* Alliances between ConSentry and other vendors will help customers integrate its NAC
Expect a flurry of alliances between ConSentry Networks and other vendors that will help customers integrate its NAC appliances and switches into existing network infrastructure.
The alliances will likely come in three areas – with software client vendors, integrators and switch makers, says Tom Barsi, ConSentry’s CEO.
In the first case, ConSentry will ally with security software vendors that already have security software on desktops – personal firewalls, antivirus, etc. That already-deployed software will report its status to ConSentry’s dissolvable agent that gathers a certain set of limited data from the machines. The reason: customers don’t want to add yet another client to their desktops, Barsi says.
In the second area, ConSentry makes switches that include the same NAC software that is in its NAC appliances, and hopes to make alliances with some of the “everybody else” switch vendors – as in, there is Cisco and then there is “everybody else”. If successful, these alliances should give customers of the “everybody else” vendors a way to tightly integrate NAC in their networks and keep their current switch vendors.
And third, ConSentry hopes to align itself with integrators who can build NAC into their customers’ networks. Barsi says that in dealing with potential customers, his company finds businesses are interested in NAC, but are at a loss for how to implement it. Others would be willing to spend the time, but lack the resources to dedicate to such a project.
Stay tuned for these announcements because they might make ConSentry a more attractive option for those considering NAC.
