Cisco and Microsoft have released the long-awaited architectural details on interoperability between their respective Network Access Control (NAC) platforms, Cisco Network Admission Control (CNAC) and Microsoft Network Access Protection (NAP). While this partnership is ideal for many IT departments and will lead to significant market penetration, enterprise adoption of these proprietary platforms will conflict with a vendor-neutral network strategy.

Cisco and Microsoft Join Forces to Secure Enterprise Networks

Network access control technologies are used to verify user and device identities and ensure endpoint policy compliance before permitting network access. By detecting device "health", including patch, anti-virus and firewall status and verifying compliance with enterprise security policies, these solutions can help enterprises proactively secure their networks from internal and external threats.

Amidst the growing enterprise demand for NAC solutions, three leading platforms have emerged, all of which are built upon the IEEE 802.1X access control standard. Two of the solutions are proprietary and one is based on open standards...