Cisco Catalyst Center Enablement

Cisco's Catalyst Center is a management platform for the software defined networking era.

Graphical management, guided fault finding, streaming telemetry and the ability to manage and deploy Software Defined Access (SD-Access) networks. It needs some experience to install and get the most from Catalyst Center though - and that's where the Catalyst Center Enablement package comes in.

What is Cisco Catalyst Center?

Cisco® Catalyst Center is the management platform of choice, delivering graphical management, guided fault finding, network health scores and configuration for full Software Defined Access deployments.

Allow your organisation to monitor the health of supported Cisco devices, software updates and diagnose client and network faults:

• Ensure satisfaction and increase adoption levels of Catalyst
• Achieve deeper understanding and Be able to support your Catalyst install and overall environment
• Encourage the adoption of future SD Access services and equipment roadmap

My blog on the Catalyst Center Beginners Guide is worth a read, if you're not too familiar with what Catalyst Center can do. The quick refresh though is:

• Assurance: Network monitoring, management and advanced fault finding
• Automation: Automated configuration of the network, allowing deployment size and scale
• Access to 3rd Party Systems: Integration with other systems to enhance Catalyst Center capabilities - for example to auto register fault tickets when issues arise

ASSOCIATED BLOGS:

• Cisco Catalyst Spaces Introduction
• Cisco Catalyst Spaces Applications

How we can Help Install Catalyst?

Catalyst Center requires specific skills for installation and IPTel are able to offer a pre-packaged set of services to deploy Cisco Catalyst Center in Assurance mode.

The enablement service provides a package of services to ensure a partner lead, successful installation of Catalyst Center, including warm handover and customer specific documentation.

We can help understand how you want to operate Catalyst Center and deploy with the following services:

• Catalyst Design: Design of the installation to deploy Catalyst into your network
• Catalyst Implementation: Change controls, Assurance mode deployment plus plug and play
• Catalyst Handover / Knowledge Transfer: Training, help and handover
• Catalyst Documentation: Reference documentation

We can help support your installation once you're up and running too, if you want the security of ongoing support.

ASSOCIATED BLOGS:

• Download our Cisco Catalyst Center Enablement brochure

Why Cisco Catalyst Center?

Catalyst Center offers a range of benefits, over and above what we might call legacy management systems.

Cisco ISE is integrated with Catalyst Center, allowing you to fault find client issues end-end, including the authentication phase. Once you know what the issue is, wouldn't it be handy if the management system could take you to the location you need to go to, in order to make the change - or just make it for you? Welcome to guided fault finding.

One other issue that plagues the ability to fault find wireless, is the seemingly random nature of faults. Staff report all kinds of issues, but Wi-Fi faults are tricky to pin down, debug and isolate. The Network Time Machine function helps with this, by allowing you to review historic data and determine where issues exist.

Its worth a download of the 5 Ways Cisco Catalyst Center solves your challenges infographic if you wanted a quick overview.

Cisco Catalyst Center Enablement: Summary

If you're interested to learn more about how we can help, download our Cisco Catalyst Center Enablement brochure.

Many customers have bought Catalyst Center and just need some help to get up and running. Our services for Catalyst Enablement are targeted to help with just that - how to get you over the line and using the management platform.

Catalyst Center has a lot of amazing features, but the setup is a once-off scenario - we can help to get over that initial setup, train you on how to to use and continue to configure your Catalyst Center.

The business outcome is that you will much more quickly begin to get the value from your investment in Catalyst Center and with the training and handover have the confidence to move into the world of SD-Access.

ASSOCIATED BLOGS:

• Zero Trust Architecture
• Deploying Zero Trust Architecture