in NAP client, Greene writes.

According to the newsletter, compatibility between the two companies' NAC products was something that needed to be available before some companies would seriously start to consider NAC. Now that promise is almost here, how much difference will it make to the NAC market and the future of NAC startups, which apparently have already fallen victim to Cisco's NAC machine (see: Another NAC vendor bites the dust: Cisco to blame?).

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