* What to look for when seeking NAC funding
One of the problems with any IT project is getting funding for it from within the business, and the same is true with NAC.
Standard justifications for projects include a proved cost savings, more business productivity for end users, protection of the network itself and, moreso lately, demonstrating compliance with regulations.
All of these can be applied to NAC. The degree to which they apply depends on individual businesses. Here are some NAC-specific things to look for when seeking financial support for NAC.
In most cases, NAC is an add-on to a network so it isn’t easy to come up with a hard ROI. Say a network installs, getting WAN optimization gear that puts off buying more bandwidth clearly saves money. The case for NAC is not as black-and-white.
It could be argued that detecting devices that represent a significant risk before they access the network will reduce the number of attacks against the network that result in IT time spent fighting them and the business costs of downtime. Are soft costs, but nonetheless real.
If the network is subject to fewer attacks, it stands to reason the network will be more available to end users, so they will be more productive than they would be otherwise. NAC doesn’t give them additional functionality, but it can make their current resources more available.
NAC can definitely help with regulatory compliance. It is not a comprehensive answer to any set of regulations, but it can be part of a security and monitoring strategy that adds up to compliance. Tying user identities with machines as NAC does, for example, could help meet regulations that call for demonstrating that access to certain data is restricted.
Depending on the value individual businesses place on the benefits NAC provides, it may be more or less affordable. That may help make the decision of what NAC architecture to adopt, because they can be more or less expensive.
