Customers are cautious about NAC

Clarifying issues surrounding this emerging security architecture

An upcoming study by TheInfoPro says that corporate plans for adopting NAC are weakening.

The study done in two phases - in the spring and in the fall - shows that the group sampled in the spring was leaning more heavily toward working NAC into its immediate plans than the entire group made up of respondents from the spring and fall combined.

Researchers on the study say they're confident that the higher commitment shown in the spring sample wasn't an anomaly, that attitudes are actually shifting.

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An upcoming study by TheInfoPro says that corporate plans for adopting NAC are weakening.

The study done in two phases - in the spring and in the fall - shows that the group sampled in the spring was leaning more heavily toward working NAC into its immediate plans than the entire group made up of respondents from the spring and fall combined.

Researchers on the study say they're confident that the higher commitment shown in the spring sample wasn't an anomaly, that attitudes are actually shifting.

Maybe they are and maybe they aren't but the results definitely show that the people who will buy and use NAC gear are cautious if not skeptical about how ready NAC gear is for deployment.

And that is probably appropriate. The broad goals of NAC remain useful if they can be delivered and managed reliably. Some vendors have useful products that implement pieces of NAC without major adjustments to existing networks, and their products should do relatively well in the short term.

But vendors seeking to make NAC part of the network fabric face a tougher task. They have to get more pieces in place to have effective offerings and they have to convince customers to make larger investments.

The first problem will be solved with time. Cisco, Microsoft and Trusted Computing Group are working out the details of their schemes and will clear some major hurdles over the next year. Their influence will freeze some customers' decisions about NAC because they want to see whether their vendors - in some cases trusted partners - come up with something they clearly want.

Once that problem is solved, the second will resolve itself more easily. If customers are convinced a comprehensive, network-based NAC program is needed, they will find the money for it. Security is still that important.

In the meantime, anyone ultimately responsible for such buying decisions should study up as much as they can on the subject so when the products are ready, they are ready, too.

Read more about security in Network World's Security section.

Tim Greene is senior editor at Network World.